Pubdate: Sat, 23 Mar 2002 Source: Reuters (Wire) Copyright: 2002 Reuters Limited BOLIVIA SEEKS U.S. HELP, NOT CRITICISM, ON DRUGS LIMA, Peru (Reuters) - Bolivia, the world's No. 3 cocaine producer, on Saturday rejected U.S. criticism that it was not doing enough to fight illicit drugs and said what it needed instead was access to U.S. markets for legal crops. "We've reduced coca crops (the plant from which cocaine is extracted) by more than 90 percent ... and we'll continue controls, but the task won't be completed without access to markets and opportunities for legal crops and products," President Jorge Quiroga told reporters in Lima. He was due to meet visiting President Bush and other Andean leaders later to discuss renewing a deal to give a range of goods from Peru, Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador free access to the United States to help the anti-drugs fight in a region that produces almost all the world's cocaine. Quiroga last week hit back at U.S. criticism of his policy, saying no country had done a better job of eliminating drugs over the last five years. A U.S. report issued earlier this month alleged the government had been reluctant to close 15 illegal markets and that there had been massive replanting of coca since 2001 in the subtropical Chapare region. The report said Bolivia's coca eradication program "had difficulties" since Quiroga, a Texas-educated engineer, took office last August from the ailing Hugo Banzer. But Quiroga called the U.S. criticism "unacceptable and wrong" and called on the United States, the world's top drug consumer, to cut demand. According to U.S. data, coca cultivation is soaring in Colombia, far and away the world's top producer, while in Peru, the second largest producer, new crops are being planted as fast as old ones are eradicated. "The important thing is not to get into a debate about the past, but about markets and opportunities for the future," Quiroga said. "This is the central theme of this meeting." - --- MAP posted-by: Beth