LatinNews Daily Report - 09 July 2012

SECURITY | Morales re-elected head of coca growers’ association. On 8 July President Evo Morales of Bolivia was re-elected head of the main coca growers’ association, Seis Federaciones del Trópico de Cochabamba, a post he has held since 1996. He responded by calling on coca producers to intensify efforts to eradicate illegal coca. On 2 July the government announced that 5,098 hectares (ha) of illegal coca have been eradicated to date this year – meaning that it has already met its 5,000 ha annual eradication  target. In 2011, 10,509ha were eradicated, up from 8,200ha in 2010. The official limit for legal coca plantation is 12,000 ha, but the government tolerates 20,000 ha.