cannabisnews.com: Colombian Police Spray Herbicide on Wellstone





Colombian Police Spray Herbicide on Wellstone
Posted by FoM on December 01, 2000 at 10:10:02 PT
By Rob Hotakainen, Star Tribune 
Source: Star-Tribune
Standing next to 10-foot coca bushes in a remote mountain region near the Tarasa River on Thursday, Sen. Paul Wellstone was ready to watch the Colombian National Police demonstrate its new approach to fumigating coca, the raw product used to produce cocaine.But then something odd happened: Wellstone got sprayed, along with surprised members of his delegation, including his press secretary and foreign policy adviser.
Police officials said it was a mistake, blaming the wind for blowing the chemical -- known as glysophate -- from its intended path.Moments earlier, Lt. Col. Marcos Pedreros, the police official in charge of the spraying mission, had assured Wellstone that the spray posed no risk to humans, animals or the environment. Officials said it's similar to Roundup, a commonly used herbicide."I am Colombian," said Pedreros, who communicated through an interpreter with Wellstone, D-Minn. "I love my motherland, and with my men I couldn't destroy my own homeland. I know that what I'm doing is under the law, and that's why I do it with love and devotion."Ironically, the U.S. Embassy in Colombia had just circulated materials to reporters, noting the "precise geographical coordinates" used to spray coca fields. According to embassy officials, a computer program sets precise flight lines with a 170-foot width, leaving little room for error.But Wellstone was hit with a fine mist of the herbicide from a helicopter flying less than 200 feet above him. He winced and rubbed his eyes later, but he managed a joke, saying he could become a case study on possible dangers linked to the chemical.Asked whether he was stunned to get hit, Wellstone said: "Oh, yeah, and I'm imagining that I'm itching a lot, too."One of the members of Wellstone's delegation was particularly irked after she was sprayed."I really resented it," said Pamela Costain, executive director of the Minneapolis-based Resource Center of the Americas, who thinks the fumigation of coca fields could result in long-term environmental damage. "I'm fearful about what they're using, and I really didn't want to get it on me."Colombian officials sought to downplay the incident."We did not spray on the people or on the senator," said Gen. Gustavo Socha, anti-narcotics director for the Colombian National Police, speaking through an interpreter. But when told that a reporter witnessed the incident, Socha said: "What hit him was because of the wind, not because they had the intention."Wellstone, one of the few senators to oppose a $1.3 billion U.S. aid plan to help Colombia fight its drug war, drew much attention from the Colombian press. The plan is a pet project for Colombian President Andres Pastrana, but Wellstone said that peasant farmers will continue growing coca as long as few jobs exist in a country where unemployment hovers at 20 percent.Using an interpreter to speak to Colombian reporters, Wellstone said: "I believe they are very honestly committed to this fight, but I have to wonder whether or not we will be able to win this fight against this narcotics trade as long as the people in Colombia and the countryside do not have other alternatives to enable them to be able to make a living and as long as in my country -- the United States of America -- there is such demand. ... I will remain a critic, but with respect."Colombian police used Wellstone's visit to announce plans to spray 17,290 acres of coca as part of its new Operation "Paramillo." Police said 300 men will be involved in the effort, using Black Hawk helicopters sent by the United States. Police are targeting a region where violence is high as paramilitary groups clash with guerrilla groups over who will control the nation's drug trade.After receiving the U.S. aid, Colombian officials gave Wellstone a warm welcome."Be certain that your visit raises the morale of our men," Pedreros told Wellstone, shortly before he boarded a helicopter to witness the spraying at a nearby coca field that had been discovered with aerial surveillance.At the site, police found 35 raspachines, or coca workers, who were arrested as they stuffed coca leaves into bags and then used donkeys to transport the drugs through muddy red clay to a makeshift laboratory nearby.At the laboratory next to the river, police stood in a foot-high blanket of coca leaves as they gave an impromptu news conference. Then they ignited 50 pounds of dynamite, sending a gigantic fireball of black smoke into the sweltering air.Police took Wellstone to another site, where they wanted him to get off the helicopter to watch another explosion destroy a runway used by drug traffickers. Wellstone declined, saying he was running behind schedule, but he caught a glimpse of the smoke from the helicopter.Costain said that she was offended by the entire display."I felt like the senator's visit was used as a public-relations ploy for the eradication program," she said. "And I think it's ironic because I'm not at all confident that the senator supports the eradication program."Later, Wellstone flew to Barrancabermeja, becoming the first member of Congress to visit what embassy officials called the most dangerous city in Colombia. Under heavy security, he met with human-rights groups who said the Colombian government is doing nothing to protect civilians from the drug war, which is resulting in large-scale massacres and record kidnappings.As Wellstone returns to the United States today, he said he will try to insist that Colombia gets no more U.S. aid unless it improves its human rights record."My father fled persecution from Russia," said Wellstone, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "I believe in human rights for people more than anything."Rob Hotakainen can be reached at: rhotakainen mcclatchydc.com Note: Wellstone sprayed with herbicide in Colombia.Complete Title: Colombian Police Spray Herbicide on Coca, WellstoneSource: Minneapolis Star-Tribune (MN)Author: Rob Hotakainen, Star Tribune Published: Friday, December 1, 2000Copyright: 2000 Star TribuneContact: opinion startribune.comAddress: 425 Portland Ave., Minneapolis MN 55488Fax: 612-673-4359Website: http://www.startribune.com/Forum: http://talk.startribune.com/cgi-bin/WebX.cgiFeedback: http://www.startribune.com/stonline/html/userguide/letform.htmlRelated Article:Wellstone Heads To Colombia To Question Drug Warhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7806.shtmlCannabisNews Articles - Colombiahttp://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=colombia 
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Comment #8 posted by defenderoffreeworld on December 02, 2000 at 20:32:00 PT:
what the fuck?
i'm from a south american country, though a u.s. citizen, and seeing that u.s. brutal and indirect imperialism is spreading closer and closer to my homeland back in argentina makes me fucking sick. what the hell are they doing? this isn't going to work, its only causing more and more resentment towards america. do they really think destroying a few coca fields in colombia is going to end the drug problem here? hahaha, what a bunch of freakin clowns,
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Comment #7 posted by kindone on December 02, 2000 at 18:50:39 PT
right idea
Spraying the politicians...this sounds like a much more effective approach to the drug war indeed.:)
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Comment #6 posted by observer on December 01, 2000 at 14:44:48 PT
glysophate drift ... more
 Drift and Carryover Are the Primary Causes of Herbicide InjuryAugust 2, 2000Incorrectly applied herbicides can hurt more than they help. Herbicide injury issues in corn and grain sorghum, including damage from carryover, drift, improper equipment calibration and failure to follow label directions. Problems from mis-application have been increasing over the last couple of years. Different types of herbicide cause different sorts of injuries. . . .Carryover injury usually occurs because the rotational interval of 10 months before planting corn or 18 months before planting grain sorghum is not observed, or because of boom overlaps or on ends of fields where the application rate has been doubled.. . . glysophate drift, a major cause of herbicide injury last year, has been less common in 2000, although it's still a pretty big issue. Roundup is the most common glysophate-based herbicide. It most commonly is spread to other fields by drift or by spray tank contamination. The corn will turn purple and die very quickly. . . .The Source for this article is Bill Johnson, Assistant professor of Extension Agronomy and Weed Science at the University of Missouri - Columbia, (573) 882-2001.http://outreach.missouri.edu/callaway/jarman%202000%20.html 
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Comment #5 posted by drfist on December 01, 2000 at 11:30:53 PT
Spray drift creating rebel fighters
the wide spread drift of round up will destroy food crops more effectively than a bush like coca, By eliminating a food crop or garden they would be driving the farmers to the rebels for survival ,swelling the rebel army, a self peptuating war, like viet nam where they did the same things for different reasons. 
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Comment #4 posted by observer on December 01, 2000 at 11:23:58 PT
Roundup (glysophate) toxicity
Police officials said it was a mistake, blaming the wind for blowing the chemical -- known as glysophate -- from its intended path.Moments earlier, Lt. Col. Marcos Pedreros, the police official in charge of the spraying mission, had assured Wellstone that the spray posed no risk to humans, animals or the environment. Completely false, again, one more time, as is usual for drug warriors. (They seem to lie compulsively, don't they?)Officials said it's similar to Roundup, a commonly used herbicide.Ooooh. "Officials", eh? Sounds impressive. Yeah, they're right. "Similar to Roundup". And guess what is the "most commonly reported cause of pesticide illness among landscape maintenance workers"?please see:European Commission report on Glyphosate points to harmful effects on arthropods (10/99) http://www.gn.apc.org/pesticidestrust/press/ecglypho.htmMovement of Roundup and its Persistence: "Soil Contamination Index" Glyphosate, Humans and Toxicological Effect http://www.envirolink.org/orgs/hecweb/archive/glyphos2.htm http://www.envirolink.org/orgs/hecweb/archive/glyphos1.htmMonsanto Co. agreed to change its advertising for glyphosate- based products, including Roundup, in response to complaints by the New York Attorney General's office that the ads were misleading. Based on their investigation, the Attorney General's office felt that the advertising inaccurately portrayed Monsanto's glyphosate-containing products as safe and as not causing any harmful effects to people or the environment. According to the state, the ads also implied that the risks of products such as Roundup are the same as those of the active ingredient, glyphosate, and do not take into account the possible risks associated with the product's inert ingredients.As part of the agreement, Monsanto will discontinue the use of terms such as "biodegradable" and "environmentally friendly" in all advertising of glyphosate-containing products in New York state and will pay $50,000 toward the state's costs of pursuing the case. The Attorney General has been challenging the ads since 1991.According to a 1993 report published by the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, glyphosate was the third most commonly-reported cause of pesticide illness among agricultural workers. Another study from the School of Public Health found that glyphosate was the most commonly reported cause of pesticide illness among landscape maintenance workers. (Both studies were based on data collected between 1984 and 1990.) . . .Monsanto Agrees to Change Ads and EPA Fines Northrup King (1/97)from http://home.earthlink.net/~alto/woodward.html 'Cons' of Roundup http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/prof/msg0300195628501.htmlmore on glysophate toxicity . . . http://www.google.com/search?q=glysophate+toxicity"I am Colombian," said Pedreros, who communicated through an interpreter with Wellstone, D-Minn. "I love my motherland, and with my men I couldn't destroy my own homeland. I know that what I'm doing is under the law, and that's why I do it with love and devotion."That's what the South Vietnamese officials said about Agent Orange, too. "Yankee bring dollars and spray, that's ok!"
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Comment #3 posted by r.earing on December 01, 2000 at 11:13:28 PT:
Too Bad
Oh, so Ironic that the meddling Yanquis were sprayed with their own herbicide! Couldn't of happened to more deserving people.Now lets hope they get sick and spread the word.A couple of dead Americans is a good way of getting attention,since nothing else seems to work with you people.
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Comment #2 posted by schmeff on December 01, 2000 at 11:01:30 PT:
"it's similar to Roundup"
"It's similar to Roundup, a commonly used herbicide.Maybe it's Agent Orange. But don't worry about getting any on you.In a few months they should be ready to release their genetically-engineered (and completely untested under environmental conditions) plant pathogens. I would urge all the pols who supported Plan Columbia to get down there and receive their baptism, just as did Senator Wellstone.
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Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on December 01, 2000 at 10:26:20 PT:
Breaking the Laws of Nature
"What hit him was because of the wind, not because they had the intention." Now there's a surprise. We can all expect that the herbicide will be applied in the field with surgical precision and that no children or innocent plants will be affected. Sure, and pigs fly (at least when they are companion animals on an airline). What we really have here is US complicity in an environmental cataclysm. Write your congress(wo)man today to end this atrocity.
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