CPTnet
1 November 2006

COLOMBIA: CPT holds witness against fumigations at Barrancabermeja airport

by Nils Dybvig

Over the last month, planes flown by US civilian contractors have been
flying out of the Barrancabermeja airport, fumigating coca crops (and often
food crops) in the Sur de Bolivar region. Although the aerial fumigation is
unpopular with most Colombians, and was ruled illegal by Colombian courts,
the U.S. government has insisted that it continue. The Colombian government
has appeared to focus its fumigation projects on areas under guerilla
control, or areas with mineral resources that would be easier to access if
the civilian owners of the land were displaced. One of these areas is Sur
de Bolivar, which has one of the world's largest gold deposits.

Our team has witnessed repeatedly the disruption caused by fumigations:
devastation of basic food crops, mass displacement of communities, severe
illnesses (in some cases even death), and the poisoning of community
drinking water. In response to the fumigation flights, the team in Barranca
decided that on Monday, 23 October we would hold our team worship at the
airport as a public witness. Just outside the airport gate, we lit candles,
sang a few songs, and prayed: for peace, for the farm families affected by
the spraying, and for an end to fumigations.

After the worship, we went into the airport to ask to speak to the
contractors doing the fumigation. We met with the head of the National
Police at the airport who told us the fumigation crews and their planes had
left Barrancabermeja the week before, without completing their planned
spraying, because of early rains. Hallelujah! Before returning to the
house, we stopped to give thanks for the end of the fumigations, at least
until the planes return.