Publication

This report addresses the increasing spread of coca cultivation in Peru and Bolivia and outlines social and economical backgrounds of that development. The paper outlines the importance of legal and illegal coca cultivation in both countries and introduces its political, social and military dimension. Subsequently, the paper provides information on the government’s various counter-narcotics policies and on the factors that facilitate the illegal drugs trade to the consumer markets. The paper suggests that rural development strategies, law enforcement and interdiction might be effective measures to tackle the issue.