US supports Colombia's decision to resume aerial fumigation of coca
Source: Colombia Reports
by Adriaan Alsema June 28, 2018
The United States government on Thursday reportedly expressed its support for the resumption of the aerial fumigation of coca, the base ingredient for cocaine, in Colombia.
According to Spanish news agency EFE, a spokesperson of the US Department of State said that “the United States believes that all tools must be used to “reverse the sharp increase in cocaine production.”
The government of the US, the world’s largest cocaine consumption market, is Colombia’s main financial sponsor to counter the coca cultivation, cocaine production and drug trafficking.
The decision to resume aerial fumigation using drones was a “sovereign decision” of the Colombian government, the spokesperson reportedly said.
Read more: https://colombiareports.com/us-supports-colombias-decision-to-resume-aerial-fumigation-of-coca/
Criticism of Fumigation Grows in Colombia as Cocaine Trade is Undiminished
Matthew Stein | 16 Jul 2007
World Politics Review Exclusive
BOGOTÁ, Colombia -- After seven years of ineffective drug policies, Colombia is questioning whether America's coca fumigation strategy is really the answer to their drug problem. From sharp criticism in the Colombian media to Colombia's own defense minister admitting that the country's drug progress resembles a "stationary bicycle," new solutions are rapidly being sought.
Since 2000, under the banner of, "Plan Colombia," the American government has spent $4.7 billion fighting drugs and helping the Colombian military counter armed groups in the country. More than 900,000 hectares of coca, the base for cocaine, have consequently been fumigated or manually eradicated. Yet, according to the U.S. State Department, there is 27 percent more coca in Colombia today than at the onset of Plan Colombia. White House Drug Czar John Walters also recently admitted that the price of cocaine in the United States fell 11 percent from February 2005 to October 2006, with a gram now available in cities like New York and Los Angeles for $30 or less.
Meanwhile, the American-backed efforts have proven costly for Colombia. Although Plan Colombia has helped strengthen state security in main cities and along principal roads throughout the country, the billions spent on aerial fumigations remain controversial. Although it took 3 hectares of fumigated land to successfully eliminate one hectare of coca in 2001, five years later it has taken 21.5 hectares to accomplish the same goal. The consequent bombardments of glysophate chemicals have destroyed licit and illicit crops alike, threatening Colombia's vast bio-diversity, and exacerbating poverty and displacement in a country that already suffers from the largest displaced community in the world.
"The spraying displaced many people because there was nothing to cultivate or eat, and people had to leave," said Richard Solarte, mayor of Villagarzon in Putumayo, the original epicenter of Plan Colombia. "When they fumigate, they fumigate without looking and that affects many people."
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http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/article.aspx?id=929
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PLAN COLOMBIA:
In an attempt to put an end to the local growing of vegetation suitable for producing substances controlled by their governments e.g. Cocaine, the USA and Colombian Governments are aerial spraying large areas of arable land, with 'Roundup Ultra'; - a cocktail of pesticides including glyphosate, cosmoflux and POEA,
Not only is it unlikely to work but there are major environmental concerns. Further the spraying is being done whilst the land is being worked by the farmers. These peasant farmers have little alternative but to harvest what ever the local political environment supports.
Read more:
http://monsanto.unveiled.info/colombia/colombia.htm
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