Pubdate: Sat, 24 Feb 2001
Source: Bergen Record (NJ)
Copyright: 2001 Bergen Record Corp.
Contact:  150 River St., Hackensack, NJ 07601
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Author: Vanessa Arrington, Associated Press

BOLIVIA, WITH U.S. HELP, CLAIMS VICTORY IN DRUG WAR

CHIMORE, Bolivia -- Declaring a victory in the drug war, the Bolivian 
government says a U.S.-financed campaign has wiped out coca farming in the 
Chapare region, once a major world producer of coca.

But farmers who were persuaded to give up coca in favor of legal crops say 
the victory may be short-lived if they don't receive financial aid. They 
called on the United States to help by buying more of their bananas, 
oranges, and pineapples.

"You all have to open up your markets," said 30-year-old Beningo Cossio, a 
coca farmer turned honey producer, referring to the United States. "Our 
products are only being sold locally and that's not enough."

Since taking office in 1997 and pledging to rid Bolivia from the list of 
drug-producing countries by 2002, President Hugo Banzer has moved 
aggressively to wipe out illegal coca, the raw ingredient of cocaine.

As part of the effort, more than 106,000 acres of coca farms have been 
uprooted in the Chapare region in the last three years. The last 50 acres 
were destroyed this week.

For farmers accustomed to the lucrative profits of coca, the switch to 
legal crops has meant a blow to their livelihood. The coca leaves sell for 
nearly $5 a pound, while crops such as pineapple -- one of the alternative 
development crops now being grow in Chapare -- sell for 10 cents a pound.

"This is simply not enough to pay the rent or eat," said Maria Justina 
Beltran, balancing a sleeping baby on her belly and holding a coca plant in 
her hand.

"Families here are lucky to make $50 a month," said Elizabeth Copa, adding 
that that has made many farmers leery of the alternative crop projects. "I 
think people would embrace these projects more if there were more markets 
available."

Herbert Muller, an economist and a former Bolivian government minister, 
said the eradication program has resulted in an annual loss to the economy 
of South America's poorest nation of $300 million.

He said the economic hardships being felt by the farmers could potentially 
undermine the accomplishments of the effort.

"Without more development, the risk is that within two or three years . . . 
Bolivia will again be on the cocaine circuit," he said.

U.S. officials concede more needs to be done to help the farmers. But they 
also point out that Bolivia has been the recipient of billions of dollars 
in U.S. aid in recent decades.

One U.S. lawmaker attending the three-day conference this week said he 
thought Bolivia's eradication effort had been grounded in a sense of moral 
responsibility, but he argued other countries have no moral obligation to 
financially compensate Bolivians farmers who have given up growing an 
illegal substance.

"The product they were growing here was killing kids [in Bolivia], killing 
kids in Europe, and in America. It had to be shut down regardless," said 
Mark Souder, a Republican congressman from Indiana.

Members of the U.S. Congress are tentatively scheduled this year to decide 
whether to loosen up the U.S. market for Bolivian imports such as Andean 
textiles and the Chapare's alternative crops.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager