CPTnet
31 August 2006

COLOMBIA: Coca farmers are people too.

by Julián Gutiérrez Castaño

CPTers Suzanna Collerd and Julián Gutiérrez Castaño visited the small
town of Miralindo 17-21 August 2006. Because of the coca eradication
program there, nine community leaders have received death threats, the
livelihoods of many families have collapsed, and conflicts between neighbors
are causing the disintegration of the community.

I do not intend to argue that coca eradication is negative, while coca
cultivation is positive. However, people should understand that the coca
leaf is a traditional crop in South America. Drug abuse is a separate
issue. It is a symptom of social disorder, and societies need to look at
their policies regarding illegal drugs and drug addicts and reform them in
ways that benefit human beings in all nations. Currently the United States
sustains a "War on drugs" to protect its citizens from cocaine--chemically
synthesized from coca leaves-- but the war is fought on Colombian territory.

One of the threatened Miralindo community leaders told us the advice she
gives to peasants, "I'm not in favor or against the coca crops; I don't
know if it is good or bad, the only thing I can tell you is don't stop
growing yucca, plantain, cacao, etc." Manual coca eradication is now
happening in Miralindo, but the Colombian government has not offered to
replace the destroyed coca crops, and, for that reason, many families are
without anything to eat.

An official from the municipality told us his own version of the problem,
"Peasants are guilty of everything; they are stupid people who only think
about risking $100.000 pesos weekly on rooster fights, liquor and whores.
Nobody has died of hunger here, and nobody is dying of hunger. They don't
grow coca out of necessity." This official's point of view does not
recognize the dynamics around coca cultivation that push hundreds of
thousands of peasants to put themselves at risk growing an illegal crop.

Coca peasants have told community and governmental leaders that they will
stop growing coca crops if the State gives them real alternatives to survive
economically. Market prices for legal crops are low, and due to poor road
conditions, transportation costs exceed profits. Coca is easy to transport
because one can carry two kilos of partially processed coca in a backpack,
and sell the product for a good price.

Another reason for coca cultivation has to do illegal armed groups
controlling this zone. In the past, the guerrillas controlled this region,
then the paramilitaries arrived, and along with them, coca cultivation.
Without a permanent State presence, it is likely that one or another illegal
armed group willtake control and resume coca production.

Manual eradication, of course, is better than the aerial fumigations that
are one of the most criticized aspects of the U.S. "War on Drugs." It does
not bring the terrible environmental consequences of fumigations. But manual
eradication will not work if it is not accompanied by economic alternatives
for the rural families that survive on coca income.