Cocalero

This documentary captures the dignity of a man, a nation, and its people. The unity, pride and advancement of Bolivia comes alive to the viewer by way of everyday people and a president with foresight, honor and a commitment to the nation he represents. This Andean country is standing against exploitation, economic manipulation, and years of being dominated by the North. President Morales in not only an intelligent man, but a true asset to this world and its progress.

this is interesting but a little slow.

This is an important documentary and historical document, since it has extraordinary footage of Evo Morales, the first indigenous president of Bolivia. The film follows Evo during the presidential campaign and seems to truly have unlimited access to him and his followers. However, the film is hampered by unnecessarily "artistic" camerawork and lack of narration. I watched this documentary without much background information on Morales and was mainly interested in learning more. Although I learned some, I feel that if there had been more background given, I would have learned a lot more than I did. I especially felt that the lack of context and narration was simply wrong-headed when they showed footage of what seems to be a massacre of coca workers. Why not explain what was happening? I think that people that already know a great deal about Morales and Bolivia will find this documentary fascinating, but that those who are just looking to learn more are likely to be a bit frustrated, as I was.

This is a documentary recorded with a hand held camcorder and the takes are necessarily shaky, I advise the viewer to take some Dramamine 20-30 minutes before viewing. But it is a deeply authentic and intimate depiction of Mr. Evo Morales' personality, his values, ambitions, and of his constituency. Ethnic backgrounds aside, as americans, from the Patagonia to Alaska, we should all celebrate the election of an american indian to the presidency of Bolivia and embrace him. All indians in the Americas have been excluded for far too long from participating in..., well, everything. History demonstrates we have been very bigoted and very unfair to american indians since the arrival of the españoles. This a humble means to bring a big message to everyone. Outstanding brave work of Mr. Alejandro Landes.

While the people of the US corporate state often claim to live in the world's leading democracy, - despite the common knowledge that we have the best democracy money can buy - "Cocaleros" shows that other people in the world know a few things about democracy themselves. With little money, but through ingenious organizing, the indigenous majority of Bolivia was able to elect a person who represented their interests, and would work to protect their coca growing traditions and distribute the wealth of the country more fairly. All these are radical ideas in the US, as we wage a global war against coca growing Plan Colombia: Cashing in on the Drug War Failure and concentrate wealth towards the upper classes The Global Class War: How America's Bipartisan Elite Lost Our Future - and What It Will Take to Win It Back . Nevertheless, Bolivians retain many of their communities and a sense of solidarity that has made democracy more of a reality than a catch-phrase. "Cocaleros" simply follows Evo Morales and his supporters as they do the mundane things of preparing for an election - media appearances, handing out flyers, learning about the ballots and so forth. While the popular movement for Evo grew, there were US political advisors who were working to get the establishment candidate elected. That issue is covered in the film Our Brand Is Crisis which features James Carville as he devises media strategies to frighten people into voting against Morales. "Cocaleros" has some shots of Bolivia that are just beautiful, and the soundtrack of original music is sensational; and I thoroughly enjoyed the ways it represents indigenous people who were largely exterminated here in the US, and face vicious discrimination in South America. There are moments in the film where Morales is called a "f-ing Indian." So, it was wonderful to see Morales win, and this film does a great job of honoring that historic achievement. Many films are being produced that will help US citizens overcome their insularity and sense of superiority. It's a shame this sort of enlightening and humane movie isn't aired on stations like NBC, but Link TV and Sundance do air perception-expanding films like "Cocaleros." I would also recommend the film The Corporation which features a segment on Bolivia's struggle to control their water resources, and also outlines the problems the entire world faces from massive corporate power. Wikipedia also has an interesting write-up on Morales, who said, "The worst enemy of humanity is U.S. capitalism. That is what provokes uprisings like our own, a rebellion against a system, against a neoliberal model, which is the representation of a savage capitalism. If the entire world doesn't acknowledge this reality, that the national states are not providing even minimally for health, education and nourishment, then each day the most fundamental human rights are being violated."

Move over War Room, James Carville and Bill Clinton, and make way for Cocalero, a new political documentary featuring highlights of the triumphant Presidential campaign of Evo Morales, a Bolivian Indian and leader of Andean coca growers' union. The film sets out to do two things: first, to highlight Morale's campaign and portray him in the most charming way possible, and, secondly, to show the plight and dignity of the Andean Indians whose crusade against coca eradication has made them a cause célèbre among anti-American activists throughout the world- including the U.S. It succeeds on both levels even as it avoids an enlightening, non-partisan look at the consequences and rationales behind the anti-coca campaign. The makers of Cocalero were given terrific access to Morales and you can't help but come away liking him. You see Morales campaigning down bustling city streets, stumping for votes in dirt-poor native farming communities, gamely spinning gotcha journos on television, and waxing eloquently from the podium before throngs of supporters. All the while, you're struck by his low-keyed personality. This is not the kind of populist leader we've come to expect. Morales is certainly charming and possesses a great sense of humor, but his manner is quite often underscored, and, at times reserved. He bears almost no resemblance to his bombastic, ideological partners Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro. In addition to Morales, the filmmakers spend quite a bit of time with Leonilda Zurita, a rural candidate for Senate living in a thatched roofed shelter with no walls and no running water. At one point, Zurita leads fellow members of the women's coca union in chants: "Viva Comrade Evo, Viva the coca leaf, death to the Yankees." Typically I would have a bit of discomfort when hearing folks shout "death to the Yanks", but one look at the frailty of the assembled crowd and the jocular manner in which they hurl their chants make them seem more farcical than a threat. The Zurita parts are fascinating. Here's a lady campaigning for Senate, one of Morales key politicos, and at one point in the film we see her apologize, as she offers a bowl of eggs to the camerman, that she "wasn't able to catch the chicken." At another, we watch Zurita as she helps bring in the harvest of the coca leaf. Another interesting vignette shows off the PR skills of Adriana Gil, an attractive woman with traditional European looks who during the campaign worked as the spokesperson for Morale's political party, MAS. Gil is clearly a pleasant face and a strong spinmeister who was brought in to assuage the city people of St. Cruz who were mostly supporting the other candidate amid cries by Morales that he would try to expropriate land from those in cities who "had too much," and give it to the farmers. If you want to view firsthand a fascinating foreign political process at work amid some gorgeous and fascinating scenery, this documentary will be well worth your time. If, on the other hand, you're looking for a dispassionate conversation about American and Bolivian coca policy and the good and bad of American foreign policy, this one won't satisfy you. Here's the trailer: [...]

We needed this for a Spanish class and found it very informative. I came away with a feeling like I was really there. The producer really knows what he is doing. I give it a thumbs up.

This film provides an opportunity to witness the road to the presidency of an unlikley candidate in Bolivia. The filmmaker's access to Evo Morales and some of his supporters and allies provides a window into a political process that is both organic and extremely organized and hierchal. The power of community organization seems to outshine education, money, even ideology. The film also shows us the lives of women and men who live off of coca production, whose business has become more profitable as a result of the US crackdown on cocaine production. This relative profitability is also a powerful political tool to rally farmers behind this canditate. The complexities are somewhat burried in the story, but the perspective is sufficiently fresh to keep you watching and thinking.

Many in the media were caught off guard when a humble, "uneducated" indigenous man became president of Bolivia. What was his secret? Alejandro Landes gets behind it and reveals something even more surprising: it was Evo Morales's activism as a cocalero (coca grower) and unionist that set him on the road to becoming Bolivia's first true indigenous president. How could farming a plant so infamous in the First World be the key to Third World success? Landes again ferrets it out: Coca is sacred to the indigenous peoples of the Andes. In its natural state, it is nonaddictive and safe for consumption; people chew its leaves every day to stave off hunger and thirst, as well as high-altitude sickness. A study by no less than Harvard University has found it to be nutritious, as well, and recommended it as food. This is no news to the indigenous of Bolivia; they've known for centuries that it was good for them. They value it so highly that they make offerings of it to Pachamama, Mother Earth. Which is why they rebelled so strongly against the US's efforts at coca eradication in the Chapare, the tropical lowland coca-growing region where Evo first became a farmer. Here, Landes unearths another revelation: Evo started out growing rice. Then, after the "capitalization" of the 1980s and '90s, when rice became impossible to earn a living from, it was bananas; then, when the price of those sank through the floor, it was coca. Thanks to the drug wars, coca became the only plant that paid its growers enough to live on. And since the US wasn't helping with alternative crops, the cocaleros became militant when "zero coca" became the policy. Clashes with the army led to deaths. Amid the widespread discredit of the "democratic" regimes who bowed to US policymakers, Evo rose through the ranks, going from unionist to congressman to presidential candidate. Landes deals with this background briefly but concisely, focusing mainly on the presidential campaign of 2005. By that point, Evo's critical mass had risen to the point where he had become unstoppable. He was elected with 54% of the popular vote--the highest of any Bolivian president in history. Even more interesting, it wasn't just the coca growers and the indigenous who made that "unthinkable" event a reality. Landes takes us to some surprising pockets of Evo support, including the prosperous city of Santa Cruz, supposedly a hotbed of anti-Evo sentiment. Evo himself seems surprised that he was invited to speak there, as he addresses a capacity crowd at a fundraising dinner in a fancy hotel. But he rises to the occasion, and at the end, everyone is lining up to shake his hand and have their picture taken with him. A businessman even says, "I like your ideology. You have my vote." Other shots reveal the crowd to be mainly white and mestizo. This revealing scene belies the current trend of reporting on Bolivia as "racially polarized" and Evo as "anti-business". Challenging myths about coca, Bolivia and Evo Morales all at the same time, Cocalero is essential viewing for believers and skeptics alike.