Coca and Conflict in the Chapare: When United States-funded security forces shot and killed cocalero (coca grower) leader Casimiro Huanca on December 6, 2001, during a peaceful protest, his death represented the skyrocketing violence in the Chapare, Bolivia’s largest coca-growing zone. The protests and the ensuing violence resulted from the cocaleros’ increasing resolve, beginning in September 2001, to openly resist forced eradication.
