Word: bolivia
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Bennett's plan is part of a broader Andean initiative that would expand economic and military aid not only to Peru -- source of more than half of the world's coca -- but also to Bolivia and Colombia. That initiative, in turn, is part of an overall antidrug plan that calls for stiffer penalties against casual users, such as loss of a driver's license or of federal student loans. Already the plan is raising questions in Congress and even parts of the Administration. As the battle against drugs escalates, so will the complicating side effects, particularly in U.S. foreign policy...
...accomplish much. Peru will find it difficult to wean or bully its farmers from the cocaine trade unless economic growth opens markets for alternative products. But Peru's gross domestic product shrank 28% in the first quarter of 1989, and inflation has been running at 25% a month. In Bolivia officials contend that they need & $300 million to $500 million a year to develop legitimate alternatives for coca-farming peasants. That is considerably more than Bennett proposes to spend on the whole region. Democratic Congressman Larry Smith of Florida voices a typical congressional opinion: "I'm wary of sending large...
...military aspects of the plan, however, are stirring the most misgivings. To fulfill Bush's campaign promise to "attack drugs at the source," more and heavier U.S. weapons would be dispatched to Colombia, and more arms and men to Peru and Bolivia. In Colombia drug gangsters killed three officials last week: gunmen assassinated Senator Luis Carlos Galan, a leading presidential candidate; the Medellin provincial police chief, and a local judge. The focus of the U.S. effort, though, would be on Peru, where attempts to eradicate the coca crop have been stalled since February because of attacks by guerrillas and traffickers...
...personnel in any Latin American nation is always a sensitive issue, Peruvian military leaders are desperate to turn back Sendero guerrillas. "I will take help from anyone who offers it," says a top Peruvian officer. In fact, contingents of American Green Berets have already been sent to Peru and Bolivia to train antinarcotics police units in countersubversion and jungle warfare...
Drug czar Bennett wants to carry the battle against coca barons to Peru and Bolivia, but Washington worries about another endless struggle against elusive guerrillas. -- A Detroit father's grisly way of getting rid of his "burdens...