The Kill for Drugs Policy? Ecocide in Rural Colombia

Colombia is undergoing a 'dirty' civil war. Growing United States intervention in the conflict has created a violent environment in the countryside. Dangerous herbicides manufactured in the U.S., spokespersons claim, are designed for the eradication of the coca. Evidence suggests that such herbicides spread coca plantations throughout the region. Exposure to these herbicides severely affects the health of peasants who rely on coca cultivation to survive. The U.S. 'Plan Colombia' uses the deadly fungus Fusarium Oxysporum, which involves a mycoherbicide called Fusarium EN-4. The Fusarium fungus is the root for many chemical weapons developed by the U.S., Britain, Israel and France. To apply a mycoherbicide with a 76 per cent kill rate is tantamount to biological warfare. Colombia is the leading recipient of U.S. arms and military training in Latin America with an appalling human rights record. It is timely for ecopolitics scholars and activists to understand the catastrophic effects of the Colombia plan.