Don¹t
Fumigate Us Any More!!!
The
fumigations in Colombia constitute a war against the Colombian campesino
population and an assault on the delicate environment of the Amazon
(the
natural resources on which all humanity depends).
In
the department of Putumayo, situated in the Colombian Amazon on the
border with Ecuador, the massive fumigations with glyphosate, financed
and
imposed by the United States and carried out by its servant Colombian
state,
have been continuing. In recent months they have indiscriminately fumigated
some 10,500 hectares of coca plantations and 33,000 hectares of legitimate
crops in the municipality of La Hormiga. The fumigations have affected
43,000 of the 78,000 hectares of fertile land in the municipality, also
known as Valle de Guamuez, and have destroyed not only coca crops but
also
fields of yucca, plantain, citrus fruits, maize and cocoa, as well as
natural woodland and sources of water in the department of Putumayo.
This
was the condemnation levelled by local officials and campesino leaders.
The
People¹s Representative in La Hormiga, Leandro Romo, confirmed
that in the
last two months planes had shed vast quantities of glyphosate (produced
by
the US multinational Monsanto) over licit and ilicit crops. He added
that,
as a result of the fumigations, some 7,000 campesinos and indigenous
people,
including women and children, are suffering with health problems, hunger
and
dangerously few resources. Some 3,500 of these campesinos had to abandon
their plots of land and head for other parts of Putumayo. This is a
clear
indication that the indiscriminate fumigations are being used by the
Colombian state to forcibly and systematically displace huge numbers
of
campesinos.
Washington
is providing 17 million dollars annually for the poisonous
spraying programme in Colombia, which is currently endowed with 15
fumigation planes and dozens of combat helicopters. In addition, the
US is
providing more than 1,300 million dollars in economic and military aid
to
finance Plan Colombia, with which it intends to reposition its geostrategic
interests in Colombia and Latin America under cover of its false claims
to
be fighting a war on drugs.
In
the year 2001, 84,000 hectares of coca crops were fumigated in Colombia,
58,000 in the year 2000. So far this year, 70,000 hectares have been
fumigated. However, the crops continue to increase (there are currently
200,000 hectares of coca plantations), because as well as being an excuse
to
intervene militarily in Colombia, the fumigations are a strategic vicious
cycle to benefit the multinational producers of glyphosate, planes,
helicopters, weapons and private security (mercenary) firms (Dyncorp),
all
from the United States.
President
Andres Pastrana, who stepped down as president on 7 August 2002,
suspended spraying in Putumayo at the beginning of this year, because
his
government and the campesinos signed agreements to manually eradicate
the
crops as part of an alternative development programme. It was a programme
that was never entirely accomplished. Spokespersons of the current
government said that these agreements were not producing effective results,
without acknowledging that the state did not fulfil its part of the
agreements, and as a consequence Alvaro Uribe Velez, under pressure
from the
United States, decided to recommence the aerial fumigations.
Because
of these fumigations, hundreds of campesinos have complained that
they are suffering from respiratory and other health problems, and that
they
have been forced to abandon their tiny fields of cocoa, maize, plantain,
yucca and other legal crops. Meanwhile, the North American State Department
and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have cynically stated
that
the glyphosate being used in Putumayo is not harmful to health, but
that
they will make adjustments to the formulation so that its toxicity is
reduced from grade 3, equivalent to gentle¹ to grade 4, light¹,
(grade 1
being the most toxic).
The
fumigations and their impact on campesino social organisation, on human
health and on the environment are a crime against humanity committed
by the
imperialist United States and their Colombian lackeys.
The
solution to the problem of coca cultivation in Colombia needs a
political solution to the political, social and armed conflict. While
the
current system of land ownership and tenancy exists, while fertile land
is
used extensively for the livestock of the landowning elite, while the
expropriation and displacement of the campesino population continues,
and
food go on being imported at an increasing rate (8 million tonnes annually),
and while there is no development model based on the redistribution
of
wealth, there will be no solution to the problem.
We
call on the international community to stop this barbary. We invite
international organisations to observe the violations of the economic,
social, environmental and cultural rights of the campesino population,
so
that we can construct a common cause to defend life, dignity and the
environment of the Colombian Amazon.
NO
MORE POISON!!! NO MORE INTERVENTION!!!
MORE FOOD SECURITY!!! MORE SOVEREIGNTY AND DIGNITY!!!
YANKIES OUT OF COLOMBIA!!!
Coordinator
of the Cultivators of Coca and Poppy COCCA
cocca30@hotmail.com
Colombia, 2 October 2002