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Peru to buy illegal coca crops to battle drug trafficking

AFP

Peru’s government has announced a plan to buy the nation’s entire supply of illegal coca leaf — the primary ingredient in cocaine — for at least a year, as part of its battle against drug trafficking.

The South American country is one of the world’s three largest producers of cocaine, alongside neighbors Colombia and Bolivia, according to the United Nations.

Peru currently produces an estimated 160,000 tons of coca leaf a year with 62,000 hectares of land dedicated to the crop.

But the vast majority of that, some 95 percent, is produced illegally and sold to drug-traffickers who turn it into about 400 tons of cocaine a year.

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All legally grown coca must be sold to the state coca company ENACO but that amounts to only 2,500 tons a year.

Legal coca leaf producers are on a register that includes 95,000 growers. However, the government wants to create a new register for the other 400,000 unregistered producers.

“It is imperative, for at least a year, to buy coca leaf from existing registered producers and from those that will make up the newly created register,” Cabinet Chief Anibal Torres said on Wednesday when presenting the initiative.

The plan would also see the demilitarization of Peru’s main coca leaf growing valley, known by the acronym VRAEM.

Soldiers have been stationed in the south-central area since 2006, due to the continued presence of the Shining Path Maoist guerrilla movement, which is allied with drug trafficking groups.

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Government opponents have criticized the new plan, saying it will increase drug trafficking.

“The message from the government is that it is legalizing coca leaf and it will buy illegal coca leaf. The message is grow coca, and that’s very dangerous because we are talking about a primary material used in drug trafficking,” former interior minister Ruben Vargas told AFP.

The coca leaf bought by ENACO is used to make sweets, herbal infusions, flour and for chewing like gum, which is an Andean tradition to help combat fatigue.

“By promoting the growing of coca leaf peasants will obviously have two markets: the state and drug traffickers,” added Vargas.

“It will cause immeasurable damage not just to the environment but also the governability of the country.”

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Peru created the register of coca leaf producers in 1978 as part of a state policy to combat drug trafficking that also included the destruction of illegal crops.

Earlier this month, authorities began a weeks-long process of incinerating the 16.3 tons of illegal drugs already seized this year.

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International

Paraguay summons Brazilian ambassador over Itaipú espionage scandal

Paraguay summoned the Brazilian ambassador in Asunción on Tuesday to demand “explanations” and called its own representative in Brasília for consultations following Brazil’s acknowledgment of an espionage operation. The Brazilian government, led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, attributed the operation to the previous administration.

The surveillance effort aimed to uncover Paraguay’s position in now-suspended negotiations with Brazil regarding the pricing of electricity from the binational Itaipú hydroelectric plant, according to reports in the Brazilian press.

The Brazilian government “categorically denied any involvement in the intelligence operation,” stating in a Foreign Ministry communiqué on Monday that the espionage was carried out under former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration (2019-2023).

“The operation was authorized by the previous government in June 2022 and was annulled by the interim director of the (state intelligence agency) ABIN on March 27, 2023, as soon as the current administration became aware of it,” Brazil’s government asserted.

Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez announced that Brazilian Ambassador José Antonio Marcondes de Carvalho was summoned “to provide detailed explanations” regarding the operation. Additionally, Paraguay recalled its diplomatic representative in Brasília “to report on aspects related to the intelligence activity conducted by Brazil regarding Paraguay’s government affairs.”

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International

Elon Musk to step down as government advisor, per Trump insiders

President Donald Trump has informed his inner circle that Elon Musk will be stepping down from his role as a government advisor, according to a report by Politico today.

Citing three individuals close to Trump, Politico states that the president is pleased with Musk’s leadership at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he has implemented significant budget cuts. However, both have agreed that it is time for Musk to return to his businesses and support Trump from a different position outside the government.

A senior administration official told Politico that Musk will likely maintain an informal advisory role and continue to be an occasional visitor to the White House. Another source warned that anyone thinking Musk will completely disappear from Trump’s circle is “deluding themselves.”

According to the sources, this transition is expected to coincide with the end of Musk’s tenure as a “special government employee,” a temporary status that exempts him from certain ethics and conflict-of-interest regulations. This 130-day period is set to expire in late May or early June.

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International

Milei vows to make Argentina so strong that Falkland Islanders “choose” to join

Argentine President Javier Milei reaffirmed his country’s claim over the Falkland Islands (known as the Islas Malvinas in Argentina) and praised the role of the nation’s armed forces during a ceremony marking the “Veterans and Fallen Soldiers of the Malvinas War Day,” commemorating 43 years since the 1982 conflict with the United Kingdom.

Argentina continues to assert sovereignty over the islands, arguing that Britain unlawfully seized them in 1833.

“If sovereignty over the Malvinas is the issue, we have always made it clear that the most important vote is the one cast with one’s feet. We hope that one day, the Malvinas residents will choose to vote with their feet and join us,” Milei stated.

“That is why we aim to become a global power—so much so that they would prefer to be Argentine, making deterrence or persuasion unnecessary. This is why we have embarked on a path of liberation, working to make Argentina the freest country in the world and once again the nation with the highest GDP per capita on the planet,” he added.

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