European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 30, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Coca no longer Kingin 6y Tom Wells associated press writer two years ago. Peasants in Al Mono Colombia earned so much Money that the drank French Champagne and drove new  galloping Beal or guitar music echoed Romall night parties. Traditional crops of bananas and codes were Letl to Fot in the Fields coca was King on the Larm land around Al Morro the Leal and the cocaine base it makes were producing a steady Low of Cash up to $50.000 a year Lor some peasants Bui times have changed the government has cracked Down on coca growing in this area of Southern Colombia and United nations Aid workers Are trying to win peasants Back to customary crops. They have less Money but some Farmers seem satisfied to return to older poorer ways. This was a peaceful place until the coca came said Francisco ruano who swore Oil the coca business when he found his two Small sons with cocaine base cigarettes the coca Shrub has grown Tor thousands of years in these misty Andes Mountain valleys where the indians Chew the leaves As a stimulant to lighten the Load in their difficult lives in the late 1970 and Early 1980s, increasing . Demand Lor cocaine reached into Southern Colombia. Farmers realized that coca plants which can be picked three or Lour limes a year promised Richer harvests than bananas. Although most of the base is brought into Colombia irom Peru and Bolivia at least 37.000 acres were in coca cultivation in Colombia by 1984, Tho  drug enforcement administration estimates. The first step in the cocaine conversion process takes place in the growing area where the picked leaves Are mixed with gasoline and other chemicals in a relatively simple process to produce base. The base is then shipped to colombian cities where it is refined to cocaine. The coca Bonanza was a boost to this impoverished area 225 Miles Southwest of Bogota lha colombian capital. The average annual family income in Colombia is $365, and in some villages As Many As 10 percent of the babies die in their first year said Hans Hugo a West German held adviser Wilh the . Anti coca program. But two years ago As . Pressure mounted on the colombian government to eliminate the cocaine business anti narcotics police swept through the Al Morro area and Cut Down coca plants by the thousands. The police told the peasants that in they went Back to growing coca they would go to jail. Some peasants Kepi at it the police returned and six Farmers from the Al Morro Region Are serving Lime in prison. Some like ruano abandoned the easy life because they decided it was a Rotten Lile. Ruano s Wile. Ana. Recalled " a Tol of men got drunk All the time and moved Inlo Lown with another woman. Wives and children were Tell to get along on their own. The men they just went crazy with greed and All that  ruano said he squandered his coca Money. He and his family still live in their cramped Little House. And the peasant who once owned three automobiles now walks 40 minutes Loel Morro Village and his Job in the  rehabilitation program. The . Officials have not estimated How Many Farmers relied on coca income in the t,200-Square-mile Region covered by their year old program. Bui the number Musl have run Inlo the Many hundreds coca leaves Are still available in Small quantities in the main Plaza in Bolivar a farming Lown of 5.000 people a half hour s drive on a dirt Road from Al Morro but those leaves Are sold for chewing a technically illegal but tolerated business in Colombia. The big Money cocaine business appears to be drying up. The . Fund Tor drug abuse control and the colombian government have teamed up in the Effort to persuade the Al Morro peasants not logo Back to growing coca by making farming More profitable and Lile healthier. In 15 projects water pipes Are being Laid for irrigation and drinking water roads Are being built to facilitate shipment to Market and Farmers Are being Laughl to grow such Garden vegetables As carrots. Cabbage and Green Beans said Hugo. At the area school children who once were taught Little More than Reading writing and arithmetic Are being taught to care for pigs and chickens and to raise vegetable gardens the  Agency has thus Lar spent 11 3 million on 1he four year program and an additional $1 5 million has been approved. Hugo said. Colombian government agencies Are helping peasants gel titles to lands they live on. So that they can obtain Bank Loans the . Field adviser said the government also is opening health clinics and sending doctors to Visil remole areas most children Here suffer from Maunu Littion because their families cannot afford Trie luxuries of milk and meat said Sofonias Taeup and Gabriel Zambrano. Two physicians in the Rural clinic program. Some Al Morro residents were never lured Inlo the cocaine Trade eighty year old Marcelano Gomez told a reporter How he prohibited his family from growing coca. His iwo grown daughters nodded in agreement and said in was difficult nol to join in while others were enjoying riches beyond belief. But he was right said daughter Luz Gomez coca hat Brough Lotf off Mhand kit of of rouble to Cotow. Fish Polo of them indians pakistanis and koreans were sent Home when their contracts expired. Saudi Arabia s Mammoth arabian american Oil co. Has Cut More than 2.000 workers from its payroll since last year. The economic slump Hai prompted the Gulf slates to look More seriously at diversifying their Oil dependent economies. Kuwait s Crown Prince and prims minister Sheik Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah old a recent regional development conference hat safeguarding an Economy necessitates depending on varied resources of production not on a single  the Region possesses More than 40 percent of the world s known Oil reserves. But it also has Large undeveloped deposits of Gold and Silver phosphate Marble Bauxite Coal Iron Zinc and Copper especially in saudi Arabia Oman and the United Arab emirates. And the Gulf s leaders have said they Are committed to widening opportunities for entrepreneurs. At their annual Summit in october. They agreed to open their National development Banks to All Gulf businessmen allow Freer Cross Border Trade and give priority in government purchases to regional products. Bahrain and Oman Are considering Selling up Slock markets to help generate new private business capital. However planners have been cautious because debts stemming from the 1982 crash of the kuwaiti Stock Market still plague the Region s Banks. While such Steps in the Long run May make the Region less dependent on Oil they will not in the Short run pull the Gulf economies out of recession. So the immediate focus is on raising Oil prices. Saudi Arabia s King fund has instructed his new Oil minister Hisham Nazer to get backing irom the Region s other Oil ministers for a saudi Call for open to set prices at a minimum of 118 a barrel. Prices now average $13 to $15 a Barret. The 13-Nalion Cartel to which saudi Arabia Kuwait Qatar and the United Arab emirates belong is scheduled to hold its next Lull ministerial session in december to discuss new production quotas aimed at firming Market prices. This year Oil income in the six Gulf Stales is expected to be half of the $60 billion earned last year. Moal of the countries have tried to Cut imports to help balance the income loss. But estimates by Azzam indicate that saudi Arabia. Qatar Oman and Bahrain will end the year with balance of payments deficits. Officials predict that surpluses will be about halved to $2.6 billion in Kuwait and $3.8 billion in the United Arab emirates. The Region is cutting imports of construction materials manufacturing equipment and consumer durable goods. Saudi Arabia for example reduced its imports of motor vehicles by 42 percent in the 12 months ending in september. One Bahrain merchant who asked nol to be named said he waa importing Only a third of the electric appliances he did iwo years ago but businessmen generally Are optimistic that recovery is near. I think things will move up again soon said Abdul Nabl Al Sho Ala information committee chairman of the Bahrain chamber of Commerce and Industry anybody who survived 1986 and Early 1987 will have passed he most dangerous  sunday november 30.1986 the stars and stripes Page 17