Colombia's "Defender of the
People," a paid government official who acts as a sort of ombudsman between
citizens and the Colombian state, has asked the government to halt the
spraying of herbicides as part of its coca eradication campaign, the Bogota
newspaper El Tiempo reported on Thursday. The defender, Luis Eduardo
Cifuentes, announced this week that he had received more than 6,500 complaints
from peasants and was asking for a suspension of the eradication program
in Putumayo province while the program undergoes a rigorous evaluation
of whether the government has complied with its own promises to the affected
population.
Cifuentes accused the aerial
eradication program and its main contractor, the US mercenary firm DynCorp,
of violating promises to not spray over bodies of water, settlements, Indian
reservations and areas where farmers had signed voluntary eradication contracts.
Peasants complained that the spraying has destroyed their food crops as
well as illicit coca, Cifuentes said.
Although the US State Department
controversially certified last September that the spraying was not harmful
to humans or animals, peasants in affected areas continue to complain of
a variety of ailments. According to Cifuentes, the Colombian government's
failure to set up a program of epidemiological monitoring has made it impossible
to verify a link between the spraying and the ailments and made a "joke"
out of environmental regulations. The defender's findings came in
a minutely detailed 42-page report made available to the press and government
officials on Wednesday. Surprised Colombian governement officials
had no comment Thursday, El Tiempo reported.
The Colombian government
of Alvaro Uribe, in connivance with the US government, embarked on a new,
expanded round of spraying in recent weeks.
-- END --
|
Issue #258, 10/11/02
Editorial: Just Claims | Ordeal of the Pain Doctors: California Physician Still Struggling to Clear His Name, Trial Date Set for December | DRCNet Interview: Nandor Tanczos, Member of Parliament, New Zealand | California Medical Marijuana Chronicles: A Widening Conflict | MedMj Chronicles I: The Feds Are Deadly Serious: Bryan Epis Sentenced to Federal Prison | MedMj Chronicles II: San Jose Police Department Cuts Ties with DEA Task Force | MedMj Chronicles III: Marijuana Patients and Caregivers Sue the Feds, Seek Order to Stop Raids | MedMj Chronicles IV: Marijuana Rescheduling Petition Revived | FDA Approves Buphrenorphine for Home Addiction Treatment | Whose Brain on Drugs? Stanford Symposium Focuses on Addiction and Chemistry | Newsbrief: Colombian Ombudsman Petitions Government for Suspension of Herbicide Spraying | Newsbrief: RAVE Act Stalled in House, Could Be Dead for the Year | Newsbrief: Wisconsin Couple Commit Suicide After Pot and 'Shroom Bust, Forfeiture Notice | Newsbrief: Ban on Narcocorridos Spreads in Mexico | Newsbrief: School Districts Drug Testing for Tobacco, Too | Newsbrief: Leaders of Former Soviet Republics Meet to Fight Drugs and Terror, Drink Wine | Newsbrief: Canadian Researchers Seek Approval for Heroin Maintenance Study | Calling on Students to Raise Your Voices for Repeal of the HEA Drug Provision | Action Alerts: Rave Bill, Medical Marijuana, Higher Education Act Drug Provision | The Reformer's Calendar
|
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
|
PERMISSION to reprint or
redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet is hereby
granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and,
where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your
publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks
payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for
materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we
request notification for our records, including physical copies where
material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network,
P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202)
293-8344 (fax), e-mail drcnet@drcnet.org. Thank
you.
Articles of a purely
educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of the DRCNet
Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
