President Evo Morales, a critic of U.S. anti-drug policies, appointed a coca leaf grower as Bolivia’s new drug czar, a government official said Saturday.
Morales took office Jan. 23 after vowing to roll back a U.S. campaign to curb coca growing in Bolivia, the world’s third-biggest cocaine producer after Colombia and Peru.
The new leftist president named Felipe Caceres, a co-founder of Morales’ Movement toward Socialism party, an official said, asking not to be named but confirming local media reports.
The head of Bolivia’s anti-drug efforts in recent years has worked in close coordination with Washington, which spends some $150 million a year on coca-eradication programs in the South American country.
Morales is a former coca leaf farmer himself. He first rose to political prominence as the leader of the country’s coca leaf farmers, and led frequently violent protests against U.S.-backed eradication efforts.
The cultivation and sale of small amounts of coca is legal in Bolivia but the United States contends additional production of the plant — the main ingredient used to make cocaine — eventually ends up on illegal drug markets.
The plant is prized by Bolivian indigenous farmers for traditional medicinal uses and herbal teas.
Indians in Bolivia chew coca as a mild stimulant to ward off hunger and altitude sickness, and Morales has said he wants to increase production of the leaf for use in medicines, toothpaste and soft drinks.
In recent weeks, Morales has repeatedly said he is seeking a drug-fighting program whose emphasis would be “No to zero coca, but yes to zero cocaine.”
According to the U.N., Bolivia put 107 tons of cocaine on world markets in 2004.
