Chavez chews coca leaves at summit, saying 'coca isn't cocaine'

CARACAS, Venezuela

President Hugo Chavez accepted a handful of coca leaves from his Bolivian ally Evo Morales and chewed them during a summit meeting Saturday, saying "coca isn't cocaine."

"You know the strength that coca gives," Chavez said. "I've really grown used to it every day in the morning."

The socialist leader joined the Bolivian president in defending the leaf, chewed by Andean Indians for centuries, while condemning its use in making cocaine.

U.S. officials have long tried to stamp out or restrict coca cultivation.

Chavez accused Washington of trying to use the issue of drug trafficking to discredit his government for political reasons, noting that White House drug czar John Walters has accused him of facilitating the flow of Colombian cocaine through Venezuela.

Chavez called that "a serious thing," but smiled as he thanked Morales for recently sending coca to him and Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Chavez asked for more.

"You didn't bring me the coca leaf? I asked. Where are the coca leaves?" Chavez asked Morales, a former coca farmer who in 2006 dramatically brandished a coca leaf while speaking to the United Nations General Assembly. "I want the leaf that Evo produces there, the pure, pure coca leaf."

Standing up from a table, Morales walked to Chavez and opened a drawstring bag.

"Oh, friend, I knew you wouldn't fail me! They were running out," Chavez exclaimed, accepting a handful of leaves and putting some in his mouth.

"The sacred leaf of the Inca, the Aymara" Indians, Chavez said. "Thank you, brother. ... As Evo has said - and I repeat it, coca isn't cocaine."

Morales, who rose to power as head of a coca growers' union, told leaders at the regional summit that the small, green leaf is healthy and beneficial, noting its use as an ingredient in toothpaste, as well as for coca tea. He said Coca-Cola has long used a cocaine-free coca extract as part of its secret recipe - something the U.S.-based drink maker does not discuss.

Morales, backing a policy of "zero cocaine, not zero coca," has stepped up anti-drug enforcement while attempting to control coca crops through co-operative eradication programs.