Text: U.S. Applauds Bolivia's Drug-Eradication Successes

19 December 2000

Text: U.S. Applauds Bolivia's Drug-Eradication Successes

Reeker pledges continued support in this effort

The United States is praising the government and people of Bolivia for their continued success in the eradication of illegal coca crops, State Department Deputy Spokesman Philip Reeker said in a December 19 statement.

Following is the text:

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
December 19, 2000

STATEMENT BY PHILIP T. REEKER, DEPUTY SPOKESMAN

Bolivia's Coca Reduction Efforts

Bolivian President Hugo Banzer is today presiding over a ceremony to mark the elimination of all significant coca in the Chapare, which was Bolivia's principal coca-growing region. 7,500 hectares of coca remaining in the Chapare were eliminated this year despite severe violence directed at eradication forces, resulting in the death of seven police and military personnel. We applaud the resolve of the Bolivian government and the Bolivian people to free their country from the tyranny of drug trafficking.

While less than 14,000 hectares of coca remain under cultivation in the Yungas region, the Bolivian government has outlined plans for reductions to the level needed for internal indigenous use and export to the pharmaceutical and commercial market. With U.S. government support, a full range of counternarcotics alternative development projects, coca elimination, and law enforcement interdiction programs can be initiated early in the next year.

President Banzer will, no doubt, face challenges as he moves to consolidate the success of "Plan Dignidad" in the Chapare and replicate that success in the Yungas. The United States will continue to support President Banzer in this important endeavor.

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