COLOMBIA-DRUGS/REPORT UN registers rise in Colombian cocaine production

Record ID: 148705

  • Title: COLOMBIA-DRUGS/REPORT UN registers rise in Colombian cocaine production
  • Date: 2nd July 2015
  • Summary: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (JULY 2, 2015) (REUTERS) JUSTICE MINISTER, YESID REYES, DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) JUSTICE MINISTER, YESID REYES, SAYING: "What we can learn from these experiences is that repressing the illegal drugs trade is insufficient. It has had some effect but not a sustainable effect over time. The eradication with glyphosate is a good example. Ev
  • Embargoed: 17th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Colombia
  • Country: Colombia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAAGZ12DIEGH0NO37VBOY2AJ1FB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS NOTE EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    A new report by the United Nations recorded a 44 percent rise in coca plantations used in the illegal production and trade of cocaine in Colombia in 2014 from the year before, the organisation said on Thursday (July 2), throwing doubts on the governments eradication strategy.
    The total area of crop production was found in 2014 to be at the highest level in five years, whilst the estimated volume of production reached the heights of over a decade ago.
    "In 2014, we saw a rise from 48,000 hectares (118,611 acres) to 69,000 hectares (170,503 acres) of cocaine fields, and we estimate that the production of pure cocaine rose from 290 (320 tons) to 442 tonnes (487 tons) that year," representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Bo Matihiasen said at a conference in Bogota on Thursday.
    President Juan Manuel Santos´s government began peace talks with rebel groups led by the 8,000-strong Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in November 2012. Negotiations have advanced despite a near-constant backdrop of fighting since they began and a recent resurgence of violence and attacks on infrastructure.
    The government and rebel negotiators have reached partial accords on three of five agenda points: land reform, the political future of the FARC and an end to the illegal drugs trade. Still under discussion are victim reparations and the FARC's demobilisation.
    Another strategic sticking point for the government is the eradication of coca fields.
    In May, Santos suspended the use of the herbicide glyphosate to eradicate illegal crops, preferring to focus on manual eradication, a decision analysts have criticised as allowing for the expansion of coca production.
    Justice Minister, Yesid Reyes, however, defended the decision on Thursday, arguing that previous fumigations had not shown evidence of effectively reducing production.
    "What we can learn from these experiences is that repressing the illegal drugs trade is insufficient. It has had some effect but not a sustainable effect over time. The eradication with glyphosate is a good example. Even though there has been a year on year reduction in the production of illegal drugs during the 12 years that this method has been used, the global outlook raises doubts about the sustainability of the strategy, as when it was first used there were 83,000 hectares in the country and today there are 69,000 hectares," said Reyes.
    The government considers the production and sale of illegal drugs in Colombia the principal factor in a national conflict with guerrilla fighters, which has raged for over half a century and left over 220,000 dead.
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