President Gustavo Petro announced that the national government will buy the coca harvest in the town of El Plateado and in the entire region of the <a href="http://www.time.news/army-troops-rescue-bodies-of-soldiers-murdered-by-farc-dissident-groups-in-cauca-2024-05-05-204237/" title="Army troops rescue bodies of soldiers murdered by FARC dissident groups in Cauca
2024-05-05 20:42:37″>Micay canyon, in the department of Cauca.
This announcement was made during the signing of the Pact for the Democratization of Solidarity Credit, event that took place at the headquarters of the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce.
The president explained that this measure seeks to transform illegal economies into legal activities, offering an alternative to the peasantry who have been forced to grow coca in these areas controlled by criminal groups. “We are going to buy their coca crops from the Micay peasantry, while the licit economy appears,” declared the president, underlining the need to adopt new methods to confront the problem of illegality.
A region controlled by drug trafficking
President Petro explained that, in El Plateado, until recently there was a “stock exchange for the world’s cocaine.” where cartels from Mexico, Europe and Africa converged, interested in taking advantage of this region as a center for producing coca leaves for export. of cocaine. The violent groups, according to the president, intended to use the region to “export cocaine by sea to the United States” and get rid of indigenous communities that opposed their projects.
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In this context, the Government seeks to transform the region’s economy and access to credit will be key to this. Petro indicated that one of the main obstacles to achieving a true transformation is the lack of financing in the poorest and most excluded areas of Colombialike Micay. “Credit is needed in Micay, credit in all areas, the poorest and most excluded in Colombia. Credit does not reach those areas, because credit does not reach the poor,” he stated.
The president also highlighted that this strategy for purchasing the coca harvest is part of a broader fight against what he called “territorial segregation.” a problem that has generated deep inequalities in the country. According to Petro, this segregation has been particularly serious in Colombia, which faces one of the most severe territorial exclusion scenarios in the world.
Likewise, the strategy seeks to reduce the control of armed groups over regions such as the Micay canyon, which for years have been affected by violence and drug trafficking.
The State’s intervention in this region of Cauca adds to the recent military operations carried out by the National Army to regain control of the territory, which represents a comprehensive security and economic development effort for the inhabitants of this affected area.
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