[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 24295-24296]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



             BOLIVIA'S SUCCESSFUL COUNTER-NARCOTICS PROGRAM

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELTON GALLEGLY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 5, 1999

  Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, as Chairman of the Western Hemisphere 
Subcommittee I

[[Page 24296]]

wanted to bring to the attention of my colleagues an often overlooked 
story in the debate over the war on drugs in the Western Hemisphere--
that being the surprising success story of Bolivia. Even today, as we 
consider providing additional counter narcotics aid to Colombia to 
fight the terrible scourge of the drug trade which has so completely 
engulfed that nation, there is hardly any mention of the success 
achieved in Bolivia and Peru nor of the importance of providing 
additional assistance to those nations. It would be critically 
important that as the Administration considers a new aid package for 
the anti-drug fight in Colombia that some additional money be included 
for Peru and Bolivia so that they can continue their progress and 
ensure that as the Colombians become more successful in their efforts, 
the drug trade does not return to these other nations.
  Bolivia is a success story which many of my colleagues need to know 
more about. When the current government of Hugo Banzer took office in 
1997, the President proclaimed a goal of ridding Bolivia of all illegal 
coca and cocaine by the Year 2002. Many people familiar with Bolivia's 
situation proclaimed their skepticism and said that the drug trade was 
too lucrative for the farmers and peasants of Bolivia to give up, at 
least not willingly, that there was too much corruption, that given the 
condition of Bolivia's economy at the time, the Government could not 
sustain any type of alternative crop development program to win the 
coca farmers over.
  Now, just a little over two years later, Bolivia has successfully 
eradicated over 50 percent of the illegal coca crop and reduced re-
planting to a historically low level. This story has not been easy, nor 
without problems but with the firm commitment of President Banzer to 
succeed and under the strong leadership and direction of Vice President 
Jorge Quiroga and the Dignity Plan, Bolivia is well on its way to 
meeting its goals. According to the Bolivian government, between August 
1997 and October 1999, over 27,000 hectares of coca have been 
eradicated. 121,000 square meters of coca seedbeds have been destroyed 
and 225 tons of cocaine bound for the United States or Europe have been 
interdicted.
  Through a combination of domestic political leadership and 
international support, mostly from the United States, Bolivia has been 
able to develop a successful strategy which balances interdiction, 
eradication and alternative development. It is the alternative 
development program which has been the real success story and one which 
could become a model for even Colombia if the guerrilla war in that 
country is ever brought under control.
  Mr. Speaker, the integration of illegal coca farmers into the legal 
economy of Bolivia has been the most urgent priority of the government 
and has thus far been highly effective. But it is also the most fragile 
element of the strategy in that unless the alternative crops can be 
produced and gotten to market in a timely fashion and can bring a 
financial return equal to coca, the farmers could very easily return to 
illegal drug cultivation returning Bolivia to the status of a major 
coca producing nation as in the past.
  The bottom line, Mr. Speaker is that Bolivia has done a remarkable 
job in reversing the drug trade in that region and for that, they 
should be recognized and congratulated. But more than that, we should 
be rewarding their success with additional funds which they need and 
have requested in order to continue the successful effort and ensure 
that the gains are not reversed. It makes no sense to recognize 
Bolivia's successful efforts, thank them for all they are doing to help 
protect American citizens from drugs and then not continue to help them 
finish the job they set out to do. I hope that our Administration 
understands this and that if and when they send a request for 
additional counter narcotics assistance to the Congress they consider 
including some level of additional assistance for Bolivia.

                          ____________________