Congressional aides, lobbyists, and concerned citizens were given a chance this week to hear first- hand of the inherent risks involved with aerial fumigation practices in Colombia at a congressional briefing sponsored by Representative Sam Farr (D- CA). The briefing addressed aerial fumigation, alternative development, and fair trade certification within the context of a recent case involving the fumigation of the Cosurca organic coffee cooperative of Colombia?s Cauca province. A USAID-funded project, and internationally lauded as a shining example of illicit-crop replacement programs, Cosurca was fumigated by the Colombian National Police in May and June 2005. This resulted in the subsequent loss of their organic and fair trade certification. The US Office on Colombia (USOC) and Lutheran World Relief (LWR) collaborated on the briefing to construct a distinguished panel of speakers from Colombia and the US. Panelists included Rene Ausecha Chaux, legal representative of Cosurca; Ricardo Vargas Meza, Director of Acción Andina Colombia; Sarah Ford, Director of LWR?s Office of Public Policy and Community Engagement; and Kimberly Easson, Strategic Relationships Director of TRANSFAIR. Heather Hanson, Executive Director of the USOC, served as moderator. Presentations addressed the details of Cosurca?s fumigation, the process of illicit crop replacement, the fair trade certification system, and the relationship between US citizens and alternative development programs in Colombia.

John P. Walters, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), announced the White House?s National Drug Control Strategy for 2006. The announcement came this week in Denver, Colorado at a youth drug treatment facility. The report highlights some key domestic and international victories attributed to the Andean Counterdrug Initiative, such as the decrease in purity and increase in price of cocaine in the US that occurred between February and September 2005. Also in 2005, the Colombian government reported spraying ?more than 138,000 hectares of coca and manually eradicating more than 31,000 hectares.? Strategies for Colombia in 2006 will again focus on interdiction, eradication, and the disruption of internal and external drug trafficking corridors. The process of fumigation and eradication has been impeded, the report notes, by such tactics as ?the shrinking and dispersal of coca fields, the systematic use of seedbeds, and countermeasures designed to make plots harder to find from the air.? For its part, the US Department of State, under the Critical Flight Safety Program, has been authorized to spend $30 million for the purchase and refurbishment of spray aircraft for Colombia. The US has also assisted in the establishment of additional spray operations in the department of Nariño and manual eradication operations in Colombia?s national parks.

Click here to read the ONDCP's 2006 National Drug Control Strategy

The White House released its budget requests for FY2007 this week, asking for nearly the exact same amount of aid for its Colombia programs as is estimated for 2006. The total amount requested is $724 million, with 83% allotted for military and police assistance programs. Additionally, the administration proposed a slight modification to the long-standing policies of Plan Colombia: the Plan Colombia Consolidation Phase (PCCP). Citing the ?paradoxical effect of increasing the operational pace of all of our programs and reinforcing the need for continued assistance in order to maintain the momentum,? the administration notes the need to nationalize policy operations over the next five years. Funding will continue at current levels, with a particular emphasis on combating narcotics trafficking, economic and social reactivation, strengthening institutions, and the demobilization and social reintegration of illegal armed actors. Programs aimed at achieving these goals will receive funding through such vehicles as the Andean Counterdrug Initiative (ACI), Foreign Military Financing (FMF), International Military Education Training (IMET), and Non-Proliferation, Anti-Terrorism, Demining and Related Programs (NADR).

Click here to read the FY2007 Congressional Budget Justification

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About US Office on Colombia

The U.S. Office on Colombia is an independent non- profit organization, not affiliated with any political party, that seeks to educate U.S. policymakers, the media and the U.S. public about the impact of U.S. policy on Colombia.