BOLIVIA UNION THREATENS TO SUPPORT COCA FARMERS

LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivia's largest labor union federation threatened
Tuesday to stage a general strike to protest the government's refusal
to withdraw a key demand in a dispute with coca leaf growers.

The Bolivian Worker's Center (COB) called one general strike Aug. 20
to protest the government's plans to eradicate coca crops. Only health
workers and state teachers joined in the Aug. 20 stoppage.

``It appears the government understands force better than reason,''
COB leader Milton Gomez told journalists shortly before meeting with
union leaders to decide on what action to take.

The statement came hours after the government ruled out the
possibility that the Catholic Church mediate in the conflict with coca
growers.

Disputes between coca leaf farmers and the government started earlier
this year after the authorities, under pressure from the United
States, targeted coca because it is the prime raw material to make
cocaine.

About 500 coca growers arrived in La Paz a week ago in a protest march
from Chapare in eastern Bolivia, the country's main coca region. The
march followed an outbreak of violence in April between coca farmers
and security forces in Chapare, in which seven people died.

Government Minister Guido Nayar confirmed the authorities' anti-drug
campaign Tuesday, saying the plan to eradicate 74,128 acres (30,000
hectares) of coca crops is non-negotiable.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry