| Show r-- y rrv vx r ' f y p-y y- - y y f J — - y y yr p Sunday September II 1988 The Salt Lake Tribune A23 Herbicidal Assaults Cut to Root of Pern’s Cocaine Problems By Monte Haves In neighboring Bolivia which with Peru accounts for more than 90 pe cent of the world's coca leaf production Foreign Minister Guillermo has said his country will not be a “guinea pig for experimentation with toxic herbicides But the center left government of President Alan Garcia in dire need of U S economic aid has indicated its willingness to attempt herbicide eradication in Peru if it is conv ineed the herbicide is not harmful to other plants animals and humans “The Peruvian government is willing to use herbicides and is going to use them They are the only weapon we have left against drug traffickers” says a senior official m Peru’s anti drug effort speaking on condition he not be identified by name Cultivation of coca in Peru has soared dramatically from 40000 acres in 1974 to between 250000 and 400 000 acres today The increase has come despite a American-financemanual eradication program U S officials say manual eradication of plants is too slow and too dangerous because workers are exposed to attacks by the hired gunmen of the drug barons and by Maoist Shining Path rebels who prowl the valley Thirty-fou- r members of eradication teams have been killed m recent years and m 1987 the 460 workers in the program pulled up only 876 acres of plants The Garcia administration has tried to disrupt the marketing network of Peruvian and Colom- Assonited Press Writer - L TINGO MARIA Peru Smoke from burning jungle obscures the sky above Peru's Upper Huallaga alley cradle of the world’s cocaine trade and site of a U S experiment to stamp it out with much-debate- f 5 - rj v " jMS ? d vt V' J j powerful herbicide From a police helicopter flving uver the valley thousands of bright green fields of coca the raw material of cocaine are visible through the haze The plots the labor of tens of - - 'X : ’ v r - thousands of peasants who have burned off the hillsides stand out dearly against the dark mat of surrounding tropical foliage Also visible from the air are dozens of illegal landing strips cut into the jungle to accommodate the small planes that daily pick up shipments of cocaine for final processing in neighboring Colombia 0 4 I f - t! ii v !K '' x i !f ft- t & — £ - if & 1 I 4 ' ' litt 1x )i S- - it ’ ® 1 semi-refine- d The Upper Huallaga Valley dretches 150 miles north of this ramshackle town located on the raped eastern slopes of the Andes Mountains 230 miles northeast of Lima The valley is the world's largest ingle source of coca leaf As such it is the focus of the latest strategy in the United States' faltering war against the cocaine trade The US government is testing a herbicide known commercially as Spike against coca bushes in a one-acr- e plot on a steep results valley slope Preliminary how the chemical to be deadly against the tough coca plant Aerial application is to be tried next If that proves effective and if the U S government can resolve a dispute with the herbicide's producer Eli Lilly and Co of Indianapolis about the safety of the chemical the eradicatfirst program of large-scal- e ion of coca plants could follow "Ten years ago I wouldn't have aid this but interdiction alone will not stop the flow of cocaine into the United States” says Craig Chretien head of the U S Drug Enforcement Administration's operation in Peru American officials have sought to reassure Peruvians of the safety of Spike citing studies that indicate the herbicide is less toxic to humans than aspirin jungle-d- d 4toood Pross Photo — are a big cash crop for Peruvian cocaine lords but they also sprout subsistence money for peasant farmers Coca leaves But both Peruvian and foreign environmental advocates are warning that the use of a strong herbicide in the fragile jungle ecosystem is a dangerous gamble conseThey fear its long-terquences and some predict the destruction of all plant life in a region of great agricultural potential already ravaged by the cocaine industry Critics also contend that the Spike project is politically motivated — that the Reagan administration is seeking “spectacular” results in the bian drug organizations But American drug officials while praising Peru's commitment say the efforts have been frustrated by the far greater resources of the cocaine lords Since 1985 a special police force has confiscated nearly 100 tons of cocaine paste burned 770 crude jungle labs for producing paste and dynamited more than 170 clandestine airstrips according to Gen Juan Zarate head of the narcotics unit But the drug gangs have quickly drive agaimt cocaine during an election year with little regard for the ecological implications “The questions raised by persons concerned about the impact on the environment are perfectly legitimate That’s what we’re trying to determine with testing locally” U S Ambassador Alexander Watson said in a recent meeting with American correspondents semi-refine- LICENSES SONDES INSURED ON THESE PRE-fA- U CALL HUGE SAVING! 566-989- 8 SPECIALS ros BRONZE SCULPTURES windows It OOF INSTALLED Over 100 museum quality bronze statues Western: Russel Fraiser French Classics: Remington Moreau Bossin Mene Barye Bonheaur Moigmez Large Collection of Animator & Equasnan Bronzes Horn® W REMINGTON CHEYENNE ’ the aerial testing the U S govern- ment can resolve its dispute with Lilly The company announced m late May that because of “a numoer of practical and policy considerations” it would not sell Spike for use in Stand ROOF FI NCI NO OARAGIS DICKS ROOM ADDITIONS Improvement! !hind CONVERSIONS ALWAYS FREE FRIENDLY ESTIMATES THE COMFORT OF YOUR HOME Our Products IN w uma&m special section in today's newspaper A political package of news and views on issues and candidates 23' h $495 Original oil "The Holy Divine Family" Naples 1848 Raphael school Several French Italian Hunganan - surrounding areas U S officials say is “on hold until an agronomy Edgar Machado professor at the National Agrarian University in Lima and Peru s leading expert on coca “Anv broadleaf plant that comes in contact with Spike is going to die and broadleaf plants make up 98 percent of the jungle The exposed soil will be washed away by the valley s torrential rains The erosion will be terrible” Machado says But U S Embassy officials argue that the Upper Huallaga is already being destroyed by the cocaine industry and the only way to save it for future agricultural use is to wipe out coca cultivation "That's not a pristine jungle out there” Watson says Studies by Peruvian experts say that more than 1 7 million acres of tropical forest have been destroyed by peasants cleanng land since the coca boom began in the 1970s A flight over the valley seems to bear this out From the air parts of the region look as though they have been bombed Hill after hill is peeled of vegetation Millions of fallen tree trunks present a picture of Watch for this 60-7- CHINESE Stale Department officials say that Lilly is worried about reprisals from international drug traffickers and that the company also fears lawsuits for any ecological damage The company stands by Spike's safety if used as directed against brush in grasslands m the U S West — the purpose for which it was designed — but not as an herbicide against coca in Peru s jungle A pamphlet distributed with the herbicide warns that it will kill trees and shrubs if their roots come in contact with it The problem is that Spike is not designed specifically for coca" says debk$ Total liquidation of Antique-Ar- t Gallery now closed All inventory offer to the 0 off public with drastic saving of Austnan paintings Peru against coca often within 24 hours using well paid work crews of local villagers and sometimes even earth moving trac tors Zarate said in an interview The campaign against cocaine ran into a new obstacle since the fanatical Shining Path guerrillas extended their presence 111 the Upper llualla ga Valley in early 1987 The guernllas now control large areas of the valley They have exploited resentment of the manual eradication program to win suppoit among peasants growing coca Even more dangerous from the government s viewpoint is the informal alliance that has developed between the rebels and the local drug lords U S officials police and peasants say the rebels are building up a inultimillion-dolla- r war chest with earnings from the drug trade officials beCounterinsurgency lieve the explosive combination of subversion and cocaine trafficking m8y have played a role in Garcia s decision to allow the United States to begin testing herbicides m the Upper Huallaga last October Tests were begun with 30 herbicides Eventually U S researchers concluded that Spike was the most effective and safest Now they want to try aerial application of Spike in pellet form to see how accurately planes can drop them on coca fields rnobt of them smaller than an acre and interspersed with jungle Spraying has been ruM out because the liquid might be blown to d (IB t PAINTINGS repaired the dirt runways MOVE ON THIS CLOSEOUT 3 HOMES LEFT291 1 SQ FT ORIENTAL ART Fantastic collection of fine Chinese porcelain work includes Pr of 46"h Palace Vases Famil Rose Fish Bowls Ginger Jars Blue & White Porcelain Cloissone Wood Carving and Much More ORIGINAL PRICE HAND CUT CRYSTAL Over 80 lots of the finest European hand cut crystal vases Vanety of designs Lace cut Diamond cut Acid Etched Pinwheel hjnter dogs & mcreau 31 n $ si3’5 248900 189900 5 SALT LAKE HILTON 150 WEST 500 SOUTH SALT LAKE CITY (at Market Room) LIQUIDATORS JD CLASSICS Terms: Cash Checks VISA MC - TO REDUCED SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 10 10 AM TO 7 PM SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 11 10 MTO 7 PM POPPY LAMP — 20 h S97S tiffany style 1 TT CLOSEOUT PRICE 8 COLGATE'S SEARCH 174900 Win a trip anywhere in the USA! 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