Posted on 02/24/2003 4:43:03 PM PST by gaucho
February 23, 2003
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) -- The president of Bolivia is considering a plan to resume cultivation of the raw ingredient in cocaine in a remote jungle basin -- a move the U.S. government fears would undermine what is viewed as its most successful anti-drug program in South America.
President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada is studying a proposal to allow cultivation of coca in the Chapare region of central Bolivia to help calm unrest among growers who have blockaded major highways and put their support behind his political rival.
"We've begun serious dialogues with coca growers with the aim of combatting drug trafficking and maintaining social tranquility," Ernesto Justiniano, the vice minister of social defense, said in an interview with The Associated Press on Friday.
Justiniano said the program would hurt drug traffickers by giving the government more control over what is now a clandestine industry in the jungle lowlands.
U.S. officials staunchly oppose the proposal to allow each grower in the area to plant one-fifth of an acre of coca, saying it would undermine the $1.3 billion effort to eradicate coca plantations from the region over the last six years.
"Our policy is very clear and it remains clear," said an official at the U.S. embassy. "Any proposal that would legitimize or legalize any coca in the Chapare -- which is illegal -- would be a violation of Bolivian law and a violation of international treaties to which Bolivia is a signatory."
U.S. officials have said the proposal could trigger a halt in aid from the United States and international lending agencies such as the International Monetary Fund to South America's poorest nation.
It could also be used to exclude Bolivia from inclusion in a proposed hemispheric free-trade zone backed by Washington.
Bolivia's government plans to conduct a six-month study to determine the size of the nation's limited legal coca market, which is now restricted to some 30,000 acres to supply indigenous people who chew the leaves, which act as a stimulant and can stave off hunger.
American officials fear that enlarging the area allowed for legal cultivation would return Bolivia to the ranks of major cocaine producers.
All coca production in the Chapare -- a jungle basin the size of New Jersey that supplied half of all cocaine in the world five years ago -- is illegal. The leaf has been eradicated by U.S.-trained soldiers.
Moreover, the bush is one of the hardiest and most common plants in South America. It is as common as creosote bushes in Arizona and can grow without the least care or cultivation.
Like so much of the War on (Some) Drugs, trying to eradicate coca in Bolivia is a pointless, expensive waste of time.
-ccm
Boliva also forces the coca growers and their adult family members to meet three time a week in the town square and consume the refined product.
Coca production would cease in about three weeks
Can we also force the Scotch distillers to down a case in 24 hours?
Amen!
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