Pubdate: Wed, 19 Feb 2003
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2003 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author: Kevin G. Hall

BOLIVIA LIKELY TO EASE EFFORT TO CURB COCA CROP

Restrictions Were Rare Anti-Drug Victory For U.S.

COCHABAMBA, Bolivia - Bolivia's government is preparing to ease its 
unpopular effort to eradicate coca and allow farmers to grow the raw 
material from which cocaine is made.

The move, which could come within a week, would be a sharp reversal of 
Washington's only success in curbing drug production in South America's 
Andean region. U.S. officials fear that any increase in legal coca 
production would also be an opening to greater illicit sales. The United 
States has given Bolivia more than $1.3 billion in counter-narcotics and 
development aid since 1993.

However, embattled Bolivian President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada promised as 
a campaigner to review the coca-eradication policy, and his leading 
opponents are pro-coca.

Government negotiators and coca growers came to a tentative agreement on 
coca growing last week in Cochabamba, even as violent demonstrations 
nationwide resulted in more than two dozen deaths and a number of 
government buildings destroyed.

The proposed coca deal, which Sanchez de Lozada is reviewing, would allow 
roughly 15,000 Bolivian farmers in Bolivia's tropical Chapare region to 
grow a "catu" of coca -- about a fifth of an acre -- during a six-month 
period equal to two harvests, said Bolivian anti-drug czar Ernesto 
Justiniano. During the six-month period, a study would be undertaken to 
determine how much demand there is for legal uses of coca.

Many Bolivians chew coca legally as a stimulant, appetite suppressant or to 
cope with exertion at high altitudes. Bolivia currently allows about 30,000 
acres of legal coca in the Yungas region outside La Paz to meet this usage.

Coca farmers argue that there is an underserved market for legal uses of 
coca. Anti-drug czar Justiniano contends that if farmers agree to grow 
limited quantities of legal coca, they'd be less likely to grow coca for 
illegal sale. "Eradication is not an end in itself but a tactic in the 
fight against drug trafficking," he said.

The United States insists that no more coca growing can be justified.

"A pause in eradication is a pause in development," U.S. Ambassador David 
Greenlee has warned repeatedly in the Bolivian media, reminding Bolivians 
that the U.S. aid remains tied to "zero coca" in the tropical Chapare 
region east of Cochabamba where most coca is grown and clandestine cocaine 
laboratories are found.

Justiniano estimated that 15,000 farmers in the Chapare would participate 
if coca growing were permitted.

Bolivia is the only South American success story in the U.S.-led war on 
drugs. Since 1998, it has eradicated more than 148,000 acres of coca, 
reducing illicit cocaine production from 234 tons a year to less than eight 
tons annually.

Effective eradication has cost traditional political parties dearly as 
voters resentful of a strong U.S. presence flocked to radical, pro-coca 
parties. The leading coca-growing proponent, Evo Morales, fell 43,000 votes 
short of winning the popular vote against Sanchez de Lozada in last year's 
presidential elections. Morales and his allies now control about a third of 
Bolivia's congress.

Interviewed at his home in Cochabamba, Morales told Knight Ridder he 
believes the U.S. goal for "zero coca" in Bolivia is now dead.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials in Washington, beset by a 
heavy snowfall, could not be reached for comment.

He predicted that by the time coca-growing negotiations with the government 
are done, "we will end up with two or three catus of coca," per farmer.

The issue became more urgent after last week's violent demonstrations and 
rioting in protests aimed at Sanchez de Lozada. Opponents want the 
president to resign after just seven months in office. His Cabinet resigned 
Tuesday and he desperately seeks international aid to stave off collapse 
and silence detractors. 
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