Coca farmers just want to make a living

He told a ceremony at an anti-drugs force barracks that elite police forces would now be stepping up their operations of crop seizures, arrests of drug traffickers, and the dismantling of coca processing laboratories in the impoverished South American nation.

But outside the barracks, about 10,000 demonstrators covered the road with coca leaves.

Tradition

Coca is traditionally chewed by peasants in the Andean mountains, helping them put up with hunger and high altitude.

By law, peasant growers are allowed to plant up to 30,000 acres (12,000 hectares) for traditional uses within Bolivia.

The Chapare region was a leading supplier of cocaine

Now only about 5,200 acres remain of illegal coca plantations in Bolivia.

Peasant growers argue both that the coca leaf is part of their heritage and that money earned from its cultivation is the only way they can survive.

Protests against the eradication campaign have resulted in 10 deaths in the last three months.

But the United States has praised Bolivia's efforts to cut coca production.

And the Bolivian President is hopeful for the future.

"The 21st century will find a dignified Bolivia, working towards development and well-being, and moving ever farther from drug-trafficking circles," he told Tuesday's ceremony.