"The first time that I went to harvest coca, it had to be defoliated. I took a furrow and was working, when I got to a plant that was the same size as the coca but with thorns; five meters farther along, there was another coca plant with thorns. 'This coca with thorns holds me back,' I said to the other guys, who laughed and told me that among the coca, orange trees were always planted, one every five meters. Even today, I still hear, 'Hey Evo, the guy who harvested the orange leaves!'"

"Something that stuck with me forever in my thoughts and in my consciousness happened in Senda Bayer, central Chipiriri, in 1981: a coca farmer was savagely assassinated by the military of the García Meza government when they were drunk and beating him savagely because he didn't want to declare himself guilty of drug trafficking; so, without a second thought, they doused his whole body with gasoline and, in front of several settlers, burned him alive."

"It was a horrendous crime. Since then, I have promised to fight tirelessly for the respect of human rights, for peace, for peace on our land, for the free cultivation of the coca leaf, for our natural resources, for the dominion, for the defence of national sovereignty, for the dignity of Bolivians and for our freedom."

In 1981, Evo, coca farmer, athlete, is named secretary of sports for his union, San Francisco. However, in 1983, his father passed away, forcing him to put aside his union responsibilities in order to dedicate himself fully to his land and his family. In addition, he had to travel frequently from Chapare to Orinoca to attend agricultural activities in his home community.