A short drive north of Bolivia’s capital La Paz, deep in the lush green valleys of the Yungas, Alicia Calle, a middle-aged Indigenous cocalero (coca farmer), plucked the leaves off the shrubs on ...

It is time for the dye bath. Hot water is mixed with coca leaf flour in a metal basin. To obtain the desired color, components that modify the pH are added, such as vinegar, ash, bicarbonate, alum ...

In 2023, the South American country set a new record last year for coca leaf cultivation and cocaine production, which rose 53 percent from 1,738 tonnes (1,915 US tons) to 2,600 tonnes ...

Colombia, whose President Gustavo Petro is a vocal critic of the US-led war on drugs, on Monday urged the UN to remove coca -- the main ingredient in cocaine -- from a list of harmful substances.

Morales entered Bolivian public life as the leader of a coca growers union and is on a crusade to persuade the international community to stop stigmatizing the leaf. As president, he has sharply ...

In 2023, the South American country set a new record last year for coca leaf cultivation and cocaine production, which rose 53 percent from 1,738 tonnes (1,915 US tons) to 2,600 tonnes, according to ...