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Colombia ignores US pressure to return to aerial fumigation of coca
written by Adriaan Alsema June 14, 2017
Colombia’s government dismissed US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s claim that “it is necessary to resume fumigation” of coca, the base ingredient for cocaine, reported newspaper El Tiempo.
According to the country’s leading newspaper, while being heard by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the 2018 budget, Tillerson said that President Donald Trump had talked to his Colombian counterpart Juan Manuel Santos personally “and we are going to work with them to deal with this issue.”
. . .
Colombia has banned the controversial use of the Monsanto-produced chemical deemed possibly carcinogenic by the World Health Organization. Moreover, the aerial spraying has led to health complaints by locals and tensions with neighboring country Ecuador.
Instead of spraying, Colombia and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have embarked on a two-year project of voluntary coca crop substitution as part of a peace process to end 52 years of war between the state and Marxist FARC guerrillas.
More:
https://colombiareports.com/us-wants-colombia-return-aerial-fumigation-coca-ignored/
LBN:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10141799865
