IT’S HARD TO UNDERSTAND
Socorro Ramírez
Colombia is the only country in the world where, instead of defending its people
caught in the cross-fire of the Drug War,
for
the
past
three decades these people have been subjected to measures which have forced
them to leave their homes due to the poisoning of their habitat with potent
chemical mixtures —first Paraquat and later on with RoundUp—which damage their
health, biodiversity, water sources and crops.
It’s hard to understand how President Santos can accept the disaster of the drug
crusade while failing to listen to entreaties demanding an end to aerial
spraying; entreaties underlined by indigenous, afro-Colombian and peasant
marches and strikes by those being subjected to this toxic spraying without even
being forewarned nor listened to when they complain; while failing to respond to
human rights and environmental organizations’ demands for a moratorium on aerial
spraying pending his government’s studies on the environmental, humanitarian and
social and economic impacts of this measure and on the means to repair the
damages.
It’s hard to understand how the Santos Government can have resumed aerial
spraying with Glyphosate in 2014 as per the demands of the USA, Monsanto and the
Colombian Police while disregarding numerous appeals requesting that it stop
spraying —in 2013, the State Council compelled the government to stop spraying
stating that aerial spraying violates the Precautionary Principle and causes
irreversible and disproportionate damages to rich and fragile ecosystem—; while
paying Ecuador
reparation for the repercussions in Ecuadorian territory of
Colombian spraying; while having been warned since 2001 by the European Union
regarding the ineffectiveness of aerial spraying, its negative impacts and the
need to implement a joint monitoring
system with
the
UN and PAHO.
It’s hard to understand how the Santos Government can have underestimated two
other appeals launched in March 2014 when it resumed its poisoning campaigns:
the Constitutional
Court ordered the Ministry of Environmental Affairs to control the hazards of
aerial spraying and two UN Special Rapporteurs asked the government to answer
questions regarding the measures adopted to prevent these hazards; comply with
environmental and human rights conventions in their antinarcotics strife; and to
guarantee non-repetition by means of the reports by those in charge, to be
submitted to the Human Rights Council on the 17th of September.
It’s hard to understand how the Police can insist on speaking of “the success”
of this strategy and measure this success by the number of hectares sprayed when
substantially documented studies show the failure of having poisoned over two
million hectares (approximately 30 hectares have to be sprayed to eliminate one
hectare). Success? The Southern part of Colombia, where a greater portion of
these toxic substances have been sprayed, still has the largest number of coca
crops; these crops are simply replanted elsewhere, thus increasing
deforestation. Biodiversity and the funds invested —USD$-57.000 to spray just
one hectare— could have been saved, and the funds used to protect and promote
the sustainable development of these marginal regions.
It’s hard to understand how, despite its futility, the government can have
included poisoning in the Drug Bill; can reserve itself this poisoning option in
its pre-agreement with the FARC; and can continue insisting on reducing the
extension of the buffer area which it has been banned from spraying on the
border with Ecuador.
President Santos much like you have said that you are in favor of the medical
and therapeutic cannabis initiative, and have started addressing drugs as a
public health
issue, you should free the Colombian State from its USA
addiction to aerial spraying of crops destined for illicit markets. This would
open the way to solutions to the country’s agrarian issues, which are essential
to the effectiveness of drug policies and achievements in the post-conflict era.