Farmers Offered Cash To Destroy Coca Crop

The government offered cash Thursday to peasants who destroy their coca crops and agreed to improve rural roads, health care and education in an effort to end violent protests by the coca growers.

The pact was signed in Florencia, capital of Caqueta state, where six people have been killed and dozens injured in clashes between the army and peasants who make their living harvesting coca, the root ingredient of cocaine.

A similar agreement was reached in another southern state, Putumayo, last month but there is no indication peasants have adhered to it.

Under the Caqueta accord, peasants who destroy seven acres of coca, a typical plot size, will receive $2,300 plus a $1,800 housing subsidy.