BOLIVIA, WITH U.S. HELP, CLAIMS VICTORY IN DRUG WAR

CHIMORE, Bolivia -- Declaring a victory in the drug war, the Bolivian
government says a U.S.-financed campaign has wiped out coca farming in the
Chapare region, once a major world producer of coca.

But farmers who were persuaded to give up coca in favor of legal crops say
the victory may be short-lived if they don't receive financial aid. They
called on the United States to help by buying more of their bananas,
oranges, and pineapples.

"You all have to open up your markets," said 30-year-old Beningo Cossio, a
coca farmer turned honey producer, referring to the United States. "Our
products are only being sold locally and that's not enough."

Since taking office in 1997 and pledging to rid Bolivia from the list of
drug-producing countries by 2002, President Hugo Banzer has moved
aggressively to wipe out illegal coca, the raw ingredient of cocaine.

As part of the effort, more than 106,000 acres of coca farms have been
uprooted in the Chapare region in the last three years. The last 50 acres
were destroyed this week.

For farmers accustomed to the lucrative profits of coca, the switch to
legal crops has meant a blow to their livelihood. The coca leaves sell for
nearly $5 a pound, while crops such as pineapple -- one of the alternative
development crops now being grow in Chapare -- sell for 10 cents a pound.

"This is simply not enough to pay the rent or eat," said Maria Justina
Beltran, balancing a sleeping baby on her belly and holding a coca plant in
her hand.

"Families here are lucky to make $50 a month," said Elizabeth Copa, adding
that that has made many farmers leery of the alternative crop projects. "I
think people would embrace these projects more if there were more markets
available."

Herbert Muller, an economist and a former Bolivian government minister,
said the eradication program has resulted in an annual loss to the economy
of South America's poorest nation of $300 million.

He said the economic hardships being felt by the farmers could potentially
undermine the accomplishments of the effort.

"Without more development, the risk is that within two or three years . . .
Bolivia will again be on the cocaine circuit," he said.

U.S. officials concede more needs to be done to help the farmers. But they
also point out that Bolivia has been the recipient of billions of dollars
in U.S. aid in recent decades.

One U.S. lawmaker attending the three-day conference this week said he
thought Bolivia's eradication effort had been grounded in a sense of moral
responsibility, but he argued other countries have no moral obligation to
financially compensate Bolivians farmers who have given up growing an
illegal substance.

"The product they were growing here was killing kids [in Bolivia], killing
kids in Europe, and in America. It had to be shut down regardless," said
Mark Souder, a Republican congressman from Indiana.

Members of the U.S. Congress are tentatively scheduled this year to decide
whether to loosen up the U.S. market for Bolivian imports such as Andean
textiles and the Chapare's alternative crops.