Aerial spraying
And the siege of Tibu

By Don North

The plane spraying chemicals on Edgar Estoban's farm came by surprise one morning in June 2001, escorted by several police helicopters. Within two days the poison took effect and the majority of coca plants on his three-acre farm turned brown and died. So did his adjacent crops of bananas, tomatoes and corn. As his family and hired pickers known as "raspuchines" hurried to pick the coca plants the spray planes missed, Estoban pointed out the crisp, dried-up remains of what was once the family vegetable garden.

Estoban and other farmers in the northeastern Colombian province of North Santander, near the Venezuelan border, say they would be willing to destroy the coca themselves and plant other crops if the government would help them get their produce to markets. "We requested the government spray for malaria mosquitos," Estoban explained, "but we got poison for our crops instead. If they bring us fairness instead of fumigation, find us decent prices for our crops and build some roads to get to markets, then we will rip out the coca ourselves. If not, we'll grow it as long as there's demand -- and nothing will stop us."

The fumigation of crops without notice from the government infuriated local residents and sent 3,000 angry "raspuchines" and farmers into nearby Tibu, a town of 12,000, to confront local government officials. It was the most open and violent display so far of opposition by coca farmers to the U.S.-supported fumigation program and a harbinger of future violence. For three days they camped in the town's stadium, demanding negotiations with government officials who never appeared.

The shops on the main street of Tibu were shuttered and the streets deserted. Late in the afternoon of the fourth day the "raspuchines" laid siege, hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails at 120 National Police who held the line between demonstrators and City Hall. The policemen were well-protected in bulletproof vests, helmets and visors and clear plastic shields, but were armed with only wooden batons and rarely got close enough to the taunting protesters to use them. After a three-hour pitched battle, the coca farmers and pickers broke off their attack and retreated to their campsite.

Gonzalo Gardenas, the acting mayor of Tibu spent those days barricaded inside the City Hall. Ironically, the previous mayor had died the week before from malaria, the very mosquito-borne affliction local residents had been urging the government to control through aerial spraying.

"The situation is a little difficult," Gardenas admitted. "The government has never done anything to answer the needs of these very poor people, and it could get a lot worse."
According to State Department figures, 145,750 gallons of glyphosate, a chemical herbicide sold commercially as Roundup, were sprayed on Colombia in 2000. At least 70,000 gallons have been sprayed in 2001.

During the Vietnam War, the St. Louis-based chemical company Monsanto was also accused of marketing a product causing ecological damage and death to humans and other living creatures during wartime. The application of Agent Orange, another Monsanto product, not only defoliated large areas of Vietnam, but allegedly caused over 50,000 birth defects, as well as cancers in both Vietnamese civilians and soldiers and U.S troops who had served in Vietnam. The effects of Agent Orange are still being experienced in Vietnam, decades after the war's end. Monsanto settled a lawsuit with U.S. veterans out of court, paying them $80 million in damages. The Vietnamese victims have received nothing.

It is no surprise, then, that Monsanto is not publicizing its contract with the U.S. government to provide Roundup for spraying on Colombian coca fields. Unlike Agent Orange, Roundup is marketed as a safe weedkiller in about 130 countries. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Embassy Bogota and the company all deny that the product is harmful to humans when used as directed. Yet Monsanto's own warning label (mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) points to potential problems. "After an area has been sprayed with Roundup, people and pets should stay out of the area until it is thoroughly dry. We recommend that grazing animals such as horses, cattle, sheep, goats, rabbits and fowl remain out of the treated area for two weeks. Allow 21 days before eating fruit or nuts from areas sprayed by Roundup." However, residents of two regions sprayed with glyphosate, North Santender and Putamayo, claim they were never given any of these warnings.

Increasing local concerns are new reports that a chemical additive, Cosmo-Flux, was being added to make the spray less likely to drift in the wind and adhere more effectively to the drug crops. Imperial Chemical Industries, a British company that sells Cosmo-Flux, recently said it would no longer provide it for the fumigation program in Colombia. A company spokesman, John Edgar, in confirming the halt in sales, said the company had not tested Cosmo-Flux for that purpose. However, the additive is readily available from other chemical companies.

An even more controversial solution may be waiting in the wings: a U.S.-developed killer fungus called Fusarium oxysporum, which kills cocoa plants. But along with killing coca, the fungus may also pose serious dangers to the environment and human health -- threats so compelling that Florida recently suspended plans to test the fungus for its own anti-drug programs. Colombian scientists have petitioned their government to continue withholding approval for Fusarium use. Nevertheless, the United States is reported to be pressing Colombia to give the fungus a role in the drug war. Washington researchers Jeremy Bigwood and Sharon Stevenson have created a Web site, www.mycoherbicide.net, that documents concerns that the fungus could cause widespread environmental damage.