Colombia: Officials Urge End to Herbicide’s Use on Coca

Apr 28, 2015 | William Neuman, New York Times
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Colombia’s Health Ministry has recommended halting the spraying of an herbicide widely used in an American-funded campaign to eradicate crops of coca, the plant used to make cocaine. The recommendation, posted Tuesday on Twitter, was based on a recent finding by an agency of the World Health Organization that the herbicide, glyphosate, “probably” causes cancer in people. Glyphosate is widely used around the world by farmers to kill weeds and is the active ingredient in Roundup, made by Monsanto. The spraying campaign is controversial in Colombia, where it has long raised health and environmental concerns, angered farmers and drawn criticism from politicians on the left.