In what appears to be a minor victory for Colombia’s indigenous peoples and campesinos, a recent decision by the country’s court ruled that the government should suspend its U.S.-funded program of herbicidal spraying of drug crops until there is more information on its effects on human and environmental health. The judge ordered a stop to the sprayings, saying that they “violate the right to life, due process, and environmental rights.” The court decision, that spraying must be stopped until further investigations are conducted into the harmfulness of the chemicals used, supports International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 169. According to the court, the government is required to consult with indigenous peoples in regards to the herbicidal fumigation of illicit crops on indigenous lands.
Despite the possible severity of this herbicidal spraying, the government refuses to halt drug eradication efforts and says it will continue to spray as it appeals the court’s decision. Aerial spraying has been a main component of Plan Colombia, a joint U.S. Colombian program aimed at eradication coca crops. Government officials say that fumigating the crops is the most effective way to eradicate coca and poppy, the plants used to make cocaine and heroin. Following the decision the Agricultural Minister, Carlos Gustavo Cano, said that the fumigation of illicit drug crops is essential in the struggle against drug trafficking and that the government will do everything in its power to appeal the decision.
The Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazon (OPIAC) continues to pressure the government to stop all fumigation efforts once and for all. Colombia’s indigenous peoples, considered the most directly affected by the fumigation measures, say that the policy of spraying illicit crops was determined without having studied the effects on human and environmental health. Colombia’s indigenous leaders say there are currently no known studies that calculate the noxious effects of the fumigant, and that any studies that do exist are heavily biased and conducted by the authorities in charge of the fumigation. Despite inquiries made by indigenous people regarding the harmfulness of the chemicals used in coca and poppy plant eradication, the U.S. and the Colombian government claim that the herbicide used in the spraying, glyphosate, is the most prevalent agricultural chemical in the world and is safe for both humans and the environment. President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia said in a speech given in southern Putumayo, a region effected by the spraying efforts, “While I’m president and there are drugs, I can’t stop spraying.”
In contrast to statements made by both U.S. and Colombian government officials, many see the herbicidal sprayings as having significantly negative effects. Indigenous peoples throughout the southern part of Colombia where spraying is common, argue that the chemical sprayed is toxic to the land, as well as to animal and human populations. Those directly affected by the spraying say that it damages their food crops, harms their health, ruins their drinking water, and destroys wildlife populations. Consequences of using these herbicides have severely threatened the survival of the indigenous cultures of Colombia. As land and water become toxic, groups are forced to either move away from their ancestral homes, or to abandon their traditional subsistence lifestyles.
The war on drugs has been concentrated in Colombia since the 1990s when the country became the world’s leading producer of coca leaf, the base ingredient for cocaine. Since 1996 the U.S. and Colombian governments have worked together through Plan Colombia to try and control the cultivation of drug crops in Colombia. The United States has contributed over US$2.5 billion in aid to Colombia, predominately to purchase and operate helicopters and fumigation planes. Efforts to eradicate drug crops have focused on the spraying of herbicides across nearly one million acres of Colombian land. Despite ever increasing efforts by both the Colombian and U.S. governments, coca cultivation tripled between 1996 and 2001. The overall goal of the joint war on drugs, as decided in December of 2000, is to cut coca cultivation in Colombia by fifty percent by 2005 through increasing aerial eradication.
As the government-sponsored eradication plan has proven ineffective, so have its attempts to provide wage-earning alternatives for Colombian coca farmers. In 2002 35,000 families in Putumayo, as well as many families across the indigenous regions of Colombia, made agreements to sacrifice coca cultivation in exchange for governmental assistance. The case of one farmer, Miguel Lucero, highlights the shortcomings in this alternative development program. Ten years ago Lucero replaced his coca plants with those of hearts of palm, as directed under U.S. embassy officials. Although Lucero has not planted coca in over 10 years, his crops have been sprayed twice, both times completely destroying his healthy harvest. Despite his efforts to follow the guidelines set by the U.S. officials, Lucero’s crops were killed by what the U.S. refers to as “accidental” spraying. Due to his losses he currently faces financial disaster.
Despite the many cases of farmers who, like Lucero, attempted to switch to legal crops and were devastated by “accidental” aerial fumigation, the USAID program continues. Involvement in the five-year Colombian program is estimated to cost $222 million, putting $122 million towards Colombia during this year alone, of which $60.2 million is set for Alternative Development programs like the one Lucero participated in.
