cannabisnews.com: Coca Farmers' Riots Fuel U.S.-Colombia Spraying Coca Farmers' Riots Fuel U.S.-Colombia Spraying Posted by FoM on June 15, 2001 at 07:36:44 PT By Juan O. Tamayo Source: Miami Herald Three days of rioting incited by coca farmers angry over the aerial spraying of their fields with herbicides are casting fresh attention on a dispute between Colombia and Washington over a key part of the U.S. counter-narcotics strategy in Colombia.The rioters want to suspend a 3-week-old spraying campaign in this part of northeastern Colombia, a move that U.S. officials would consider a setback in the nationwide campaign to eradicate the coca plants. President Andrés Pastrana has yet to respond to the protests, but any deal to curtail the spraying here could sharpen U.S. frustrations over his decision earlier this spring to cancel a much larger sprraying offensive in the southern state of Putumayo.``Unless there is a Colombian political will to keep the pressure up on eradication in Putumayo, we are in danger of losing the initiative there,'' said a U.S. government official in Washington with firsthand knowledge of the dispute.The farmers in Tibú, in the northeastern Catatumbo region of Colombia, promise to uproot their coca bushes if the fumigation is halted, but they are demanding government aid to raise alternative crops. U.S. officials are skeptical.``This is crazy. So, if every coca farmer in Colombia makes a warm-and-fuzzy promise to destroy his own crops, Pastrana won't spray at all?'' said a U.S. military officer who monitors the fumigation efforts in this country.To press their case, the farmers sent 3,000 of their field workers into Tibú, the region's main town with 13,000 people. They rioted Saturday, Tuesday and Wednesday and torched the small refueling base at the airstrip used by the crop dusters.Pastrana talked Thursday with Luis Alcides, governor of Norte de Santander state, to discuss the farmers' demands for manual eradication agreements with the government and complaints that the herbicide is making people and farm animals sick.But U.S. officials are already dissatisfied with Pastrana's decision to call off the earlier round of spraying Putumayo, a move his aides portrayed as an effort to give a similar voluntary eradication program time to work.On the record, Colombian officials deny any friction over the spraying. ``We have the option of spraying anywhere we believe it's necessary,'' said Gonzalo de Francisco, Pastrana's chief national security advisor.The State Department's International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Bureau (INL), which finances and operates the spraying campaign in cooperation with the Colombian National Police, has also denied any dispute.About $115 million of the $1.3 billion U.S. aid package approved last year was for fumigation -- including the purchase of 10 crop dusters, which would double the current number, and tons of the herbicide glyphosate.``When we have all the pieces in place we will be able to spray in four parts of the country simultaneously, and this will be a full-court press that has never been seen before,'' said a Bush administration official in Washington.The $115 million was first put to use in a major campaign launched Dec. 19 in western Putumayo's Guamuéz Valley, which holds an estimated one-quarter of Colombia's coca acreage. It had covered 74,000 acres when it ended in early February.U.S. officials say the plan was to hit Guamuéz again no more than 90 days later, to spray fields missed in the first sweep and reinforce the psychological message that coca farming would not be tolerated.`Again and Again' ``For any hope of an eradication to work you have to convince the farmer that you will be back, again and again, to hit his fields,'' said a senior Republican congressional aide who monitors Colombia's spray efforts.But Pastrana blocked the second round of spraying, U.S. officials said, even though smaller fumigation campaigns have hit other parts of Putumayo, Catatumbo, Bolívar, Guaviare, Huila and Tolima.``Pastrana has been much more reluctant to spray than the United States wants him to be,'' said Bruce Bagley, a University of Miami expert on Colombia who serves as a consultant to the U.S. government on Colombian issues.Pastrana's defenders say spraying is only the ``stick'' part of a ``carrot and stick'' policy that he hopes will lead more farmers to join the voluntary eradication program, first launched in Putumayo in December.Under the agreement, some 21,000 farmers who have 40,000 acres of coca promised to uproot their coca fields within a year after receiving $1,000 per family in seeds, farm animals and implements. The government at the same time promised to launch multimillion dollar development projects such as roads, bridges, schools and clinics.``That's what we want too in Catatumbo, an alternative to coca, a plague on our society but the only crop that allows us to eat,'' said Alfonso Flórez, who farms 15 acres of coca in La Gabarra, 40 miles north of Tibú.U.S. Skepticism:But U.S. officials are more than skeptical of the social pacts, especially after a $1 million on-the-ground ``truth proofing'' of the results of the Guamuéz campaign conducted by U.S. and Colombian experts in April. The survey found many area farmers have already planted again, U.S. officials said, and the large numbers of coca nurseries spotted indicate an intention to plant even more.Complete Title: Coca Farmers' Riots Fuel U.S.-Colombia Spraying DisputeTibu, Colombia Source: Miami Herald (FL)Author: Juan O. TamayoPublished: Friday, June 15, 2001 Copyright: 2001 The Miami HeraldContact: heralded herald.comWebsite: http://www.herald.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Colombia Drug War Newshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/colombia.htm Coca Workers Riot Against U.S. Spray Efforthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10038.shtmlSpraying Misery - The Economist (UK)http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9468.shtmlU.S. War on Drugs in Colombia Ravages Farmers http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9170.shtmlCannabisNews Articles - Putumayohttp://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=Putumayo END SNIP --> Snipped Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #11 posted by SWAMPIE on June 15, 2001 at 19:14:04 PT GREENFOX please be sure to mail some of your bounty back here,we can use all the help we can get to populate the species at home or in the wild?Good luck on your trip,and don,t overdo on the "spacecakes"!!!Seed packets work well if you keep them clean.We'll look forward to your pics,gotta have something to keep it up!LOL! ONWARD THROUGH THE FOG!!!!! SWAMPIE P.S.WATCH OUT FOR "GRAVITY-HOLES"!!!!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by greenfox on June 15, 2001 at 13:11:46 PT Cool... Actually, I've smoked many a j before, Pontifix. :) This, was at best, my stoned banter if I led you to believe otherwise. FOM:I will do my best to upload them. I may just email them to you because in the cyber cafes over there they charge by the hour, so it'll be easier that way. Besides, I have a "anonymous" email account, (so big brother can suck my.. um... big, fat, juicy, rock-hard, ....ripe cola) ;) anyway... Indeed, I am looking forward to all this "nonsense" (as the Dutch have it quite straight, or in this case, crooked) A friend who was supposed to come with me was in a terrible car accident- it took a piece of his leg. After several hours of intense hospital frustration (and a titanium rod!) they were able to put his leg back together. However, being that it was TWO DAYS before my last trip to the Netherlands (he was supposed to be there WITH ME last time in January,) he was unable to attend. However, I talked him into it. After several months of recovery, he'll be comming along this time. It's actually pretty screwed up because for me it will be like yesterday. But my friend has never seen the wonders.....Well, I will set up a "virtual tour" of Amsterdam. We'll call it "greenfox's spaced out trip" ;) and there will be a plethora of pictures to be... HAD. a few "for sures" (you WILL see pictures of these places):· The Grey Area, home of the "Grey Mist" kif- pure THC!· Dutch Flowers, strategically located across the street from a bakery· De Kaul's, home of the all-too-powerful NL5 x Haze joints- prerolled for your pleasure!· BlueBird, lots of hash... GOOD hash!· Sensi Seedbank, must 'stock up' on stock! gf > >:) · Sagamartha, beautiful little plants in the window............ and that's just a few.... I think you guys will like the pictures and if NOTHING ELSE I PROMISE to post on this channel while I am there. After all, I need to keep up on how Uncle Sam is doing raping my beautiful country. ;) ((I am going to post this in a newer message so that you are sure to see it, FoM. Please don't mind the duplicate!)) :)Brothers, Sisters, ... I love you all, I am very happy. Hopefully, a day will come when I can invite you ALL out to enjoy my "bounties" :) Until then, I will be free, (for a while anyway..) I will be in touch.Peace & love all.(and, of course, my crafty tagline...)sly in green, foxy in kind-greenf0x [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by FoM on June 15, 2001 at 09:22:45 PT Greenfox Please send the pictures to me and go ahead and upload them if you want. I can figure out a way to get them on line. I could use the Political Board at cannabis.com and then post them here for others to see as a start! Have a wonderful time! [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by Pontifex on June 15, 2001 at 09:16:04 PT: Greenfox to smoke Nederwiet on Monday Greenfox, congratulations on your trip to Holland! What a taste of heaven, to be free to light up, free to buy the best sinse in the world at the lowest prices, and free from the cold pricklies that come from living in an unfree country. We will all be with you in spirit.I would love to see any and all pictures of your trip. I hope FoM can accommodate them.And have you really never smoked a joint before...??? [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by greenfox on June 15, 2001 at 09:04:21 PT Hey, Fom! I have a GREAT idea and hopefully we can do it? I can UPLOAD pictures at a cafe called "Yazoo" (it's a play off of Yahoo, obviously). But anyway, I have a digital camera and I will be taking pictures. I can UPLOAD them to you, or even email them, and i think it would be really cool to have a temporary section will my travel pictures from Amsterdam! What do you think?-gf [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on June 15, 2001 at 08:56:01 PT: I'll Tell You What's Crazy What is crazy is some Amerikan military type complaining as Colombia seeks its own political solutions.I am choleric over this wanton attack on the sovereignty of another nation as its own people protest ecological warfare and genocide. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Sudaca on June 15, 2001 at 08:41:56 PT This is crazy well but under the warm and fuzzy promise of a drug free America , Colombians are forced to hold their breath, cover their eyes and let Colombia be raped and wasted for the sole perceived benefit of the US. Sick fauna, sick people, dead land and poisoned Amazon.HOW COME THERE'S NO MENTION OF WHY THE COLOMBIANS WANT TO STOP SPRAYING? SURELY MORAL WEAKNESS ISN'T THE ONLY EXPLANATION!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Sudaca on June 15, 2001 at 08:39:13 PT Sudaca "This is crazy. So, if every coca farmer in Colombia makes a warm-and-fuzzy promise to destroy his own crops, Pastrana won't spray at all?'' [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Sudaca on June 15, 2001 at 08:39:12 PT Sudaca "This is crazy. So, if every coca farmer in Colombia makes a warm-and-fuzzy promise to destroy his own crops, Pastrana won't spray at all?'' [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on June 15, 2001 at 08:38:47 PT Greenfox Going to Amsterdam! That is great! You'll get a chance to enjoy real freedom! Try to log on here from a cybercafe and lets us here how wonderful it is there! Have a super great time! Ah Freedom what a wonderful thing. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by greenfox on June 15, 2001 at 08:32:56 PT Till' the day we die ``This is crazy. So, if every coca farmer in Colombia makes a warm-and-fuzzy promise to destroy his own crops, Pastrana won't spray at all?'' said a U.S. military officer who monitors the fumigation efforts in this country.THIS is CRAZY! Every time I see one of our "military orrrrrrificers" ranting on about how WE should be MORALLY policing the world, it really does make me sick. This fat-cat, SOB excuse for a human is PROFITING off this very "counter drug" experience. What really blows my mind is how WE can ...god DAMN it, now I have to start. This will probably be my longest post ever....AMERIKKKA, LAND OF THE FREE**free excludes nights, weekends, and peak time. Special charges MAY apply. Offer restricted to the Netherlands, were people are actually sane. Americans need not apply. Special finance rate of 19.99% will apply to all persons under the suspicion that they are "free".Amerikka... where:1a) Marijuana is illegal. 1b) COCAINE, HEROIN (MORPHINE), AND OPIUM (OXY) are legal2a) People have "freedom of speech"2b) "Durring a Bush rally in florida, secret service removed a man using a loudspeaker to broadcast his ideas"3a) People are free from "unreasonable" search3b) "David Mennakas, 22, Cleveland, was shot in the back of the head because officers entering the house believed he was brandishing a weapon. Officers used 'probable cause' to enter the house after smelling burnt marijuana comming out of one of the windows"4a) People cannot loose their arcticles, land, etc, without due process of law4b) Forfieture5a) Everyone has the right to vote...5b) ...unless convicted of a felony, which...5c) in the USA ONE single marijuana seed (under federal law) is a felony.6a) We are the moral leaders of the world. Don't do drugs, practice safe sex, and don't kill people...6b) But DO try our PAXIL if you're feeling down, try not to follow Mr. Clinton's examples, and of course, don't kill people (unless they really deserve it like McVeigh did).7a) Gore won7b) dead people voted in Indiana, Florida, and who knows where else, yet...7c) Bush is president.8a) The USA is peaceful. Practice peace!8b) (but peace is bad business, so let's start up the cold war again just for fun, and shit, even though it failed ten years ago, let's try star wars again just for shits and giggles.) Why not? Not OUR money, it's YOURS! haha!9a) BE environmentally friendly! but...9b) don't use hemp (1 acre of hemp=4 acres of trees.) 9c) don't use hemp (average tree reaces peak 30 years / average hemp plant reaches peak 3 months)9d) dig oil, just for fun10a) Don't do drugs! Drug test employees!10b) (congress has yet to take one test for drugs..)so, in short, I'm sick of it. VERY sick of it. I'm putting myself in debt, AGAIN, to leave this poor excuse for a country. On Monday, I will be getting on a plane to Amsterdam (second time this year, and many of you will remember,) and I will enjoy my stay THOROUGHLY!Furthermore- I will leave monday, (this monday,) and I won't be back until July 1st (UNLESS i post on this board from a cyber cafe-coffieshop in amsterdam, which is also possible.) To Kaptinemo, Pontifix, Dan B, FoM, Observer, and everyone else here who fights the good fight:I will be sparking a fat joint in your honor and in the honor of this board. It will be my first joint. I will think of all of you and pray for all your freedom, (as i enjoy mine in a country tthat actually SUPPORTS personal responsibility)In any case, I will talk to you all soon. At very latest, July 1st. Looking forward to seeing you all when I get back, so keep this place interesting! (FOM I'm COUNTING ON YOU!) :)sky in green, FOXY in kind.-greenf0x [ Post Comment ] Post Comment