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Coca eradication
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==Geopolitical issues== Given the above-mentioned considerations, many critics of coca eradication believe the fundamental goal of the U.S. government is to constrict the flow of income to the Colombian [[Marxist]] rebel movement, [[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia|FARC]], which is heavily funded by the illegal drug trade, rather than combating drugs ''per se''. Few if any such critics have anything favorable to say about the illicit drug trade, but they point out that under the current coca eradication policies, poor campesinos bear the brunt of efforts to combat it, while North American and European chemical companies (which supply chemicals needed in the manufacture of cocaine) and banks (which annually [[Money laundering|launder]] hundreds of billions of dollars in illegal revenues) continue to profit from the trade.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} (Although it is illegal in the United States for banks to hold funds from drug cartels—such as FARC—that have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}) [[Wikisource:Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs#Article 26: THE COCA BUSH AND COCA LEAVES|Article 26]] of the [[Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs]], a treaty promulgated with U.S. backing in 1961, states that "The Parties shall so far as possible enforce the uprooting of all coca bushes which grow wild. They shall destroy the coca bushes if illegally cultivated."{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} The US-based [[Drug Enforcement Administration]], along with local governments, has frequently clashed with ''[[cocaleros]]'' in attempts to eradicate coca across the Andes. This map shows the [[Chapare Province|Chapare]] region in Bolivia, which has historically been heavily targeted for coca eradication. [[Human rights]] [[NGO]]s such as [[Human Rights Watch]] have accused the US of [[human rights abuses]] in the "coca war".<ref name=hrw>[https://www.hrw.org/summaries/s.bolivia957.html Bolivia: Human Rights Violations and the War on Drugs], Human Rights Watch Vol. 7, No. 8 (B), July 1995]</ref> Meanwhile, the US-based [[Stepan Company]] is authorized by the Federal Government to import and process the [[coca]] plant<ref>May, Clifford D. [https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/01/business/how-coca-cola-obtains-its-coca.html "How Coca-Cola Obtains Its Coca"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', July 1, 1998. Accessed December 4, 2007</ref> which it obtains mainly from [[Peru]] and, to a lesser extent, [[Bolivia]]. Besides producing the coca flavoring agent for Coca-Cola, [[Stepan Company]] extracts cocaine from the coca leaves, which it sells to [[Mallinckrodt]], a [[St. Louis, Missouri]] [[pharmaceutical]] manufacturer that is the only company in the United States licensed to purify cocaine for medicinal use.<ref>{{cite news |first=Drew |last=Benson |title=Coca kick in drinks spurs export fears |url=http://www.mindfully.org/Food/2004/Kdrink-Coca-Drink19apr04.htm |access-date=2010-10-01 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120530045600/http://www.mindfully.org/Food/2004/Kdrink-Coca-Drink19apr04.htm |archive-date=2012-05-30 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
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