Colombia will re-take fumigations with glyphosate

Ecuadornews:

The president of that country, Juan Manuel Santos, said that drones will be used for chemical sprays, which for the authorities of the Ministry of National Defense is 99% safe. The strategy is ready to be used.

Colombia will resume spraying with glyphosate and will use drones after the record increase in narco-crops reported on the eve of the United States Government. This was announced on Tuesday, June 26, the outgoing president of that country, Juan Manuel Santos.

“A series of pilot plans have been made (with drones and the herbicide) that have given rise to the Ministries of Health and Environment to say that it complies with the health and environmental conditions in order to authorize them,” he said.

Santos announcement was made during the rendering of accounts of the defense sector in Bogotá. However, for the Colombian president, coca cultivation will have a smaller increase than expected. “That is conjunctural. The important thing is to have a strategy and for the first time you have something viable and effective to combat this scourge more effectively.

“The Minister of Defense, Luis Carlos Villegas, defended the work of Colombia in the fight against drug trafficking.”

A government that in two years eradicates 120,000 hectares with the public force, is not a government that has to leave shameful for the world receiving criticism about its will to fight against drug trafficking.” Villegas said that “all the goals that have been given to the public force in the fight against illicit crops have been met” and that “the official figures for Colombia are not those of the State Department (USA), but of the United Nations that will come out in two or three weeks.”

On drone spraying, the Colombian defense minister was confident that the proposal would be approved by the National Council of Narcotic Drugs. Given this possibility, this Wednesday, June 27, 10 of those drones would enter into operation in areas of the country with the greatest presence of illicit crops.

The official revealed that the effectiveness of the drones is 99% verified and only eight people are required for its operation; In addition, the concentration of pure glyphosate is 2.5 liters per 10 and the estimated cost per hour is $ 600,000.

In 2008, fumigations with glyphosate on the border with Ecuador generated a conflict. The Ecuadorian government sued Colombia before the International Court of Justice in The Hague for the fumigations with the chemist between 2000 and 2007.

In the application, Ecuador requested that Colombia be declared a State that violated Ecuadorian sovereignty and the principles of international law. In addition, Colombia is ordered to suspend the sprays in 10 kilometers with the border with Ecuador and ordered to repair the damage caused to the population and the environment.

In 2013, to avoid the pronouncement of the International Tribunal, the governments of both countries reached an amicable agreement, in which Colombia undertook to create an exclusion zone on the border with Ecuador where the sprays would not be executed.

In addition, the Colombian government offered to compensate those affected with $ 15,000,000. A drug-free Ecuador Meanwhile, the Assembly recalled the International Day for the fight against illicit trafficking and the misuse of substances subject to control with the thematic fair “Ecuador free of drugs”.

The parliamentary group for the prevention and comprehensive treatment of the phenomenon of drugs in Ecuador organized the thematic event on June 26 in the Plaza Juan Montalvo, in Quito. The activity was carried out with the purpose of generating an inclusive and diverse discussion space that allows analyzing the problematic of the consumption of narcotics and the ways for its prevention. 450,000 people die by consumption (I)

Source: https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/judicial/12/colombia-fumigaciones-coca-drones