fumigating colombia
an attack on human and environmental
rights
censat/friends of the earth
colombia
|
Although Colombians have obtained
many rights, including the
constitutional right to a healthy
environment, justice remains out of
reach. One striking example is the
ongoing fumigation of crops destined
for illegal use with Monsanto's Roundup
Ready herbicide, which has destroyed
important ecosystems and has seriously
violated the rights of communities and
the environment.
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The government's aerial spraying of crops
intended for illegal use (marijuana, coca,
and more recently poppy) with the herbicide
glysophate, a ‘poison rain' marketed by
Monsanto, has been going on for more than
three decades. However the recent,
increased fumigation is part of a strategy
against drug trafficking adopted by the US
and Colombian governments that focuses on
the weakest link in the process: the
growers. Thus, those who suffer most in
this war are the farmers, the indigenous
peoples, the Afro-Colombian communities,
their cultures and their ecosystems. As
environmentalists, Friends of the Earth
Colombia believes that the illegal
production of coca has contributed to the
serious degradation of the Andes and Amazon
forests. However, the spraying of
glysophate by lowflying planes only
stimulates this degradation, not only
through the unknown effects of the
chemicals on the ecosystem, but by forcing
the growers into the forest where the
impacts of fumigation are even more
damaging. Friends of the Earth is convinced
that fighting one evil with another is
pointless.
plan colombia
Colombia 's anti-narcotics policy has
the strong backing of the US government. In
July of 2000, President Clinton approved
US$1.3 billion for a ‘war on drugs' within
the framework of Plan Colombia , which was
allegedly intended to increase national
security and decrease conflict in the
country. Despite an enormous increase in
fumigation, the strategy yielded meager
results, with a mere 11 percent decrease in
coca crops in 2000-1.
During the second phase of Plan Colombia
, which coincided with the entry into power
of President Alvaro Uribe Vélez, more than
250,000 thousand hectares of coca and poppy
were sprayed. According to official
figures, this has led to a reduction of 37
percent of crops; the reality however is
that the fumigation has not contributed to
diminishing crops. A recent report by the
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes
showed the greatest decreases in areas that
had not been fumigated. This raises the
question of why the government continues to
fumigate, and whom this strategy
benefits.
attacking public and
environmental health
Farmers in the fumigated areas and some
indigenous communities bear the brunt of
this strategy, and have continuously called
for the replacement of spraying by manual
eradication. Indigenous communities insist
that their traditional lands, as well as
the cultural importance they place on the
earth and the coca plant, be respected.
Local governments, environmental groups
and human rights organizations have
campaigned and taken legal action to stop
the fumigation. The national government has
refused to comply with two Constitutional
Court orders that the spraying be stopped,
and has not carried out any of the required
social or environmental impact assessments.
In turn, Monsanto continues to insist that
glysophate has no adverse impacts on human
health or the environment.
The emerging evidence about the impacts
of fumigation on human and environmental
health is alarming. Medical experts in
southern Colombia , which has been sprayed
liberally, report high incidences of ocular
and cutaneous afflictions, as well as the
death of livestock and poultry. Ecuadorian
investigations based on the border area
with Colombia have found cases of
over-stimulated central nervous systems,
which causes headaches, nightmares, nausea,
vomiting, stomachaches and weakness.
Glysophate also causes strong eye and skin
irritation, matching reports by Colombians
in the Putamayo region with these
symptoms.
Although the fumigation is intended to
destroy crops for illegal use, it knows no
borders and has also impacted farmers'
subsistence crops, water sources,
indigenous lands, and Afro- Colombian
communities. Forests and biodiversity have
been destroyed, as glysophate is poisonous
to most plant species. In short, the poison
is affecting every link in the food chain,
with the end result of harming human
health.
Since its inception, Plan Colombia and
in particular the fumigation strategy has
provoked great social opposition. A recent
governmental decision to fumigate national
parks, including the globally-recognized
UNESCO biosphere reserve La Sierra Nevada
de Santa Marta , has provoked fierce
reactions from a Park Defense group made up
of academics, journalists,
parliamentarians, environmentalists and
human rights activists.
Friends of the Earth Colombia is opposed
to the fumigation on the basis of the
precautionary principle, which says that
“when an activity raises threats of harm to
human health or the environment,
precautionary measures should be taken even
if some cause and effect relationships are
not fully established scientifically. ”We
are also on the alert for a new wave of
fumigation using fungus, which could
potentially be even more dangerous.
The rights that have been won today do
not yet guarantee justice, and this is why
other rights must be claimed: the right to
not be displaced; the right to not be
fumigated; and the right to protect
indigenous reserves and the environment
against destroyers like Monsanto. The
fumigations must be stopped today, because
very soon it will be too late.
more information
:
censat/Friends of the Earth Colombia
:
www.censat.org
(in
Spanish)
© censat/foe colombia .
