[BOGOTA] The Colombian government is continuing to spray the
herbicide glyphosate over thousands of acres of land in a bid to
destroy illegal coca plantations, despite local concern that it
damages crops and is harmful to human health. Both the Colombian
government and the US Environmental Protection Agency maintain
that the herbicide — which is sold by Monsanto under the name
Roundup — is entirely safe. But critics contend that spraying
the herbicide from aeroplanes over large areas of land has
damaged local produce such as plantain, cassava, maize, and
fruit trees. Furthermore there have been allegations from people
living in the affected regions that animals are dying as a
result of exposure to the chemical, and that it is no longer
safe to drink water or eat food that has been similarly exposed.
Colombian president Álvaro Uribe-Velez argues that aerial
spraying with glyphosate is the only way to exterminate the
Colombian drug problem, and last year the anti-narcotics
department fumigated 320,000 acres in