Colombia’s drug trade: Efforts to eradicate coca cultivation
Colombia tries new tactics to stop the illicit drug trade, but some people say they could do more harm than good.
Colombia’s youngest president, Ivan Duque, has pledged to permanently eradicate coca cultivation in a country often known as the cocaine capital of the world.
Duque has called illicit cultivations an “existential threat” and vowed to increase crop eradication efforts including a crop substitution program for rural farmers.
He has also announced a policy that includes the deployment of unmanned drones to spray illicit crops with the chemical herbicide, glyphosate.
Demand for the drug comes primarily from the United States and Europe.
Al Jazeera’s Manuel Rapalo reports from Toribio, Colombia.
Published On 7 Aug 2018