MEXICO CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th August, 2022) Henry Sanabria, the recently appointed director of the National Police of Colombia, on Tuesday suspended forced coca crop destruction and submitted a request to the national environmental regulator to revoke the national permit for the use of the Glyphosate herbicide.
"Currently, we are promoting only voluntary eradication of crops in certain areas, where retreats of law-enforcement and administrative authorities took place to motivate (farmers) to voluntary eradication and replacement," Sanabria told the Tiempo outlet.
He said that the pressure on farmers and the forceful destruction of coca plantations impact those least protected and involved in the illicit processes of drug production. Moreover, the eradication with the use of Glyphosate poses health risks to the residents of these areas. Therefore, Sanabria said, the police requested the National Environmental Licensing Agency not to reissue the permit for the use of the herbicide.
Colombia began eradicating coca plantations with Glyphosate in the 1980s and actively used the herbicide from 2000 to 2015 under the pressure from the US administration, which had been providing aircraft for aerial dispersion of the herbicide. The use of Glyphosate was suspended for six years after studies about the potential cancer risks of the herbicide to local residents emerged. The forced eradication of crops has also forced tens of thousands of Colombian farmers to flee their homes. However, ex-Colombian President Ivan Duque Marquez reauthorized the use of Glyphosate from the air for the eradication of coca crops in 2021.
