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1994-05-02
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<text>
<title>
Senator Comments On Crop Substitution Program
</title>
<article>
<hdr>
Foreign Broadcast Information Service, March 31, 1992
Peru: Senator Comments on Crop Substitution Program
</hdr>
<body>
<p>[Lima EL COMERCIO in Spanish 1 Mar 92 p A4]
</p>
<p> [Text] Peru must seek other sources of foreign financing to
fund a crop substitution program to replace coca leaves with
alternate crops, while also working to obtain assistance from
international private companies operating in Peru.
</p>
<p> This statement was made yesterday by the chair of the
Senate's Special Standing Committee on the Drug Traffic, Absalon
Alarcon Bravo de Rueda (PAP [Aprista Party of Peru]), who said
the coca plantations in Peru have spread until they now cover
350,000 hectares of our forest lands.
</p>
<p> Commenting on the United States' refusal to provide more
funding for the crop substitution program, the parliamentarian
noted that at the present time Peru has limited budget
resources available for coca substitution programs. He said the
parliamentary group is willing to cooperate with the Executive,
so that the 1993 budget will include resources for
agroindustrial development in the Andean Trapezoid and the Upper
Huallaga Valley.
</p>
<p> Alarcon explained that the spread of coca plantations has a
negative ecological impact. These plantations have already
destroyed 300,000 hectares of woods, and there is a danger of
exterminating native communities, like the Ashaninkas, the
Aguarunas, and Huitotos, who live in the eastern belt.
</p>
<p> He proposed that Peru take urgent steps to combat the drug
traffic, such as coordinating legislation with Bolivia, the
second major coca producer; creating severe penalties for drug
traffickers; and establishing a reciprocal data bank to fill in
the information gap we now have. This will be an important
factor in making major progress in applying antidrug policies.
</p>
<p> He called upon local and regional governments as well as
private companies in Peru to help with this effort against the
drug traffic; no part of society can be excluded from this
crusade.
</p>
<p> Finally, the legislator announced that a forum called "The
Drug Traffic, the World's Problem" will be held next July to
call the international community's attention to multinational
responsibilities in solving the scourge of the illegal drug
business.
</p>
</body>
</article>
</text>