-Caveat Lector- Excerpted from Jean Hudon's Cybernaute newsletter - Miscellaneous Subjects #49; Thu, 7 Dec 2000 http://www.cybernaute.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From: "Dave Hartley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Colombian police spray herbicide on coca, US Sen. Wellstone Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2000 From: Sanho Tree <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Friends, Last Friday I had the opportunity to debate the Colombian Ambassador and Amb. James Mack (the State Department's interagency coordinator for Plan Colombia) at Yale Law School. Ambassador Mack berated opponents of Plan Colombia for distorting the facts about aerial fumigation. He claimed it was totally safe and sprayed with "GPS guided precision." Ironically, the following story broke that very morning. Senator Wellstone was observing a demonstration flight when his delegation accidentally got doused with the broad-spectrum herbicide called glyphosate. So much for precision. For more information on the devastating health and environmental impact of aerial fumigation in the drug war check out http://www.usfumigation.org. -Sanho Published Friday, December 1, 2000 Colombian police spray herbicide on coca, Wellstone Rob Hotakainen / Star Tribune TARASA, COLOMBIA -- Standing next to 10-foot coca bushes in a remote mountain region near the Tarasa River on Thursday, Sen. Paul Wellstone was ready to watch the Colombian National Police demonstrate its new approach to fumigating coca, the raw product used to produce cocaine. But then something odd happened: Wellstone got sprayed, along with surprised members of his delegation, including his press secretary and foreign policy adviser. Police officials said it was a mistake, blaming the wind for blowing the chemical -- known as glysophate -- from its intended path. Moments earlier, Lt. Col. Marcos Pedreros, the police official in charge of the spraying mission, had assured Wellstone that the spray posed no risk to humans, animals or the environment. Officials said it's similar to Roundup, a commonly used herbicide. "I am Colombian," said Pedreros, who communicated through an interpreter with Wellstone, D-Minn. "I love my motherland, and with my men I couldn't destroy my own homeland. I know that what I'm doing is under the law, and that's why I do it with love and devotion." Ironically, the U.S. Embassy in Colombia had just circulated materials to reporters, noting the "precise geographical coordinates" used to spray coca fields. According to embassy officials, a computer program sets precise flight lines with a 170-foot width, leaving little room for error. But Wellstone was hit with a fine mist of the herbicide from a helicopter flying less than 200 feet above him. He winced and rubbed his eyes later, but he managed a joke, saying he could become a case study on possible dangers linked to the chemical. Asked whether he was stunned to get hit, Wellstone said: "Oh, yeah, and I'm imagining that I'm itching a lot, too." One of the members of Wellstone's delegation was particularly irked after she was sprayed. "I really resented it," said Pamela Costain, executive director of the Minneapolis-based Resource Center of the Americas, who thinks the fumigation of coca fields could result in long-term environmental damage. "I'm fearful about what they're using, and I really didn't want to get it on me." Colombian officials sought to downplay the incident. "We did not spray on the people or on the senator," said Gen. Gustavo Socha, anti-narcotics director for the Colombian National Police, speaking through an interpreter. But when told that a reporter witnessed the incident, Socha said: "What hit him was because of the wind, not because they had the intention." Wellstone, one of the few senators to oppose a $1.3 billion U.S. aid plan to help Colombia fight its drug war, drew much attention from the Colombian press. The plan is a pet project for Colombian President Andres Pastrana, but Wellstone said that peasant farmers will continue growing coca as long as few jobs exist in a country where unemployment hovers at 20 percent. Using an interpreter to speak to Colombian reporters, Wellstone said: "I believe they are very honestly committed to this fight, but I have to wonder whether or not we will be able to win this fight against this narcotics trade as long as the people in Colombia and the countryside do not have other alternatives to enable them to be able to make a living and as long as in my country -- the United States of America -- there is such demand. ... I will remain a critic, but with respect." Colombian police used Wellstone's visit to announce plans to spray 17,290 acres of coca as part of its new Operation "Paramillo." Police said 300 men will be involved in the effort, using Black Hawk helicopters sent by the United States. Police are targeting a region where violence is high as paramilitary groups clash with guerrilla groups over who will control the nation's drug trade. After receiving the U.S. aid, Colombian officials gave Wellstone a warm welcome. "Be certain that your visit raises the morale of our men," Pedreros told Wellstone, shortly before he boarded a helicopter to witness the spraying at a nearby coca field that had been discovered with aerial surveillance. At the site, police found 35 raspachines, or coca workers, who were arrested as they stuffed coca leaves into bags and then used donkeys to transport the drugs through muddy red clay to a makeshift laboratory nearby. At the laboratory next to the river, police stood in a foot-high blanket of coca leaves as they gave an impromptu news conference. Then they ignited 50 pounds of dynamite, sending a gigantic fireball of black smoke into the sweltering air. Police took Wellstone to another site, where they wanted him to get off the helicopter to watch another explosion destroy a runway used by drug traffickers. Wellstone declined, saying he was running behind schedule, but he caught a glimpse of the smoke from the helicopter. Costain said that she was offended by the entire display. "I felt like the senator's visit was used as a public-relations ploy for the eradication program," she said. "And I think it's ironic because I'm not at all confident that the senator supports the eradication program." Later, Wellstone flew to Barrancabermeja, becoming the first member of Congress to visit what embassy officials called the most dangerous city in Colombia. Under heavy security, he met with human-rights groups who said the Colombian government is doing nothing to protect civilians from the drug war, which is resulting in large-scale massacres and record kidnappings. As Wellstone returns to the United States today, he said he will try to insist that Colombia gets no more U.S. aid unless it improves its human rights record. "My father fled persecution from Russia," said Wellstone, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "I believe in human rights for people more than anything." Rob Hotakainen can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] (c) Copyright 2000 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. Sanho Tree 202/234-9382 ext. 266 (voice) Director, Drug Policy Project 202/387-7915 (fax) Institute for Policy Studies 202/494-8004 (mobile) 733 15th St., NW, #1020 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Washington, DC 20005 http://www.ips-dc.org <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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