Aside of the protest walk of the TIPNIS that is entering its second month, there is another issue that may be related to such road passing through this National Park: coca leaf production is said to exhaust the nutrients of the soil where it’s grown.

An initial thought is that coca growers in the Chapare disregarded the “red line” that by law in the 1990’s prevented coca growers to go inside the TIPNIS. As there is the presence of coca, the road construction could disguise this fact.

The more pressing thought that need to be assessed is that the soils of the Chapare are getting depleted more and more; which inevitably imposes to look after “virgin land” and that is why Santa Cruz (El Chore and Yapacani) have began experiencing such coca “invasion.” By building the road inside the TIPNIS, there is the “great” opportunity for the coca growers to get access to to new land for their coca crops, hence narcotrafficking’s pressure to continue with its cocaine supply will continue to grow, as it is a profitable business inside Bolivia.

Back in the 1990’s I visited La Asunta, in the Yungas of La Paz; I remember now, as I walked through depleted soil, no coca was grown in a soil that for hundreds of years served to feed the Inca’s empire, the colony and the Republic of Bolivia. So, this theory that coca has depleted the Chapare is a very frightening situation that may be a strong point why the coca unions are pressing their current leader and also current Bolivian president to insists to cut through the TIPNIS forest.