Putting eradication on hold: the symbolic dimension of a negotiated pacification in the VRAEM

The article explains the heterogeneous implementation of coca crop eradication in Peru, particularly the successive suspensions of eradication in the VRAEM, the most important producer. The VRAEM allows examining state capacity and state relations with non-state actors’ resistance, particularly coca growers. We conclude that state tolerance responds to a process of accumulation of the State’s symbolic capital, produced in negotiation with coca growers. These social actors demand in return recognition of their role and the coca economy in the pacification and the established order. This order is hybrid, but it makes possible the State’s development, the control of violence, and avoids monopolizing the illicit economy by insurgent actors.