[News] Coca Colla: Its the Real Thing

[Anti-Imperialist News]

Coca Colla: Its the Real Thing

By <http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/nikolaskozloff>Nikolas Kozloff
http://www.zcommunications.org/coca-colla-its-the-real-thing-by-nikolas-kozloff

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Move over Coca-Cola: here comes Bolivia.

The Andean nations indigenous people have long resented the U.S. 
beverage company for usurping the name of their sacred coca 
leaf.  Now, they are aiming to take back their heritage.  Recently, 
the government of Evo Morales announced that it would support a plan 
to produce a coca-based soft drink which would rival its fizzy 
American counterpart.

Its still unclear whether the new drink will be promoted by a private 
company, a state enterprise, or some type of joint venture between 
the two.  The new beverage will be called Coca Colla, in reference to 
age old history: in Bolivia, Quechua, Aymara and other indigenous 
peoples descended from the Incas are known as collas.

In a move that will undoubtedly exasperate Coke, Bolivian officials 
say Coca Colla will feature a black swoosh and red label similar to 
the classic Coca-Cola insignia.  Coca Colla reportedly has a black 
color, just like normal Coke, and could be sold on the market as 
early as April.

Coca Cola robbed from us the name of our coca leaf and moreover has 
cornered the market all over the world, says Julio Salazar, Secretary 
General of the Bolivian Coca Growers Federation and Senator from Evo 
Morales Movement Towards Socialism Party (known by its Spanish 
acronym MAS).  It is high time that the true owners of this natural 
resource benefit by industrializing our coca, he added.

Bolivians would like to overturn the negative stigma attached to coca 
leaf.  Morales, an Aymara Indian, says that coca in its natural state 
does not harm human health, and that scientific research has 
demonstrated the plant to be "healthy." When drug smugglers change 
coca into cocaine, Morales adds, they change the plant's chemical composition.

While the Bolivian president condemns such practices, he also touts 
the commercial uses of coca leaf.  Bolivia's new constitution, 
drafted by the ruling MAS party, recognizes coca as Bolivias 
"cultural heritage, a natural and renewable resource of biodiversity 
in Bolivia and a factor of social cohesion" and adds that coca leaf 
is not a narcotic in its natural state.

Coca leaf, which was domesticated over 4,000 years ago, is usually 
chewed with a bitter wood-ash paste to bring out the stimulant 
properties which are mild and similar to caffeine or nicotine.  In 
its pure form, coca serves to ward off hunger and counteracts the 
effects of high altitude.  Many poor peasants earn their livelihoods 
from cultivation of the leaf, and coca has been used for millennia in 
cooking, folk remedies and religious ceremonies.

Indeed, for Andean Indians coca leaf is closely tied to the spiritual 
world. Offerings to Pachamama, the Mother Earth, begin in August to 
scare away malevolent spirits of the dry season and to encourage a 
good harvest. Offerings consist of llama foetuses, sweets of various 
colors, coca leaf and other herbs. The yatiri, or indigenous priest, 
burns the offerings in a bonfire while muttering prayers to the 
achachilas, Gods that inhabit the mountains.

The Restorative Powers of Coca Wine

Though Coca Collas launch may have taken Cokes CEOs by surprise, its 
certainly not the first time that coca leaf has been incorporated in 
commercial drinks.   When I was in La Paz researching my recent book 
<http://www.amazon.com/Revolution-South-America-Rise-Left/dp/0230617549/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267639667&sr=1-1>Revolution! 
South America and the Rise of the New Left (Palgrave-Macmillan), I 
stopped by the citys coca museum where I learned about Mariani, a 
coca wine.   Launched in Europe in 1863, the wine was launched by 
Corsican chemist and entrepreneur Angelo Mariani.  The businessman 
spawned imitators such as John Styth Pemberton, an Atlanta 
entrepreneur who launched his own coca wine.  Later, the American 
created a syrup which served as the prototype for Coke.

After gathering information about the Inca and its love of coca, 
Mariani took up horticulture and began to grow the sacred Andean leaf 
in his backyard.  Ingeniously, he sent samples of his new wine to 
famous people world wide in search of endorsements.

Marianis outreach paid off: the businessman received glowing 
testimonials from the likes of Emile Zola, Thomas Edison, Buffalo 
Bill Cody and even U.S. President William McKinley, Queen Victoria 
and three Popes.  In 1885, when Ulysses Grant was in his final death 
throes and suffering from throat cancer, he drank coca 
wine.  Reportedly, the treatment helped soothe his pain.

Vin Mariani is the restorer par excellence, crowed Le Figaro 
newspaper in 1877.  It is the king of remedies against anemia. It is 
a tonic which increases the secretion of gastric juices, produces 
appetite. Vin Mariani has the rare advantage of stimulating both the 
muscular and cerebral activities.

Just how much of a kick did Mariani deliver? asks Mark Prendergast, 
author of For God, Country, and Coca-Cola: The Definitive History of 
the Great American Soft Drink and the Company That Makes 
It.  Fortunately, he says we can hazard a good guess, since a chemist 
studying various wine cocas reported in 1886 that Vin Mariani 
contained 0.12 grain cocaine per fluid ounce.  The dosage on the 
wines label called for a claret-glass full before or after every meal 
(half a glass for children).  Assuming the wineglass to hold six 
fluid ounces, three daily glasses would amount to a full bottle of 18 
ounces, or 2.16 grains of cocaine per day, enough to make someone 
feel very good indeed.

 From Coca Liquors to Pasta

Taking up Marianis lead, Andean nations have apparently carried out 
their market research and are now doing their utmost to commercialize 
other types of alcoholic coca beverages.  Take for example the 
Peruvian brewery Cervecera Peruana, which plans to export a coca beer 
to countries such as China and South Africa.  The beer is called Apu, 
a magic word signifying God, power and richness in the Quechua 
indigenous language.

Another Bolivian beverage company recently launched a coca 
whisky.  The drink is called Ajayu, which translates as soul or 
spirit in the indigenous Aymara language.  The whisky packs a punch, 
with 32% alcoholic content.  According to Ajayus producer, the whisky 
conserves all the essential qualities of coca, including more calcium 
than milk, more iron than spinach and as much phosphorus as fish.

Boosters hope that Ajayu winds up being the emblematic brand of 
Bolivia, much as tequila became identified with Mexico.  Each 
separate bottle of Ajayu contains 25 grams of coca, and the brands 
producers hope to export the drink to Cuba or Venezuela.

Historically, Mariani pioneered the use of coca leaf not only in 
beverages but also in other products such as cordials and 
tea.  Lozenges meanwhile were marketed toward singers, teachers, and 
others who sought to ease the throat.  Today, Bolivian companies have 
taken up Marianis lead and are using coca to make teas, syrups, 
toothpaste, liqueurs, candy and pastry.  In one Italian restaurant in 
La Paz, diners can even order coca spaghetti made from a mixture of 
wheat flour and coca leaf.

Coca Colla and Ethnic Pride

Though Bolivias promotion of Coca Colla may cause some to chuckle, 
the move could contribute to a further deterioration in U.S.-Bolivian 
relations.  For years, Bolivias indigenous peoples have bristled 
under the U.S.-fueled drug war which demonized coca leaf.  In a snub 
back at Washington, coca growers from the Chapare region proposed 
Coca Colla and it is now Evo Morales, himself a former coca farmer 
from Chapare, who has taken up coca nationalism as a cultural and 
political rallying cry [for those interested in pursuing this matter 
further, 
<http://www.amazon.com/Revolution-South-America-Rise-Left/dp/0230617549/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267639667&sr=1-1>see 
my chapter on coca nationalism in my book].

When speaking before adoring crowds, Morales drapes a garland of coca 
leaves around his neck and wears a straw hat layered with more 
coca.  Whats more, Morales claims that the United States seeks to 
intervene in Latin American countries by playing up the drug war. 
Washington's policy, Morales has charged, is merely "a great 
imperialist instrument for geopolitical control." The Bolivian 
President argues that the only way to do away with drug trafficking 
is to cut off demand.

Raising eyebrows in Washington, Morales recently requested the 
removal of coca leaf from a list of banned substances under the 1961 
U.N. anti-narcotics convention.  Specifically, Bolivia wants to 
modify two subsections of Article 49 of the 1961 U.N. convention on 
drugs that prohibit chewing of coca leaf.  In a theatrical move, 
Morales held up coca leaf and actually chewed it in front of a U.N. 
panel in Vienna to demonstrate that it had no ill effects.  Hardly 
amused, the Obama administration announced its opposition to Morales 
proposal the very next day.

Coca Tit-for-Tat

The Bolivian presidents UN diplomacy is not too surprising given that 
Morales originally came to power in January, 2006 promising to end 
forced eradication of coca.  In fact, the recent scuffle at the UN 
caps a number of other diplomatic fall outs: in September, 2008 
Bolivia expelled U.S. ambassador Phil Goldberg, accusing the diplomat 
of conspiracy.  Shortly thereafter, Morales suspended official 
collaboration with the DEA.

Striking back, the Bush administration suspended Bolivias 
participation in a tariff-exemption program for Andean nations, 
asserting that Morales was not cooperating sufficiently in the war on 
drugs.  Categorically rejecting that assertion, the Bolivian leader 
cited U.N. statistics demonstrating that his government had done 
better than Washington allies Colombia and Peru in seizing shipments 
of cocaine.  Indeed, local authorities claim they have confiscated 
tons of cocaine and destroyed many drug laboratories.

Its difficult to see a way out of the morass, given that the Obama 
White House does not seem very interested in reversing the foreign 
policy course of the earlier Bush years.  In fact, Washington says 
Morales is not doing enough to clamp down on drug smuggling and has 
continued to exclude Bolivia from the U.S. tariff exemption program.

An excluded black man can exclude an Indian man, Morales 
declared.  The so-called Indians and blacks have historically been 
the most excluded, the most marginalized, Morales added.  If he wants 
to exclude us let him continue to exclude us; that doesnt matter to 
us.  In another round of the endless tit-for-tat, Morales recently 
expelled U.S. diplomat Francisco Martnez, also on charges of conspiracy.

Increased Cultivation for Coca-Colla?

Joking aside, the Coca-Colla imbroglio may add yet another twist on 
the recent diplomatic fall out.  Like neighboring Peru, Bolivia 
permits certain limited cultivation of coca for use in cooking, folk 
medicine and religious rites.  If plans for Coca Colla move forward, 
however, Bolivia will have to grow more coca, thus putting a further 
strain on U.S. relations.

Under Bolivia law, up to 30,000 acres of land may be cultivated with 
coca, but Morales wants to increase that to nearly 50,000 hectares in 
an effort to further commercialize the leaf.  With the new excess 
cultivation, Bolivia will be well placed to launch its new Coca 
Colla.  While promoting the beverage is sure to irritate Washington, 
the move is politically smart for Morales as he may drum up support 
against an unpopular corporation while helping to bring welcome 
resources to coca growers.

Whether or not the initiative is a success, notes a recent column on 
the environmental website treehugger, Bolivia may find international 
support for standing up to a company that many see as an unfeeling 
capitalist juggernaut with a product that better serves the 
environment and livelihoods of the people producing it. No word on 
how Coca-Colla will taste, but there's already something refreshing about it.

Nikolas Kozloff is the author of 
<http://www.amazon.com/Revolution-South-America-Rise-Left/dp/0230617549/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267639667&sr=1-1>Revolution! 
South America and the Rise of the New Left (Palgrave-Macmillan), and 
<http://www.amazon.com/No-Rain-Amazon-Americas-Climate/dp/0230614760/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266891858&sr=1-1>No 
Rain in the Amazon: How South Americas Climate Affects the Entire 
Planet, to be released by Palgrave-Macmillan in a matter of 
weeks.  Visit his blog, 
<http://www.nikolaskozloff.com/>http://www.nikolaskozloff.com/




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