Pope to chew coca leaves in Bolivia, reveals minister

Pope Francis has requested to chew coca leaves during his visit to Bolivia next month, a government minister has claimed.

The Argentinian pope is visiting Bolivia for two days as part of a whirlwind tour of South America in July.

Coca leaves are the primary ingredient in cocaine, but the unprocessed leaf is legal and widely used in Bolivia and other Andean countries as a remedy for altitude sickness.

Bolivian culture minister Marko Machicao told broadcasters yesterday that the pope had made a special request to be provided with the leaves.

"We offered [the pope] coca tea or something for the altitude," he said. "He has specifically requested that he wants to chew coca, so we will be awaiting the Holy Father with the sacred coca leaf."

Francis will arrive in La Paz, the Bolivian capital, on 8 July but will only spend four hours there due to the city's high elevation which is likely to have a pronounced effect on the religious leader, who only has one lung after one was removed following an infection in his teenage years.

La Paz is situated at around 3,650m (11,975 ft) above sea level, making it one of the world's highest capital cities.

The pope will meet with Bolivian president Evo Morales before flying to Santa Cruz in the east of the country, where he will meet with grassroots activists and visit the notorious Palmasola prison. In 2013 a riot in the jail resulted in more than 30 deaths, including that of an 18-month old child.

He will also be visiting Ecuador and Paraguay as part of the trip.

Under the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, coca leaves were defined as an illegal substance and government regulation of the crops was prescribed. The signatories also called for the abolition of coca leaf chewing within 25 years of the convention coming into force.

Outside South America, most countries make no distinction between the coca leaf and other substances containing cocaine.

Morales, a former coca grower, has campaigned for the UN to recognise the chewing of coca leaves as part of Bolivian heritage and to lift its ban on the leaves.

Growing the leaves for religious and medicinal purposes is legal and licensed in Bolivia, where many indigenous people consider the coca bush to be sacred.

A coca leaf extract is also used to flavour the soft drink Coca-Cola.

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Conor is a staff writer for Newsweek covering Africa, with a focus on Nigeria, security and conflict.

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