November 19, 2002 - Washington Post: RPCV Elliott Smith opposes Air Assualt in Colombia
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November 19, 2002 - Washington Post: RPCV Elliott Smith opposes Air Assualt in Colombia
RPCV Elliott Smith opposes Air Assualt in Colombia
RPCV Elliott Smith opposes Air Assualt in Colombia
Spraying Coca in Colombia
Tuesday, November 19, 2002; Page A24
Regarding Scott Wilson's Nov. 13 news story on Colombia's Putumayo province, "Colombia's Air Assault on Coca Leaves Crop, Farmers in Its Dust":
I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Putumayo four decades ago. Peasants were not growing coca then. It is grown now because coca is the only cash crop that provides a decent living. There is no economic incentive to grow traditional crops.
U.S.-funded aerial spraying of herbicides is counterproductive. Coca production will move elsewhere; it always has.
Aerial spraying also is not coca-specific; it destroys traditional crops as well. Shades of Vietnam, Agent Orange and "We destroyed the village to save it."
The United States, the largest consumer of drugs in the world, is in denial about the real problem -- demand.
ELLIOTT V. SMITH
Oakland, Calif.
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Story Source: Washington Post
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Colombia; Speaking Out; Drugs
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