Pubdate: Fri, 04 May 2001 Source: Financial Times (UK) Section: The Americas; Pg. 3 Copyright: The Financial Times Limited 2001 Contact: http://www.ft.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/154 Author: Paul Keller BOLIVIAN GOVERNMENT TO MEET COCA PROTESTERS LIMA - Bolivia stepped back from the brink of violent social conflict with talks due to start yesterday in the capital, La Paz, between the government and protesting coca growers. In negotiations to hold the talks, coca growers, led by Evo Morales, a militant union leader and congressman, agreed to clear road blocks set up to protest about the US-sponsored eradication of their crops, a government spokesman said. In return, the government has withdrawn some 7,000 troops from the tropical Chapare area - once the main coca-growing region - 200 miles south-east of the capital. "There is political will on both sides to reach an agreement," the spokesman said. "But what is not in discussion is coca eradication. We will be talking about how we can help coca growers with more aid and other measures." The Chapare coca producers - some 40,000 - want the government to halt its eradication programme, suspend a drug-trafficking law and withdraw troops from the region. The deadline for an agreement is May 21. The government has also agreed to suspend indefinitely its plans to chop down 1,700 hectares of illegally grown coca in the Yungas area outside La Paz. Coca eradication has been a cornerstone of Bolivia's attempt to clean up its image as a drug-trafficking centre and attract massive US aid. But the eradication of some 70,000 hectares of leaf - the raw material for cocaine - - has deprived impoverished farmers of their livelihoods and caused much unrest. At least 10 people died in clashes between police and Chapare coca farmers last year. President Hugo Banzer's government has been besieged by protests and strikes in recent weeks, as groups of workers stepped up their protests about what they see as the state's failure to keep its promises - including, they say, halting privatisation, raising pay and rehiring dismissed public workers. Seven lawmakers held a hunger strike last month to support the unions and protest about alleged excessive force used by police when they broke up the demonstrations of the coca growers, who arrived in La Paz last week after a 15-day march from the Chapare. Protesters have called for Mr Banzer, a former military dictator who ruled in the 1970s, to stand down immediately rather than wait for mid-2002 elections. Deteriorating economic conditions, allegations of corruption and social unrest have further undermined Mr Banzer's grip on power. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth