Trump: Colombia must resume spraying to get rid of coca

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) – Colombia will “have” to resume aerial fumigation with the herbicide glyphosate to eradicate crops of coca, the main ingredient of cocaine, U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday.

“Well, you’re going to have to spray. If you don’t spray, you’re not going to get rid of them. So you have to spray with regard to the drugs in Colombia,” Trump said at a press conference following his meeting with Colombian President Ivan Duque

Duque said aerial spraying must be combined with manual eradication.

“We have to combine all the elements that we have; obviously, precision spraying, but also the record highs that we reached in 2019 in manual eradication and also dismantling the drug cartels.”

Colombia suspended aerial spraying of coca crops with glyphosate in October 2015 after it was considered a potentially damaging practice for human health and the environment.

But in 2019, Duque's government presented a draft decree to resume aerial spraying of illicit drug crops, arguing it is the only instrument to curb the increase in coca crops.

The Colombian government aims to eradicate 130,000 hectares of coca by using glyphosate, among other tools.

According to Colombia’s National Agency for the Legal Defense of the State, there are 231 lawsuits against the government alleging glyphosate aerial spraying causes human health risks and crop damage.

The U.S is the main destination of cocaine produced in Colombia, which is why Trump has intensified the pressure on Duque to reduce coca crops by supporting aerial spraying with glyphosate.

The crisis in Venezuela was also a talking point in the meeting, with Duque calling for “stronger sanctions against the dictatorship in Venezuela” and Trump publicly reiterating his interest in the country's crises.

“One of the things we're talking about is Venezuela — a big subject for us,” Trump said at the press conference. “And they're treating the people of Venezuela unbelievably badly. They don't have water. They don’t have food. They don't have anything.”

The crisis in Venezuela has driven more than 4.5 million people to flee the nation. Colombia has taken in around 1.7 million Venezuelan migrants.