On 28th May 2001 the second phase of the fumigation of illicit crops began. The objective; fumigate everything. The new formula being used is Roundup Ultra, which contains glysophate, POEA and Cosmo Flux 411F according to Lucia Gallardo activist from Accion Ecologica, speaking at a round table conference about Plan Colombia in Quito, Ecuador during May.
We know that these ingredients mentioned are toxic but what we don’t know, but will find out from exposure, is that POEA has a toxicity 4 or 5 times greater than glysophate (Roundup) and that Cosmo Flux 411F increases 4 times the biological action of glysophate, increasing more than 100 times the recommended levels of dosage for agricultural applications in the USA.
Obviously, though, the USA is not the Amazon. In the USA they look after the lives of their people but here they attack all that exists, including the human population.
It is enough to know that the herbicides containing Glysophate are registered in Colombia and Ecuador under category IV (low toxicity) but in the USA they are considered to be category II (high toxcicity). POEA is registered as category I (extremely toxic). Big differences; clearly the human beings, animals and plants of the ‘3rd world’ must be immune because they are poor.
The horror, however, is not only for the high toxicity of the poison but also for the form in which it’s used. The planes will make up to 12 passes of the same area spraying coca, plantain, yucca and, furthermore, children and pregnant women. In Canada it has been calculated that there needs to be a 75 to 1200 metres buffer zone around the area to be sprayed in order that there is no risk of damaging desired vegetation. Common sense tells us that: "no pilot, no matter the experience, can avoid indiscriminate fumigation of crops, jungle and humans" according to Lucia Gallardo. We don’t know Canada but we do know that the Amazon is a paradise where there is water everywhere. The now enriched glysophate runs into the rivers, streams and ponds, penetrating into the earth, sticking to the trees and the feathers of birds, affecting extensive areas of jungle threatening the destruction of one of the regions of greatest biodiversity on the planet. Is this one of the reasons, perhaps, that the United States didn’t sign the Biological Diversity agreement of 1992?
In addition to all this the new formula has not been investigated scientifically in order to evaluate the risks. Despite this it was approved by the "Consejo Nacional de Estupefacientes de Colombia" and there was no comment by the Ecuadorian Authorities. These countries carry out the orders of the USA without asking even the minimum explanation. "What is certain is, that with the appearance of this new chemical compound, they are experimenting in the Amazon with the aim of developing new and more powerful chemical and biological agents in the war against drugs and advancing the development of more chemical weapons", explained the militant from Accion Ecologica. War against drugs? Is this really a war against the activity that sustains the financial and banking system of North America? It is an open secret that 80% of the profits from drug trafficking end up in the USA.
Or is it a war against the armed groups of Colombia that are the only obstacle to complete domination of this part of the world? Is the USA trying to control the Latin American market place? Do they want to control the zone of greatest biodiversity and water reserves in the world? Is Colombia an important geostrategic point from both political and military points of view? All of this and who knows what more. It is to be hoped that the world recognises this horror before its too late.
