PERU'S COCA GROWERS DEMAND HELP

Peruvian coca growers are meeting in the capital Lima to discuss ways
to confront the government over their controversial crop.

Farmers are angry that politicians have failed to come up with a
financially viable alternative to the crop, which is the raw material
for cocaine.

The coca growers have travelled long distances from remote areas of
the Andes and Amazon to voice their anger.

Peru is the second biggest producer of cocaine in the
world.

Legal Use

Much of it is smuggled to the United States - though a small amount is
used legally, brewed in tea or chewed to combat altitude sickness.

Leaders of the group - which represents half of Peru's 50,000 coca
growers - say they want to cut production of illegal coca crops and
receive higher subsidies for less profitable alternative crops like
coffee and fruit.

They are also demanding the release of their jailed leader, Nelson
Palomino, accused of kidnapping journalists and helping promote terrorism.

The group says farmers are not planning a repeat of last year's
protests that brought down the government in neighbouring Bolivia.

But coca growers in Peru have a reputation for militant behaviour and
the country's interior minister has warned that troublemakers could
use the meeting as an excuse to provoke violence.