cannabisnews.com: Colombian Governors Protest U.S.-Backed Spraying 





Colombian Governors Protest U.S.-Backed Spraying 
Posted by FoM on March 13, 2001 at 06:08:13 PT
By Christopher Marquis
Source: New York Times
Four governors from Colombia charged today that American-supported aerial spraying of illicit crops is jeopardizing the health and food supply of small-scale farmers.The governors are urging President Andrés Pastrana and the Bush administration to rethink what the governors call a militaristic approach toward peasant farmers, in exchange for a plan involving social pacts and alternative crops in southern drug-growing states, which the governors represent. They plan to publicize their objections at a news conference here on Tuesday. 
Ivan Gerardo Guerrero, governor of Putumayo Province, which produces 60 percent of the nation's coca, said intensified herbicide spraying since December might unintentionally drive the poorest farmers deeper into the arms of drug traffickers by ruining their food crops and alienating people from their national government."Fumigation is not the solution," said Mr. Guerrero, who spoke for his fellow governors from the states of Narino, Cauca and Tolima in an interview tonight. "It has a great defect. It doesn't really take into account the human being. All it cares about are satellite pictures." The Bush administration vigorously defended the eradication program, saying it has destroyed tens of thousands of acres of illicit crops, slashed the drug income of leftist rebels and has already induced about 1,500 peasants to sign agreements to plow up their coca fields in return for future subsidies in alternative crops. "The turnout of farmers who are voluntarily offering to agree to sign these pacts and eradicate has really been quite promising," William R. Brownfield, the deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, said today at what was the Bush administration's first detailed briefing related to its policy in Colombia.The defoliation effort is part of an aggressive assault on coca-growing regions dominated by leftist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or right-wing paramilitary groups. The United States, which is providing the Pastrana government with nearly $1 billion in mostly military aid, is training three army battalions to protect the low-flying spray planes against rebels, and it is furnishing combat helicopters and even some pilots for the task.After a six-week assault that ended in January, American and Colombian officials claimed to have destroyed a quarter of all coca crops in the key provinces of Putumayo and Caquetá. Mr. Brownfield acknowledged today that those boasts may have been premature, since "it's too soon to say scientifically" how much of the crop would withstand defoliation.Mr. Brownfield and other American officials at the briefing here vowed to continue the Clinton administration's support for Colombia, but broaden it considerably to include aid to neighboring nations already feeling a "spillover effect" from its struggle. "You cannot deal with Colombia in isolation," Mr. Brownfield said. "We need a more regional approach to address the issues."Complete Title: Colombian Governors Protest U.S.-Backed Spraying of CocaSource: New York Times (NY) Author: Christopher MarquisPublished: March 13, 2001 Copyright: 2001 The New York Times Company Address: 229 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036 Fax: (212) 556-3622 Contact: letters nytimes.com Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Forum: http://forums.nytimes.com/comment/ Related Article:Colombia To Continue Anti-Drug Sprays http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8709.shtmlCannabisNews Articles - Colombiahttp://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=colombia 
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