More Land in Colombia Used to Grow Coca, U.S. Says
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Version 0 of 1. CARACAS, Venezuela — The amount of land in Colombia used to grow coca, the plant that drug traffickers use to make cocaine, increased significantly last year, according to an annual survey by the United States government. The data was posted on the website of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy this week, several days after the Colombian Health Ministry called for a ban on the use of a common herbicide that is the centerpiece of a controversial spraying program financed by the United States to eradicate the country’s coca crop. The government of Colombia is currently involved in peace talks with the country’s largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which has long used drug trafficking to finance its activities. The two sides have reached a preliminary agreement to fight drug activity and work together to stop coca growing. An annual study conducted for the White House drug policy office, which uses satellite images and other data, estimated that last year there were 276,758 acres of coca grown in Colombia, compared with 198,919 acres the previous year, a 39 percent increase. Coca acreage had previously fallen or remained relatively stable for several years in a row, according to the survey data. From a recent peak of an estimated 412,665 acres in 2007, it fell each year until reaching 192,741 acres in 2012. It rose slightly in 2013, to 198,919 acres, the data said. The drug policy office’s website said the increase could be a result of several factors, “including increased cultivation in areas off limits to” spraying. Colombia does not spray along its border with Ecuador because of objections from Ecuador’s government. It has also stopped spraying near the northeast border with Venezuela, where peasant groups have protested against the program, said Adam Isacson, a senior associate of the Washington Office on Latin America, an advocacy group. Mr. Isacson said some experts thought the decrease in coca planting in previous years could be partly attributed to the fact that many poor peasants had switched to illegal gold mining while gold prices were high. As prices have fallen, he said, farmers may have returned to coca. He questioned the timing of the release of the White House data, saying it appeared to be intended to influence Colombia’s coming decision on the use of the herbicide glyphosate. “I think the U.S. government is working hard to influence the decision to suspend the fumigation program,” Mr. Isacson said. “They view it as a key tool, and they don’t want to give it up.” Colombia’s Health Ministry recommended a ban on the use of glyphosate in coca eradication after an arm of the World Health Organization said that it probably causes cancer in people. The government has yet to make a determination on whether to continue the spraying. The White House data also showed how the spraying campaign had dropped off in recent years. Last year, 137,274 acres were sprayed, down from a peak of 405,546 acres in 2006. Manual eradication, in which government patrols remove coca plants by hand, has also fallen, covering just 28,918 acres last year. That was just over half the acres manually eradicated in 2013 and a fraction of the 236,556 acres destroyed manually in 2008. |