Bolivia Attains Goal for Destroying Coca
Indian farmers have destroyed 20% of Bolivia’s coca leaf crop over the last year, prompting the release of $6 million in U.S. aid, the government said Friday.
A spokesman said about 19,760 acres of coca, which is used to produce cocaine, have been destroyed since October, 1989. The government’s goal had been to destroy 14,820 acres by the end of 1990.
Government spokesman Osvaldo Antezana said the U.S. government Thursday released the final payment of a total $18 million in U.S. aid that was conditional on reaching this year’s goal for coca destruction.
Farmers receive $2,000 from the Bolivian government for every hectare--about 2 1/2 acres--of coca plants that they destroy. They are also entitled to credits from the U.S. Agency for International Development to finance alternative crops.
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