Pubdate: Sat, 22 Feb 2003
Source: Guardian, The (UK)
Copyright: 2003 Guardian Newspapers Limited
Contact:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/175

PERU ARRESTS LEADER OF COCA PROTEST

LIMA, Peru (AP) - Police arrested a prominent coca farming leader Friday as 
protests in rural Peru against the eradication of coca - the base 
ingredient in cocaine - moved into their fourth day.

Police in the city of Ayacucho, 205 miles southeast of Lima, told The 
Associated Press that they arrested Nelson Palomino, head of the Apurimac 
River Valley Agricultural Producers Federation, for alleged "terrorist 
propagandizing."

Hundreds of poor farmers in the jungle town of Aguaytia, 235 miles 
northeast of Lima, began blocking isolated highways on Tuesday in protest 
of government programs to destroy illegal coca crops.

Palomino's arrest is believed to be an attempt to stop the spread of 
solidarity protests, which have sprung up in the Ucayali region.

Interior Vice Minister Roberto Vasquez said police have identified protest 
leaders who they believe are tied to drug traffickers and "are taking 
measures."

Peru was once the world's leading coca producer, but cut crops from 285,000 
acres in 1995 to 84,000 acres in 2001, thanks to low coca prices, 
eradication and programs to help farmers grow alternate crops. The acreage 
increased last year to 90,400 acres, mainly due to the intensifying civil 
war in neighboring Colombia.

Increasing demand has raised coca prices in Peru from about $2 a pound in 
1998 to almost $9 a pound last year, according to government statistics.
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