President Hipólito Mejía ordered that tobacco farmers be paid RD$90 million for their crops that have not found buyers. The tobacco has been stashed away in warehouses for two years. The tobacco was planted in a boom year for cigar sales in the US. At that time anyone with a piece of land in the Cibao planted tobacco, seeking to reap a share of the big money to be made. The reality was that most who planted sought to make big bucks, lost their shirts and resorted to appealing to the government to cut their losses. Minister of Agriculture Eligio Jáquez said that the government would pay for the crops fulfilling a campaign promise. But he said that in the future government credits, equipment for planting, and other facilities would only be available for farmers who could show that they had international buyer contracts for the tobacco they would be planting.
