After disembarking the bus in Urubamba, Raul led us down a dusty alley to meet with “Elena” (not her real name) on the patio of her home.  The “Controversial Topic” for this tour was the coca leaf industry, and we were there to hear about it first-hand.

The coca leaf, the primary source of cocaine, has been listed as a Schedule 1 substance by the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs since 1961, so it is illegal to use.  Coca is a native plant in Peru and Bolivia, however, and has played a significant role in traditional Andean culture for centuries; so, these countries are exempt from this law.  

Since ancient times, coca leaves have been an important trade commodity between the lowlands, where it is cultivated, and the higher altitudes, where it is widely consumed to relieve altitude sickness, hunger, and fatigue.  Natives either chew the leaves or brew it in a tea known as “Mate de Coca.”  There is also a high rate of cocaine use and addiction in Peru.

Elena is a cultivator of coca, selling the leaves in markets and bartering the leaves for produce she is unable to grow.  She leaves her home along with other family members in Urubamba at 5:00 AM, travels by train, and then car to her field, arriving at 5:00 PM.  (Coca must be grown at a 5,000-foot elevation; Urubamba is at an elevation of 9,420 feet.).  Each family member harvests for three days, and then brings 3 kilograms by bus, along with other produce, back to Urubamba.

Until Empresa Nacional de la Coca (ENACO) became a Peruvian state company under private law in 1982, Elena and her family earned double the amount of money for the same amount of coca leaves she could sell legally today.  Since 1982, however, ENACO has had a monopoly on the commercialization of coca, buying up all the cultivated coca leaves from 31,000 legal producers at a fraction of its former value, and then selling it to the Stepan Company and other companies for medicinal use.  (Much of the crops are also exported to Mexican and Columbian cartels.)  How did ENACO become a monopoly?  President Garcia, the corrupt president of Peru at the time, was responsible for giving ENACO the sole contract.

Unable to live on half the income she was previously making, Elena now cultivates coca illegally, and then smuggles it onto the bus by hiding it on her person.  She brings back produce to avoid looking suspicious.  If she gets arrested, she pays off the corrupt police.  (They have a habit of reporting far less than what they confiscate, selling off the rest.)  She then (very carefully) sells or barters it at local markets.

This has been Elena’s life since the age of 18; she is now 70.  Speaking with travel groups from Overseas Adventure Travels is how she supplements her income.

Coming up next:  PERU #10: FROM OLLANTAYTAMBO TO MACHU PICCHU