Pubdate: Sat, 06 Jul 2002
Source: Star, The (Malaysia)
Copyright: 2002 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd.
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com.my
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/922
Author: Reuters

COCA LEAF FOR OUTGOING ENVOY

LA PAZ: A Bolivian Indian presidential candidate under fire from Washington 
for battling a crackdown on drug trafficking said on Thursday he would give 
the outgoing US ambassador a present - a coca leaf, the raw material used 
to make cocaine.

"I congratulate the US people on their holiday," Evo Morales told La Razon 
newspaper in an interview published on the US Independence Day.

"I will send him a little coca leaf as a gift," Morales said, referring to 
US Ambassador Manuel Rocha.

Morales, who has led bloody protests against unpopular efforts to halt 
cultivation of the leaf also chewed by many people in this country to stave 
off altitude sickness and hunger, is running third in still incomplete 
official tallies from Sunday's election. - Reuters
- ---
MAP posted-by: Alex