APRA LEADER SUPPORTS ERADICATION, REELS IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LIMA 003998 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/13/2015 TAGS: PGOV SNAR PE SUBJECT: APRA LEADER SUPPORTS ERADICATION, REELS IN REGIONAL PRESIDENT REF: A. LIMA 3264 ¶B. LIMA 2813 Classified By: Political Counselor Alexander Margulies. Reason: 1.4(d ). ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: APRA Party leader (and former President) Alan Garcia, on 9/9, publicly declared illegal coca should be eradicated and that coca eradication policy is the purview of the GOP, not regional governments. Garcia was responding to warnings by La Libertad Regional President Homero Burgos, also an APRA member, that the latter would push for a regional ordinance to prevent forced coca eradication in his department; Burgos quickly backed down following Garcia's pronouncement of the party line. Garcia's strong pro-eradication stance may be a logical extension of his criticism of Cuzco Regional President Carlos Cuaresma's (of the anti-Aprista FIM party) attempt to promulgate a pro-coca ordinance, but it also followed continued Embassy lobbying of high-level APRA officials to derail pro-coca initiatives by regional officials. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) Burgos, on 9/7, told a delegation of cocaleros from the Ongon district, Pataz Province, that he would submit to the Regional Council a regional ordinance prohibiting the forced eradication of coca crops. Burgos subsequently told the press that he was opposed to the "unjust" eradication of coca, "while the government does not have an alternative plan with productive chains and constructs the highway to reactive Ongon." (Note: Most known coca in La Libertad is in the Ongon valley located on the eastern border of the region with the coca productive zones of Monzon, Huanuco Department, to the south and Tocache, San Martin Department, to the east. GOP Anti-drug agency DEVIDA estimates that there are over 1,000 hectares of coca being grown around Ongon with only 26 hectares recognized for licit use by the parastatal coca marketing agency/regulator ENACO. PNP Chief for the area General Ocatavio Salazar Miranda confirmed in the press that the majority of the coca grown in the region goes directly to narcotraffickers. End Note.) ¶3. (U) APRA Congressman (and party co-Secretary General) Jorge del Castillo quickly disassociated APRA from Burgos' action, which he described to the media on 9/8 as, "non-viable, counter-productive and carried out without consultation" with party authorities. Del Castillo added that the members of the Regional Council, most of whom belong to APRA, would not/not support the Regional President's proposal. He concluded that APRA continues to support the State's struggle against illicit drug trafficking. ¶4. (U) The next day, APRA party leader (and former President) Alan Garcia met with Burgos and publicly reprimanded Burgos. Coca eradication, Garcia declared, is a national policy managed by the GOP and does not fall under the purview of regional governments. He stressed that APRA supports the eradication of illegal coca crops, while also recognizing that additional resources and alternative crop assistance are needed for farmers in the Ongon area. (NOTE: La Libertad is not/not a region for USAID's Alternative Development program. END NOTE.) Burgos quickly backpedaled, stating that he would not/not move forward on the planned regional ordinance and instead would just visit the Ongon district to study the situation. ¶5. (C) The Ambassador, in a 9/13 conversation with Garcia, took the opportunity to commend his stance on Burgos' initiative for a regional coca eradication ordinance. The APRA leader downplayed Burgos' proposal, saying that the La Libertad Regional President had never proposed something as bad as Cuzco. That said, Garcia allowed that Burgos was suckered by the mayor of Ongon; he did not know that the latter has a criminal conviction for narcotics trafficking. The thing local leaders need to do, Garcia concluded, was stay out of this issue and let the national government apply its policies. ¶6. (C) Polcouns also contacted APRA's del Castillo on 9/13, to commend him and Garcia for their swift action to derail the Burgos proposal. Del Castillo was pleased at the Embassy's recognition of APRA's public stance and said that the USG can count on APRA as an ally in the fight against illegal drugs. ¶7. (U) COMMENT: Burgos, as is the case with most regional presidents, is highly unpopular in his department, and likely advanced his anti-eradication proposal in an attempt to curry favor with La Libertad's cocaleros. Given the GOP's and his own party's rejection of pro-coca cultivation regional ordinances in Cuzco and Huanuco, Burgos' initiative provides an indication that national issues have little relevance to regional authorities, particularly when local politics are at play. His complaints about lack of agricultural alternatives are pure chutzpah. La Libertad has been one of the principle beneficiaries of agricultural exports under APTDEA, a fact the Ambassador highlighted for the press on 9/9. ¶8. (C) Garcia's firm position in favor of eradicating illicit coca is most welcome; no/no other presidential hopeful has yet staked out a similar public stance on eradication, though some, like Unidad Nacional's Lourdes Flores, have come out against narcotrafficking. Garcia's action may be a logical extension of his criticism of Cuzco Regional President Carlos Cuaresma's (of the anti-Aprista FIM party) attempt to promulgate a pro-coca ordinance (Refs),but it also followed sustained Embassy lobbying of high-level APRA officials to derail pro-coca initiatives by APRA regional officials. On 8/23, for example, Polcouns alerted del Castillo to a draft coca ordinance developed by an APRA regional councillor in Ayacucho; del Castillo said he would act on this information and the draft ordinance has yet to resurface. END COMMENT. STRUBLE