Evo Morales was a Bolivian congressman at the time of filming in 2004. At the time he was best known as an advocate and unofficial representative of traditional coca farmers, who are, for the most part, poor and marginalized. Today this indigenous politician and one-time farmer himself is best known for being president of Bolivia.

The people of the Chapare region are harassed by military coca-eradication patrols that not only destroy their crops of coca but also frequently injure, insult, and even commit atrocities. But the will of the people and the culture fight on.