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� � | � Following his visit to Bolivia in February of 1998, the United Nations Drug Control Programme Executive Director Pino Arlacchi signed a Letter of Intent with Bolivia's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, to draw the two parties closer together in the fight against the traffic of illicit drugs. Mr. Messmer commented: "The intent of our country in signing the accord is to obtain UNDCP's support for anti-narcotics programs designed in Bolivia and embodied in the Bolivian Strategy for the Fight Against Drug Trafficking. The goal of that Strategy, approved in December of 1997, is to remove Bolivia from the coca-cocaine circuit by 2002. DONORS CONFERENCE According to Messmer, "UNDCP will cooperate with the Bolivian government in sponsoring a Donors Conference to secure financing for the Strategy's four-pillar program: Interdiction; Eradication of Illicit Coca; Alternative Development; and Drug Prevention and Social Rehabilitation." The Letter, signed on 19 March, also commits UNDCP to support the Bolivian government in 1998 in the preparation of a study on private investment potential in the Cochabamba tropics and the Yungas of La Paz, to be presented to the national and international private sector during a conference on the topic. "Expectations of the Bolivian government regarding this Letter of Intent are very high, and the success of Bolivia's plan to remove the country from the international drug circuit will depend in large measure on its implementation," said Mr. Messmer. ARLACCHI'S VISIT During Mr. Arlacchi's February visit to Bolivia, at government invitation, he met with President Hugo Banzer, Vice President Jorge Quiroga, and Foreign Minister Javier Murillo, together with ministers of the National Council to Fight Illicit Drug Traffic. He also met with members of Parliament. According to the Letter, Bolivia, as a result of the exchange of ideas during these encounters, agreed to participate in the United Nations' International Strategy to Eliminate Illicit Crops. Explains Messmer: "Bolivia considers the International-Strategy a fundamental plan in the worldwide struggle against the traffic in illicit drugs, to which it will contribute through its own strategy whose objective is to eliminate all illicit coca by December 3 1, 200l." SUPPORT TO THE UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL SESSION Finally, the Letter of Intent expresses the full support of the Bolivian government for the objectives of the forthcoming (June) Special Session of the General Assembly on the world drug problem, and ratifies Bolivia's commitment, within the framework of shared responsibility, to continue the fight against illicit drugs in all its aspects. Again, in the words of Mr. Messmer: "Bolivia has been one of the countries, together with Mexico and Colombia, that has proposed the idea of holding an international conference in which UN member states might consider the drug topic, within the ten-year framework defined by the Vienna Convention of 1988 and in light of the application of that international instrument." Mr. Messmer further says that Bolivia gives maximum priority to the UN Special Session. The President of the Republic will represent the country in that extremely important event, informs. � | |
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