The problem of glyphosate spraying
There may be risks associated with the environmental and operational conditions in which the spraying is carried out.
An article published recently in El Espectador commented on the two issues that underpin the Colombian discourse on the subject of drugs. To be precise, the government’s discourse is far from reflecting what goes on in practice, or the actions that are still being carried out in the country. Colombia is seen as the star pupil in complying with the United Nations drug treaties and it continues to do things that many other countries would avoid.
A report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) – part of the World Health Organisation – has reopened the debate about the advisability of aerial spraying with glyphosate. The agency, which is based in Lyon, France, lists five pesticides – including the popular glyphosate – as “probably carcinogenic to humans,” as they may cause non-Hodgkin lymphoma,(1) although there is already “convincing evidence that glyphosate (…) can cause cancer in laboratory animals.”
This statement by an international scientific body adds to the suspicions and complaints expressed by Colombian academics, NGOs and communities. The Minister of Health, Alejandro Gaviria, told Associated Press that this news has put the ministry on the alert, but counter-narcotics police chief General Ricardo Restrepo reiterated to the same news agency that his mission is “to implement the strategy.”
The firms of contractors that have benefited from Plan Colombia and United States 'aid' money have said that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers glyphosate to be safe. That does not fit with the biodiverse reality of the Colombian countryside where the agrotoxin is being applied intensively and on a massive scale. They do have something that works in their favour: in Colombia, the burden of proof falls on the victims.
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