Peruvian Government Promotes Quality-of-Life Improvements
for Populations in Drug Trafficking Zones
People in the Andean nation are considered to be living in poverty when they live in homes where the per
capita income is insufficient for obtaining food and basic necessities. The basic monthly food basket costs
approximately $90.
Pedro Hurtado Cánepa/Diálogo
|
30 August 2016
TRANSNATIONAL THREATS
An Army Officer shows an electronic tablet to children in the VRAEM. (Photo: Joint Command of the Armed Forces)
The Peruvian Government has initiated a set of actions geared towards improving the quality of life for
families that are located in areas where illegal coca leaf cultivation, drug trafficking, and terrorism are found.
These actions are part of the Intervention Program for the Valley of the Apurímac, Ene and Mantaro Rivers
Region (VRAEM, for its Spanish acronym), which is a government program aimed at combating poverty,
inequality, drug trafficking, and terrorism. The Andean departments of Ayacucho, Huancavelica, Cusco, and
Junín – cities whose common denominator is extreme levels of poverty – will be the beneficiaries of these
actions.
According to the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI, Spanish acronym), these levels of
poverty continue to be present in Huancavelica (70 to 77 percent), Ayacucho (53 to 57 percent), Cusco (37
to 45 percent), and Junín (30 to 36 percent).
In the Andean nation, people who live in homes where the per capita income is insufficient to obtaining food
and basic necessities are considered poor. The basic monthly food basket costs approximately $90.
The main actions being carried out in these cities within the framework of the Multidimensional Security
Strategy are technical training days, applied research, technological innovation, and the acquisition of
ground platforms for development.
The institutions responsible for carrying out these actions are the Joint Command of the Armed Forces
(CCFFAA, for its Spanish acronym) and the National Office of Interior Government (ONAGI, for its Spanish
acronym), which belongs to the Ministry of the Interior.
"We are on track to pacify the VRAEM. Not only have we been able to neutralize the terrorists, but we have
also worked hard to combat drug trafficking, to strengthen the presence of the State, and to bring productive
development to historically abandoned areas. This is a topic that should transcend time to achieve a
sustainable result," said the Chief of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces, Admiral Jorge Moscoso
Flores.
Commander Moscoso stressed the importance of having a strategic alliance with an institution like ONAGI,
which participates in Traveling Social Action Platform (PIAS, for its Spanish acronym) activities in the
Amazon region and provides constant support during humanitarian aid days carried out by the Joint
Command.
For Liz Alata Ramos, ONAGI National Chief until July 2016, a priority for the Central Government is
improving the quality of life for remote communities, as well as strengthening deliveries of social aid to
families in vulnerable situations and extreme poverty.
"Through these agreements, ONAGI will be able to bring consistent social aid, goods and equipment to
schools located in the VRAEM area," said Alata.
ONAGI's mission is to ensure the State's presence throughout Peruvian territory and must follow up on the
execution of national policy, on domestic law enforcement, and on the maintenance of social order.
Follow up and control
To make sure these actions are carried out, Congress members that comprise the Budget and General
Account Committee agreed to create working groups that will be in charge of verifying the execution of the
development projects to be implemented in the VRAEM.
"These working groups will develop a series of functions to monitor the safety and development of the
population in this region of the country," said Cecilia Chacón, president of the working group and leader of
the opposition party Fuerza Popular.
Significant numbers
The Coca Crop Monitoring Survey drafted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
reported that, as of December 2015, there were 40,300 hectares of coca crops, while in December 2014,
there were 42,900 hectares.
An Army Officer shows an electronic tablet to children in the VRAEM. (Photo: Joint Command of the Armed Forces)
The two areas with the highest coca leaf production were the VRAEM (18,333 hectares) and La Convención
province in Cusco (10,454 hectares).
According to the report, dry coca leaves were, on average, priced at US$ 3.9 per kg in 2015, a decrease of
9.3 percent over 2014 ($4.3 per kg). In the VRAEM, the price was $3.2 per kg, which was 13.5 percent
lower than the previous year. This decrease was the result of a higher supply of coca leaves as well as
control efforts.
Cocaine paste and cocaine hydrochloride were valued at $745 per kg (-11.6 percent) and $1,133 per kg (3.8 percent), respectively. This drop is tied to purity levels of both cocaine-derived products sold in centers
of consumption.
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