La ministra de la Mujer, Carmen Omonte, participó hoy junto al jefe del Comando Conjunto de las Fuerzas Armadas (CCFFAA), Leonel Cabrera, de una operación de ayuda humanitaria en el (VRAEM).FOTO/ANDINA: Vidal Tarqui
Peruvian President Ollanta Humala today said drug trafficking is not a parallel power in the Valley of the rivers Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro (Vraem) and underlined peace will be restored in this zone sooner than later as it occurred in Alto Huallaga.
“Sooner than later Vraem will be pacified as it occurred in Alto Huallaga,” he underlined after recalling that Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) terrorist group has been defeated in this zone of the country, which enabled to lift the state of emergency.
In his fifth and last address to the nation –held at the Congress on the occasion of the 194th anniversary of Peru’s Independence from Spain– the Head of State described as an “unprecedented milestone” the fact that during four years in office the government has managed to recover more than 98,000 hectares devoted to illegal cultivation of coca leaf, and burn almost 150,000 kilos of drugs.
The strategy to reduce coca crops, now headed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, is intended to achieve their voluntary conversion to alternative crops.
He also noted that in the first six months of the year, 1,300 hectares of illicit coca crops in Vraem have been turned into lands for alternative goods such as cocoa, coffee and pineapple.
“We hope we will double this figure next year and, therefore, benefit more than 30,000 Peruvians,” he claimed.
Humala Tasso recalled the strategy applied in Alto Huallaga, in the San Martin region, which allowed Armed Forces and National Police to successfully subdue “terrible characters” such as terrorist leaders “Artemio” and “Alipio.”
He went on to add that pacification in this area of the country has given its inhabitants the opportunity to experience development and inclusion.
(END) SMA/CCR/RMB/MVB
Published: 7/28/2015