Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Rafael Lemaitre/Bob Weiner 202-395-6618
Monday, January 22, 2001
WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL DRUG POLICY OFFICE NOTES SHARP DECLINE IN PRODUCTION
OF PERUVIAN AND BOLIVIAN COCA CULTIVATION; ASSERTS DESIRE FOR SIMILAR SUCCESS
IN COLOMBIA
Cultivation Drops by 33% in Bolivia and 12% in Peru Last Year: Over
60% Five-Year Reduction In Each Nation
(Washington, DC)—The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy announced today a continuation in the sharp decline of Peruvian and Bolivian coca cultivation. Since last year, the cultivation decline was 33% in Bolivia and 12% in Peru. Over the past five years each country has reduced illicit cultivation by well over 60%.
Acting White House Drug Policy Director Edward H. Jurith said, "Bolivia and Peru have demonstrated a sustained commitment to counter-drug efforts. Their ability to sharply reduce coca cultivation illustrates that a long-term commitment and a solid strategy bring positive results. We look forward to continuing to work with their governments towards further reducing illicit coca production. These successes underscore that when political will is combined with comprehensive alternative economic development and the rule of law, drug cultivation and production will plummet. This is also our objective in Colombia, where Plan Colombia envisions a 50% reduction in coca cultivation in five years.
Peruvian coca cultivation was reduced from 94,400 hectares in 1996 to 34,200 in 2000. The 12% reduction in 2000 is in addition to even larger reductions during the previous three years. "Several factors, including the rising price of coca, the decline in crop abandonment, reduced eradication, identification of new coca production in some areas and the diversification of trafficking routes suggest that heightened efforts will be required in order to further reduce coca production in the years ahead. In addition, we are concerned that there is evidence of the beginnings of opium poppy cultivation in Peru. We look forward to working with Peru's government to address these challenges," Jurith stated.
Bolivia's achievement of reducing coca cultivation from 48,100 hectares in 1996 to just 14,600 at the end of 2000 is "an enormous achievement for Bolivia and the Hemisphere," Jurith asserted. President Banzer and Vice President Quiroga of Bolivia pledged in their August 1997 "Plan Dignidad" to eliminate all illicit coca production within five years. "Through eradication, alternative development, law enforcement, chemical control, and interdiction programs, the Bolivian Government has crippled the national illegal coca infrastructure. Coca cultivation in the Chapare region is virtually non existent - reduced from 33,000 hectares in 1996 to less than 600 hectares today. Potential cocaine HCL production has dropped from 215 metric tons in 1996 to just 43 in 2000," Jurith concluded.
