Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Coca eradication
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
{{Short description|Strategy of the War on Drugs in which crops of the source plant for cocaine are destroyed}} [[File:Figure 6 Colombian Manual Eradicators Destroying Coca Fields (31352594937).jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Coca eradication in Colombia]] '''Coca eradication''' is a strategy promoted by the [[United States]] [[Federal government of the United States|government]] starting in 1961 as part of its "[[War on Drugs|war on drugs]]" to eliminate the cultivation of [[coca]], a plant whose leaves are not only traditionally used by [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous]] cultures but also, in modern society, in the manufacture of [[cocaine]]. The strategy was adopted in place of running educational campaigns against drug usage.<ref>{{cite book|last=Webb|first=Gary|year=1999|pages=35|title=[[Dark Alliance (book)|Dark Alliance]]|publisher=[[Seven Stories Press]]|isbn=978-1-888363-93-7}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=July 2024}} The [[prohibition (drugs)|prohibitionist]] strategy is being pursued in the coca-growing regions of [[Colombia]] ([[Plan Colombia]]), [[Peru]], and formerly [[Bolivia]], where it is highly controversial because of its environmental, health and socioeconomic impact. Furthermore, indigenous cultures living in the ''[[Altiplano]]'', such as the [[Aymara people|Aymara]]s, use the coca leaf (which they dub the "millenary leaf") in many of their cultural traditions, notably for its medicinal qualities in alleviating the feeling of hunger, fatigue and headaches symptomatic of [[altitude sickness]]es.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} The growers of coca are named ''[[Cocalero]]s'' and part of the coca production for traditional use is legal in Peru, Bolivia and [[Chile]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} ==Environmental impact== Plots denuded of coca plants by mechanical means (burning or cutting) or chemical [[herbicide]]s, such as [[glyphosate]], are abandoned and cause serious problems with [[erosion]] in seasonal rains. Because of the continuous high demand for coca, once a plot is destroyed the planters simply move further into the forest, clearing new lands for coca production. It is this vicious cycle of unsustainable cultivation-eradication that has caused the environment in coca producing zones to suffer substantial decline.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} Aerial spraying of glyphosate herbicide, one of the most controversial methods of coca eradication, has taken place in Colombia exclusively because of that government's willingness to cooperate with the United States in the militarized eradication of coca after signing [[Plan Colombia]] in 2000.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} In many cases the spraying is carried out by American contractors, such as [[DynCorp]], using planes and helicopters to spray glyphosate on coca plantations.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} Aerial spraying has been repeatedly condemned by human rights and environmental activists because of its effect on human populations and local soil and water systems.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} In December 2000, Dutch journalist [[Marjon van Royen]] found that "because the chemical is sprayed in Colombia from planes on inhabited areas, there have been consistent health complaints [in humans]. Burning eyes, dizziness and respiratory problems being most frequently reported." In some areas, 80 percent of the children of the indigenous community fell sick with skin rashes, fever, diarrhoea and eye infections.<ref>[http://marjonvanroyen.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=525&Itemid=46 Driven Mad by Itch], [[NRC Handelsblad]], December 28, 2000</ref> Because the glyphosate is sprayed from the air, there is a much higher chance of human error when spraying suspected illegal coca plantations. In many cases the wrong fields are sprayed, resulting in not only a total loss of the farmer's crop- but the loss of that field altogether as nothing will grow where the herbicide has been sprayed.<ref name="Sue Branford 2005">Hugh O’Shaughnessy and Sue Branford, Chemical Warfare in Colombia: The Costs of Coca Fumigation (London: Latin America Bureau, 2005.)</ref> Though official documentation of the health effects of glyphosate spraying in Colombia are virtually non-existent, neighbouring Ecuador has conducted studies to determine the cause of mysterious illnesses amongst people living along the border of Colombia and has since demanded that no aerial sprayings occur within 10 km of the border because of the damages caused to the people, animals and environment in that area.<ref name="Sue Branford 2005"/> In 2015, Colombia announced a ban on using glyphosate in these programs due to concerns about human toxicity of the chemical.<ref name = BBCColumbia>[[BBC]]. May 10, 2015. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-32677411 Colombia to ban coca spraying herbicide glyphosate]</ref> In addition, the U.S. has also been involved in the development of the [[fungus]] ''[[Fusarium oxysporum]]'' to wipe out coca.<ref name=vicious>[http://www.tni.org/archives/jelsma/viciouscircle-e.htm Vicious Circle: The Chemical and Biological 'War on Drugs'] report by the Transnational Institute (TNI), March 2001</ref><ref name=dpb7>[http://www.tni.org/detail_page.phtml?page=policybriefings_brief7 The Re-emergence of the Biological War on Drugs], TNI Drug Policy Briefing 7, May 2004</ref> In 2000, the [[Congress of the United States]] approved use of ''Fusarium'' as a biological control agent to kill coca crops in Colombia (and another fungus to kill [[opium|opium poppies]] in [[Afghanistan]]), but these plans were canceled by then-President [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]], who was concerned that the unilateral use of a biological agent would be perceived by the rest of the world as [[biological warfare]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} The Andean nations have since banned its use throughout the region.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} (The use of biological agents to kill crops may be illegal under the [[Biological Weapons Convention]] of 1975.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}) [[File:2015 Colombia Coca Cultivation (30584184580).jpg|thumb|Source: DEA Intelligence Division, December 2013]] On June 25, 2003, the Superior Administrative Court of the Colombian department of [[Cundinamarca Department|Cundinamarca]] ordered a stop to the spraying of [[glyphosate]] herbicides until the government complies with the environmental management plan for the eradication program. It also mandated a series of studies to protect public health and the environment.<ref name=cu>[http://www.colombiaupdate.com/Members/bill/panna/view Colombia Court Nixes Spray Program] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031002125319/http://www.colombiaupdate.com/Members/bill/panna/view |date=2003-10-02 }}, Colombia Update</ref> The Colombian State Council, the country's maximum administrative authority, later overruled the court's decision to stop fumigations.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} Recently, [[Boliviana negra]], a [[glyphosate]]-resistant type of coca plant has been found.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} ==Socioeconomic impact== In the [[wikt:sierra|sierra]] of Peru, Bolivia, and northern [[Argentina]], coca has been consumed (by chewing and brewing in [[infusion]]) for thousands of years as a stimulant and cure for [[altitude sickness]]; it also has symbolic value. The sale and consumption of coca (but not pure cocaine) is legal and legitimate in these countries.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} With the growth of the Colombian [[drug cartel]]s in the 1980s, coca leaf became a valuable agricultural commodity, particularly in Peru and Bolivia, where the quality of coca is higher than in Colombia. To supply the foreign markets, the cartels expanded the cultivation to areas where coca was not a traditional crop. Many poor [[Peasant|campesinos]], driven from the central highlands by lack of land or loss of jobs, migrated to the lowlands and valleys of the eastern [[Andes]], where they turned to the cultivation of coca.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} To counter this development, the U.S. government, through its foreign aid agency [[USAID]], has promoted a policy of crop substitution, whereby coca cultivation is replaced by [[coffee]], [[banana]], [[pineapple]], [[Heart of palm|palm heart]], and other crops suitable for a tropical climate. However; many remote coca-growing areas lack the infrastructure to get such perishable products to market on time. Coca on the other hand stores well and is easily transportable. The price of coca has remained high and in many cases remains a more attractive crop to farmers than these alternatives.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} Despite these obstacles, many farmers have embraced alternative crops. In 2006, Bolivia, as a result of alternative development programs, exported US$28 million of banana, US$1.9 million of pineapple, and US$7.0 million of palm heart.<ref>Bolivian Chamber of Exporters - CAMEX</ref> These industries now employ more than 20,000 people in the Chapare region.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} ==Geopolitical issues== Given the above-mentioned considerations, many critics of coca eradication believe the fundamental goal of the U.S. government is to constrict the flow of income to the Colombian [[Marxist]] rebel movement, [[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia|FARC]], which is heavily funded by the illegal drug trade, rather than combating drugs ''per se''. Few if any such critics have anything favorable to say about the illicit drug trade, but they point out that under the current coca eradication policies, poor campesinos bear the brunt of efforts to combat it, while North American and European chemical companies (which supply chemicals needed in the manufacture of cocaine) and banks (which annually [[Money laundering|launder]] hundreds of billions of dollars in illegal revenues) continue to profit from the trade.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} (Although it is illegal in the United States for banks to hold funds from drug cartels—such as FARC—that have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}) [[Wikisource:Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs#Article 26: THE COCA BUSH AND COCA LEAVES|Article 26]] of the [[Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs]], a treaty promulgated with U.S. backing in 1961, states that "The Parties shall so far as possible enforce the uprooting of all coca bushes which grow wild. They shall destroy the coca bushes if illegally cultivated."{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} The US-based [[Drug Enforcement Administration]], along with local governments, has frequently clashed with ''[[cocaleros]]'' in attempts to eradicate coca across the Andes. This map shows the [[Chapare Province|Chapare]] region in Bolivia, which has historically been heavily targeted for coca eradication. [[Human rights]] [[NGO]]s such as [[Human Rights Watch]] have accused the US of [[human rights abuses]] in the "coca war".<ref name=hrw>[https://www.hrw.org/summaries/s.bolivia957.html Bolivia: Human Rights Violations and the War on Drugs], Human Rights Watch Vol. 7, No. 8 (B), July 1995]</ref> Meanwhile, the US-based [[Stepan Company]] is authorized by the Federal Government to import and process the [[coca]] plant<ref>May, Clifford D. [https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/01/business/how-coca-cola-obtains-its-coca.html "How Coca-Cola Obtains Its Coca"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', July 1, 1998. Accessed December 4, 2007</ref> which it obtains mainly from [[Peru]] and, to a lesser extent, [[Bolivia]]. Besides producing the coca flavoring agent for Coca-Cola, [[Stepan Company]] extracts cocaine from the coca leaves, which it sells to [[Mallinckrodt]], a [[St. Louis, Missouri]] [[pharmaceutical]] manufacturer that is the only company in the United States licensed to purify cocaine for medicinal use.<ref>{{cite news |first=Drew |last=Benson |title=Coca kick in drinks spurs export fears |url=http://www.mindfully.org/Food/2004/Kdrink-Coca-Drink19apr04.htm |access-date=2010-10-01 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120530045600/http://www.mindfully.org/Food/2004/Kdrink-Coca-Drink19apr04.htm |archive-date=2012-05-30 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ==Results== At the start of 2003, there were 1,740 km<sup>2</sup> of coca in worldwide cultivation, and Colombia represented more than 60% of that total. Critics of the Colombian eradication program had predicted that it would lead to higher coca production in Peru and Bolivia. However, in November 2003, the US [[Office of National Drug Control Policy]] (ONDCP) claimed the area planted with coca in Peru and Bolivia combined fell by 35 km<sup>2</sup> in the year up to June, which would suggest that the crop eradication program in neighboring Colombia had not driven production over the borders. According to ONDCP estimates, the area cultivated with coca in Bolivia rose from 244 km<sup>2</sup> in 2002 to 284.5 km<sup>2</sup> in June 2003, but this increase was more than offset in Peru, where the area fell from 366 km<sup>2</sup> to 311.5 km<sup>2</sup>.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} The U.S. figures were very different from preliminary estimates in September 2003 by the head of the [[UN Office on Drugs and Crime]] in Colombia, which indicated that output in Peru and Bolivia may have risen by as much 21%, or 150 km<sup>2</sup> that year. The White House office said its estimate was based on sampling from high resolution satellite imagery. The United Nations used a different technique and had not yet put out any formal estimate for 2003.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} A March 2005 report by the [[ONDCP]] indicated that despite record aerial spraying of over 1,300 km<sup>2</sup> of coca in Colombia in 2004, the total area under coca cultivation remained "statistically unchanged" at 1,140 km<sup>2</sup>. In response to the report, the [[Washington Office on Latin America]] (WOLA), an [[non-governmental organization|NGO]] that monitors the impact of US foreign policy in Latin America, observed that the aerial spraying strategy appeared to have hit its limits. According to WOLA, the new ONDCP data suggested a continued "balloon effect" as aggressive spraying in some areas has not deterred new cultivation elsewhere. The WOLA Senior Associate for Drug Policy commented, "The stable cultivation in 2004 throws into doubt US officials’ predictions of a major impact on US drug prices and purity." Regardless, Colombian President [[Álvaro Uribe]] vowed to press ahead with the U.S.-financed fumigation of coca crops.<ref name=wola310303>[http://www.wola.org/drug_policy/press_release_coca_cultivation_2004.htm Aerial Spraying Fails to Reduce Coca Cultivation in Colombia] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050406013944/http://www.wola.org/drug_policy/press_release_coca_cultivation_2004.htm |date=2005-04-06 }}, WOLA, March 31, 2003</ref> Official estimates of coca cultivation in Peru for 2005 have yet to be released, but the State Department's own reporting suggests that cultivation in Peru has increased.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} In Bolivia, there has been a decrease in clashes since 2004, when [[Evo Morales]] and former President [[Carlos Mesa]] struck a deal allowing the Chapare region to legally grow a limited amount of coca, in addition to the already legal [[Yungas]] region.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} In 2006 the Colombian government destroyed around 730 square kilometres, reaching new records in coca plant destruction. The Colombian government planned to destroy around 500 km<sup>2</sup> of coca plants in 2007, which would leave only around 200 km<sup>2</sup> left. The Colombian government planned to destroy the remaining coca gradually over the following years.<ref name=sne>{{in lang|es}} [http://www.presidencia.gov.co/prensa_new/sne/2007/enero/03/17032007.htm Erradicán manualment 50 mil hectáreas de coca en 2007], Presidencia de Colombia press release, January 3, 2007</ref> ==Quotes== {{quote|The U.S. has supplied tens of thousands of gallons of Roundup to the Colombian government for use in aerial fumigation of coca crops. We have been using a fleet of crop dusters to dump unprecedented amounts of high-potency glyphosate over hundreds of thousands of acres in one of the most delicate and bio-diverse ecosystems in the world. This futile effort has done little to reduce the availability of cocaine on our streets, but now we are learning that a possible side-effect of this campaign could be the unleashing of a ''Fusarium'' epidemic in the Amazon basin. The drug war has tried in vain to keep cocaine out of people's noses, but could result instead in scorching the lungs of the earth.|[http://www.ips-dc.org/staff/sanho Sanho Tree], the director of the [[Institute for Policy Studies Drug Policy Project]].}} ==See also== *[[Plan Colombia]] *[[Agent Orange]] *[[Evo Morales]], Bolivian president and former ''cocalero'' activist *[[Chapare Province]], a historically targeted region of coca eradication in Bolivia *[[Prohibition of drugs]] ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.tni.org/drugschembio-docs/chembio.htm Chemical and Biological War on Drugs] Transnational Institute (TNI) website *[http://www.tni.org/archives/jelsma/viciouscircle-e.htm Vicious Circle: The Chemical and Biological 'War on Drugs'] report by the Transnational Institute (TNI), March 2001 *[http://www.tni.org/detail_pub.phtml?know_id=87 Coca or Death? Cocalero Movements in Peru and Bolivia] Transnational Institute (TNI), Drugs & Conflict Debate Papers 10, April 2004 *[http://www.tni.org/detail_page.phtml?&act_id=17020 Colombia coca cultivation survey results: A question of methods], Transnational Institute (TNI), Drug Policy Briefing No 22, June 2007 *[http://www.tni.org/detail_page.phtml?&act_id=17711 Crop spraying: a déjà vu debate: From the Andean strategy to the Afghan strategy], Transnational Institute (TNI), Drug Policy Briefing No 25, December 2007 *[http://www.unodc.org/pdf/andean/Andean_report_2007.pdf Coca cultivation in the Andean Region: A survey of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru], United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), June 2007 *[http://www.ericjlyman.com/Chronicle_coca.html U.S. Accused of Creating Coca Blight], from the San Francisco Chronicle, 1999 {{DEFAULTSORT:Coca Eradication}} [[Category:Drug control treaties]] [[Category:Geography of South America]] [[Category:Herbicides]] [[Category:History of drug control]] [[Category:Cocaine]] [[Category:Coca]]
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page
(
help
)
:
Template:Citation needed
(
edit
)
Template:Cite book
(
edit
)
Template:Cite news
(
edit
)
Template:In lang
(
edit
)
Template:Quote
(
edit
)
Template:Reflist
(
edit
)
Template:Short description
(
edit
)
Template:Unreliable source?
(
edit
)
Template:Webarchive
(
edit
)