Guatemala Needs Anti-Drug Reform
The head of the Guatemalan New Nation Alliance, Jorge Ismael Soto, warned Monday that only an integral agrarian policy providing alternatives to farmers will allow eradication of poppy and marihuana crops in Guatemala.

"If the government does not provide farmers with other possibilities, if they are not given employment sources so that they can live with dignity, they will go back to the same," Soto pointed out.

The deputy used Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru as examples where the creation of alternative sources has been one of the main demands to stop the cultivation of the coca leaf.

According to the former guerrilla commander known as Pablo Monsanto, the Congress of the Republic has shown no interest in giving space for the rural development issue in its legislative agenda.

The eradication of hallucinogenic plants has centered attention after operations last week carried out by security forces in San Marcos Department, bordering Mexico, and where the executive decreed the State of Prevention.

Different social organizations have expressed their support to the anti-drug fight, but also concern at possible suspension of constitutional guarantees or that peoples´ rights be ridden over roughshod.