Culture - Bolivia to destroy coca....

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<DIV =artTitle>Bolivia to destroy coca, honor pact with peasants</DIV>
<DIV =newsDate>Fri Jul 8, 2005 4:59 PM ET</DIV>
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LA PAZ, Bolivia, July 8 (Reuters) - Bolivia is determined to eradicate coca plants used to make cocaine, but it will honor a pact that allows indigenous farmers to grow the crop for traditional uses, caretaker President Eduardo Rodriguez said on Friday.


A U.S.-funded coca eradication program in Bolivia, the world's third-largest producer of coca, aims to destroy all the country's coca except for 12,000 hectares in the Yungas Valley, the country's biggest source of illegal coca.


The coca eradication programs in the Andean regions typically preserve a token amount of coca production out of respect for age-old traditional uses by indigenous cultures. The Yungas Valley is the traditional home of coca in Bolivia.


In October, former President Carlos Mesa authorized additional coca cultivation beyond the 12,000 hectares in another key growing valley, Chapare, during negotiations with powerful coca farmer and opposition leader Evo Morales.


Peasants in Chapare had violently resisted eradication efforts and the agreement allows them to keep a family-size plot of coca for one year, pending a study on how much demand there is for coca's traditional uses. The pact effectively authorizes about 3,200 additional hectares of the crop.


On Friday, Rodriguez said he would respect that agreement, which he called "concerted eradication," while upholding Bolivia's international commitment to destroy most of the crop.


"There is still an eradication goal pending ... which we're going to undertake seriously and in a concerted manner," Rodriguez told reporters, without providing figures.


He said eradication has continued at a slower pace, but was now peaceful due to the pact with the farmers.


Rodriguez's bid aims to strike a balance between U.S. pressure to crack down on production in Andean nations, including Colombia and Peru, and the demands of the increasingly powerful indigenous majority who defend the crop.


The United States has poured an average of $150 million annually into anti-drug programs in the Andean nation over the past five years. Despite the effort, the country's coca cultivation expanded 17 percent in 2004, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.


Rodriguez took office June 9 after weeks of massive indigenous protests over the government's energy policy toppled his predecessor Mesa, the second president to be forced out of office in less than two years. General elections are scheduled for Dec. 4.


Indians in Bolivia traditionally chew coca leaves to ward off hunger and altitude sickness, but there is no consensus on how much coca is needed to satisfy that demand.