LLORENTE, Colombia, (MILLAT ONLINE/APP/AFP) – Colombian
forces sent to rip green coca plants from the earth to end
a trade fueling violence complain the crops are being
replanted as fast as they can destroy them.
Colombia is ranked by the United Nations as the world’s
biggest producer of coca — the raw material for cocaine —
which has funded armed groups in the more than half-century
conflict.
In a new peace deal, the state and the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country’s biggest rebel
group, agreed to eradicate coca and replace it with safer
crops like coffee and cacao.
In Narino, a major coca-producing region in the
southwest, those carrying out the eradication work are
feeling exasperated.
Sweat soaks the face of Ivan Hidalgo, a 19-year-old
assistant police official, rifle on shoulder, who has spent
the past two months uprooting coca plants in the sweltering
settlement of Llorente.
“You’re tearing out the coca,” he tells AFP, “and the
farmers are planting it again behind your back.”
– ‘Too much coca’ –
===================
The surrounding municipality of Tumaco had nearly 17,000
hectares in 2015, according to the latest UN figures. The Narino
district overall has nearly 30,000.
Among so much coca, assistant police officials like Pablo
Riveros are tearing out the plants with their bare hands.
“There is too much coca,” Riveros says.
Authorities have since January eradicated 200 hectares
by hand and a further 400 hectares by spraying them with
chemical herbicide.
But their efforts hardly seem to be making a dent in
Narino. The mountains of the area are still blanketed in
lush green coca leaves.
“The community is always going to be there watching out
for people coming to eradicate the crops,” says Elvins Caldon,
who sprays the coca with herbicide.
– Earning a living –
====================
Coca farmers complain they are getting a raw deal under
the eradication agreement.
They say the government has not delivered on promises
to replace the crop, which yields four harvests a year.
Coca growers in Narino have blocked roads and faced off
with authorities in recent weeks, sparking clashes that have
left at least one person dead and four injured.
“We want a decent living for our children,” the National
Coca, Poppy and Marijuana Growers’ Coordinator organization said
in a statement.
– Drug trade –
==============
Authorities say drug gangs are behind the protests.
“We are not drug traffickers,” the organization said.
“Farming families have for decades had to resort to
growing coca, poppy and marijuana — not because they like
it but because their lands have been abandoned by the
state.”
Growers earn a fraction of the riches generated by
the coca as it is processed into paste, then powder,
and consumed.
A kilogram (about two pounds) of coca fetches about
a dollar where it is produced. But further down the chain,
a kilogram of cocaine is worth about $1,650, according to the
latest UN data.