Peruvian coca growers protest against the eradication of their crops | News

The coca growers in the south of Peru carry out a strike from this Wednesday to Friday in protest at the crop eradication policy carried out by the Government of Pedro Castillo.

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The secretary general of the Federation of Agricultural Producers of the Valley of the Apurímac and Ene Rivers (Fepavrae), Ever Romero, had announced a month ago that "as long as there is no pronouncement from the Government, we are going on an indefinite strike."

Fepavrae is an organization that brings together nearly 20,000 farmers from 16 districts located in the southern departments of Cusco and Ayacucho, who demand the end of the eradication programs.

Romero has said that if the problem is not resolved, or at least a negotiation table is started between the farmers and the government, they will take the protest to the capital, Lima.

The Valley of the Apurímac and Ene rivers is a rural area with a large presence of coca leaf crops that, according to the Government, many are used for the production of cocaine.

Fepavrae had requested the withdrawal of Peruvian Army personnel and accused the National Commission for Development and Life without Drugs (Devida) of not having been able to articulate the gradual, concerted and voluntary reduction of coca plantations through a social pact.

According to Romero Aguirre, although the coca growers have been working to deliver the 1,000 hectares of plantation requested by the government, they have felt what he called "a clear provocation" by the government.

In this sense, the coca grower leader expressed that "the claim is fair [porque] there has been a compulsory eradication between Tambo, Ene and El Progreso. Despite the economic crisis, our farmer brothers are surviving with the little plantation they have.

In general, the coca growers ask for the concerted and gradual eradication of the crops, so that they can make way for crops that are not considered illicit.

According to Fepavrae, a reduction in crops that is not gradual and concerted affects the means of economic support of coca growers and indicates, in particular, a context of crisis since, since 2017, the price of coca leaves has been rising. reducing.

The previous year, the Peruvian Government allocated the equivalent of 52.3 million dollars to promote alternative crops in favor of nearly 8,500 families of farmers in the Valley of the Apurímac and Ene Rivers.