Peruvian authorities question UN data on coca leaf production

Peruvian officials are questioning recently released data from a United Nations agency that says the Andean nation has overtaken Colombia as the world’s top coca leaf producer, state news agency Andina reported. In 2009, Peru produced 119,000 tonnes of coca, the raw material used to make cocaine, representing about 45.4 percent of the Andean region’s [...]

Peru’s coca cultivation up 6.8 percent; coca production overtakes Colombia

The area used for coca bush cultivation increased for the fourth consecutive year in Peru, according to a report by the United Nations Office on Drug Control (UNODC). Peru’s coca bush cultivation rose 6.8 percent to 59,900 hectares in 2009, compared to 56,100ha the year before. The situation in Peru is “worrisome,” the UNODC said, [...]

Defense Minister: Peru and Colombia intelligence agencies share information on ties between rebel groups

Peruvian and Colombian intelligence agencies have cooperated closely by sharing information on an alleged relation between Colombia’s leftist FARC rebels and remnants of the Shining Path insurgency in Peru, Defense Minister Rafael Rey said Monday. “We work with Colombia in a very efficient manner and I want to thank them for the services they provide [...]

Defense Minister denies claims of U.S. military presence

Defense Minister Ántero Flores-Aráoz denied claims made by opposition leader Ollanta Humala that personnel from the United States military are currently operating in Peru’s jungle region. Humala said Peruvian military sources told him that U.S. military personnel are operating in the country’s north-east Loreto Department, which shares a porous border with Ecuador, Brazil and Colombia, [...]

President García urges diplomatic solution to Colombia’s standoff with Ecuador and Venezuela

Following meetings with his Ecuadorean counterpart, President Alan García said today that Colombia did indeed violate Ecuador’s sovereignty when its military killed 21 members of Colombia’s largest rebel group, including a senior commander, during a raid Saturday on a guerrilla encampment in Ecuador’s northern jungle. Garcia said Colombian President Alvaro Uribe should offer a full [...]