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Newsbrief:
European
Union
Envoy
Criticizes
Colombia
Coca
Fumigation
1/23/04
European Union (EU) External
Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten criticized the US-backed drug eradication
program in Colombia while in Bogota for two days of talks over the EU's
role in funding Colombia's future. Patten also echoed criticism of
Colombia's human rights record, singling out an "anti-terrorism" law passed
last month that gives the military certain judicial powers, and rebuked
the leftist FARC guerrillas for their kidnapping of civilians.
The EU has refused to fund
Plan Colombia's drug war aspects, instead pledging funds for development
programs, including $54 million Patten announced Wednesday. In a
meeting of potential aid donor nations in London in July, participants
agreed to condition assistance to Colombia on its compliance with United
Nations High Commission on Human Rights recommendations. Another
donor conference is set for later this year.
In remarks made after meeting
with President Alvaro Uribe Wednesday night and reported on by Agence France
Presse, Patten called for alternatives to crop fumigation, saying it led
to too much collateral damage. There are other means of reducing
coca production, he said, adding that fumigation destroys food crops as
well as coca plants and damages the environment.
US and Colombian officials
have hailed the program as a success, citing a decrease in overall production,
but recent reports have cited reseeding in areas that have been sprayed
and new crops being sown in formerly virgin areas. Coca production
is now also on the increase in Peru and Bolivia, according to US and UN
figures.
-- END --
|
Issue #321, 1/23/04
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Death, Madness, Mayhem! Brit Tabloids in Fits Over Pot |
Review Finds Anti-Drug Campaign Works on Parents (Sort Of) But Not Kids -- Findings Contradict Drug Czar's Rosy Views |
Minnesota Sentencing Commission Report Says State Could Save $30 Million Per Year With Treatment Not Prison |
Newsbrief: European Union Envoy Criticizes Colombia Coca Fumigation |
Newsbrief: Peruvian Coca Growers Prepare to Gather, Government Gets Nervous |
Newsbrief: Bush Proposes More Money for School Drug Testing |
Newsbrief: This Week's Corrupt Cops Story |
Newsbrief: Kentucky Governor Unveils New Drug Offender Plan -- Less Prison, More Treatment |
This Week in History |
DRCNet Temporarily Suspending Our Web-Based Write-to-Congress Service Due to Funding Shortfalls -- Your Help Can Bring It Back -- Keep Contacting Congress in the Meantime |
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