-Caveat Lector- "Magazine Letters" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "EM002P_US Wall Street Journal Greg Jaffe" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2001 10:56 AM Subject: [cp] [] NRC HANDELSBLAD: Poisons in Colombia > Time to 'Roundup' the criminals at Monsanto? Thanks to Peter Webster. > Floyd > ******************************************* > > > [NOTE: The following article is the first of two translated by a > > friend of CLM from Dutch into English. -DG] > > > > ========================== > > Since two years however Colombian environmental > > and human rights groups suspect something else > > is used. Crops don't just turn yellow, they > > shrivel and blacken. And people come with > > complaints such as intestinal problems and > > affected skin. > > ====================== > >NRC HANDELSBLAD [Netherlands] > > > >Thursday, 28 December 2000 > > > > Only some people know which > > substances are being used > > --------------------------- > > > > By Marjon van Royen > > > >BOGOTA-Exactly which herbicide is sprayed in Colombia? Even experts do not > >know exactly: it is a commercial secret. > > > >For spraying in Colombia the herbicide glyfosate is used. As such a pretty > >innocent chemical, say the experts. The Dutch environmental inspection > >service however does prescribe protective gloves and glasses for its use. > >It also forbids inhaling the spraying haze. "It of course is not intended > >to end on humans," says a spokesperson for the Dutch Board for the > >Admission of Chemical Exterminants. The body has registered the poison > >since 1993 under the trade mark Roundup. > > > >In Colombia, Roundup is also used. It is made by US business Monsanto. > >Although US environmental groups state the opposite, according to the > >company the product is 'relatively safe'. But the American Environmental > >Protection Agency (EPA) classifies the product as 'most poisonous'. The > >World Health Organisation classifies it as 'extremely poisonous'. > > > >Because the chemical is sprayed in Colombia from planes on inhabited > >areas, there have always been health complaints. Burning eyes, dizziness > >and respiratory problems occurred most frequently. Since two years however > >Colombian environmental and human rights groups suspect something else is > >used. Crops don't just turn yellow, they shrivel and blacken. And people > >come with complaints such as intestinal problems and affected skin. > > > >The Colombian anti-narcotics police owes the complaints to 'chance' or to > >'manipulation by the narco-guerrilla'. The US State Department states that > >the complaints do come from farmers that grow illegal crops. "As their > >illegal lives have been affected by the spraying, these persons do not > >give objective information," the Department wrote in a report early last > >month. > > > >When asked what is being used for the spraying, "glyfosate" is the > >authorities' standard answer. Last week however the State Department > >answered in the affirmative when asked by this newspaper whether the > >rumour is correct that the traditional Roundup has been replaced some time > >ago by the product Roundup Ultra. This definitely means that a new product > >is being sprayed. Washington also confirmed the supposition that the > >Colombian product Cosmoflux is added to the spray mixture. Cosmoflux is a > >kind of 'soap', a assisting agent that makes the deadly glyfosate enter > >the plant better and quicker. > > > >The added soaps rather than the glyfosate could, according to scientists, > >be the cause of the symptoms of illness. "The great problem is you can > >hardly investigate these substances", says professor Willem Seinen of the > >Research Institute Toxicology (RITOX) of Utrecht University. "But a > >connection between these substances and the symptoms of illness can > >certainly not be excluded". > > > >Because these soaps are additional products, the producer is not obliged > >to put the ingredients on the label. The composition is a company > >classified information. The environmental inspection agency is not allowed > >either to inform about the ingredients. > > > >The Colombian Cosmoflux as well as the American Roundup Ultra contain > >'soaps'. The importance of these soaps or 'surfactants' for the impact of > >glyfosate on the plant is such that the research agency ARS of the US > >Ministry of Agriculture has experimented on them for four years. > > > >Professors Helling and Collins carried out tests in greenhouses and on > >little coca fields they had laid out themselves in Hawaii. "Of course the > >issue was increasing the degree of poisonousness" for plants, says > >professor Helling when asked about this. "That was the aim of our > >research". > > > >In the secret report about their research Helling and Collins wrote that > >their experiment "brought about a change in the usual mix of the herbicide > >for the destruction of coca in Colombia". New 'soaps' would be added that > >after spraying produce "excellent results". > > > >Monsanto does not publish the composition of its 'soap'. "Even we as > >federal researchers were not informed", says dr. Helling over the phone. > >"We wanted to know the formula so we could make it even more effective." > > > >Why did he not investigate it himself? "A hopeless task", is his response. > >Just as Dutch TNO [agency in Holland for applied technological and > >scientific expertise], to which this newspaper sent ground samples, > >Helling says such research would take several years. > > > >Although Helling did not toxicologically test his soaps, he states they do > >no harm. Yet he lets slip out to be "seriously concerned" about the > >Colombian product Cosmoflux that is added to the Roundup Ultra. > > > >"Fortunately the EPA has approved the product in early December. The State > >Department too said that Colombian Cosmoflux was EPA-approved". > > > >The EPA however has never heard about Cosmoflux. According to a > >spokesperson it cannot have been approved by EPA. "We do not examine > >foreign products. And with Roundup Ultra we only test the active > >ingredient (glyfosate)." Just like the Dutch environmental inspection > >agency, the EPA gives no statements about additions or 'soaps'. > > > >The Colombian environmental inspection agency is even less inclined to do > >this. According to Colombian biochemist Elsa Nivia in her country the > >"absurd situation" exists that the agency is being paid by the > >anti-narcotics police to supervise the spraying. > > > >"Who in Colombia will run counter to the one who pays you?" For years, > >Nivia has tried to find out what is being sprayed in her country. She > >keeps on confronting walls. Just like the US environmental agencies which > >critically follow the spraying, Nivia suspects the mixtures that are being > >used do not conform to the indications on the labels. > > > >That is also suspected by Utrecht professor Seinen. "It is very well > >possible that something is wrong with those products", he says. According > >to him every product is 'polluted' without this being recognized on the > >labels. "Even in very minor quantities that kind of substances can cause > >sensibilization and bring about for example allergic reactions". > > > > Copyright 2000 NRC HANDELSBLAD > >________________________________________________________________ > >============== > >NRC HANDELSBLAD [Netherlands] > > > >Thursday, 28 December 2000 > > > > Driven mad by itch > > ------------------ > > > > By Marjon van Royen > > > >APONTE, Colombia-Since the coca fields in the south of Colombia have been > >spraying with poison as part of the war on drugs, a remarkably high number > >of children has fallen ill. > > > >"I'm really at a loss", says the young physician who on his own runs the > >health centre of Aponte. His waiting room is full of crying children. They > >have ulcers all over their body. > > > >A young boy is driven mad by itch. But physician Josi Tordecilla has to > >send off him and his mother. "I only have medicine for ten percent of the > >children. I can only treat the worst cases." > > > >A bit later, in his office, Tordecilla says: "This is an epidemic. Since > >the spraying of the fields of the indian reservation of Aponte, 80 percent > >of the children of the community has fallen ill. He points out the > >patients in his register: "This is a medical drama." Rash, fever, diarrhea > >and eye infections - it started after the spraying. Because before that > >time about 10 percent of the children was ill: normal illnesses like the > >flu or the mumps. > > > >On 3 November the spraying started of the 8.000 hectare indian reservation > >Aponte in the south of Colombia. For ten successive days, planes sprayed > >the area with long blue-white tails of herbicide. Three planes accompanied > >by three fighting helicopters suddenly appeared over the high Andes > >mountains. > > > >Agricultural engineer Luis Camoes has made video recordings. "Look, there > >they spray the Paramo water spring," he points out. The video shows well > >how a plane suddenly emerges and in a low dive spreads its cargo over the > >green wood. It returns not one, but three times. Over and over again it > >dumps its poison over the water spring. And not one, but all three sources > >in the area were treated that way, states Camoes. > > > >The US-financed and -coordinated spraying programme against the increasing > >coca and poppy-production in Colombia always used the herbicide Roundup. > >The last two years, indications exist that a new, more powerful chemical > >is being employed. A spokesperson of the US State Department confirmed - > >for the first time - to this newspaper that in the Colombian spraying > >programme use is now made of the chemical Roundup Ultra, an offshoot to > >which new supporting substances have been added. It concerns so-called > >'surfactants', soap-like substances that take care of a quicker and better > >absorption by the plant of the herbicide. The US spokesperson also > >confirmed that the Colombian chemical Cosmoflux is added to Roundup Ultra. > >The supposition exists that especially the addition of these new > >surfactants causes the symptoms of illness. > > > >Washington denies the new chemicals are endangering health. Spraying > >illegal crops is controversial. Colombia is the only country in the world > >it is done. According to the US authorities spraying herbicides from the > >air is the only way to check the growing coca- and poppy-production. > >Critics point out it does not curb the growth, and that the environment is > >being affected. > > > >In Aponte's community house, agricultural engineer Luis Camoes says, > >referring to the spraying of the water sources: "So this is the end of our > >project." Reforestation of the area of the three sources from which the > >river springs was part of an official programme. > > > >Camoes and the villagers had hauled the trees with horses to the water > >sources at almost 3000 meters elevation. Money came from Plante, the > >Colombian government organisation that finances alternative development > >projects. Four hundred thousand guilders [USD 170,000] have been invested > >by Plante in Aponte to stimulate the people to replace their illegal poppy > >with legal crops. The Plante project was an overwhelming success. > >"Virtually no poppy is left here," says Camoes. "Now one branch of > >government is spraying away what has been achieved by the other." > > > >A journey through the area gives rise to a gloomy mood. Despite his > >crippled leg, the chief climbs like a mountain goat. Since five o' clock > >this morning, the indian chief leads us over narrow paths up hill and down > >dale. "And then came the airplanes and the helicopters, and after that > >everything I had was gone", says peasant farmer Carlos. He keeps a kind of > >dried bouquet in his hands. Shriveled little bean plants, withered yuca > >and dried up corn cobs. That is what is left of his sprayed land. He is > >the seventh peasant we visit. But the story is always the same. "Doctora, > >they sprayed away all our harvests. How should we make a living now?" > > > >In addition to corn and yuca, Carlos grew a small lot of poppy. "I don't > >like it. But it is the only thing we can sell", he says. He sits down next > >to his wife on the loam floor of the his hut. A couple of marmots potter > >about. In addition the furniture consists of a plank to sleep, and a > >cooking pot above a fire in the ground. Just like the 700 other peasant > >families in Aponte before, Carlos grows his little lot of poppy only to > >buy textbooks, medicine or cloths. "We grow our food ourselves, but for > >some things one needs money." > > > >By the way, the early November spraying was not the first one for the > >indian peasants of Aponte. In June their crops were also destroyed, they > >tell. Carlos had just contracted a loan with Plante, and his poppy was > >replaced by barley. "Even before the barley came out, it had been sprayed > >to death", he relates. Therefore he had again kept a little poppy field. > >For Plante wanted him to pay back with one percent interest the loan for > >his sprayed barley. "How should I do that, madam? Now we don't even have > >anything to eat. How can we pay back a loan?" > > > >Again, we climb on with the chief. Again a little hut, again dead crops. > >The young peasant woman shows her baby: the genitals of the child are > >covered with ulcers. "Since the spraying," says the woman and shakes her > >black plaits. She herself has the rash around her mouth. She has a head > >ache, she says, and her eyes prickle. She thinks it is because of the > >poisoned water. "It is inhuman what they do to my people," says the chief > >when we finally arrive high at the water sources that he has been wanting > >to show us all day long. The trees are withered. The spring dried up. Yet > >in a wide area around, no poppy field can be found. "Why do you think they > >want to poison our water?", he asks, as if anybody knows the answer. > > > >Back in the village the physician has not progressed much with his > >patients. "I am just an ordinary village doctor." He sent a request to the > >provincial authorities for more medicine. That was turned down. He was > >told illness because of spraying is a 'lie'. "It looks as if everybody is > >obliged to remain silent," the physician says while pressing his > >stethoscope on an other child's ulcerating breast. > > > >Later on, in Bogota, it becomes clear what he means. "Lies", snorts the > >military head of the anti-narcotics police when we ask him for comment to > >what we have seen in Aponte. > > > >"You have not seen what you have seen. We have never sprayed there." He > >does not want to see the video. Let alone pictures of ill children. "It is > >false! The proof you want to hand me over is false", rages general Socha > >before he finally expulses us from his office. "Don't come here to bring > >me up for discussion. I don't allow you to question me". > > > >His unit is decorated with a human-size illuminated advertisement of > >spraying airplanes. "Drug traffickers", he calls the small peasants who > >grow a little lot of coca or poppy besides their ordinary crops. And > >whenever a banana tree or corn cob is being sprayed away, according to the > >general it has been planted there especially by the narcoguerrilla to > >mislead naive journalists. "But do you never make mistakes?", we want to > >know. Does he never spray legal crops, a wood or a water spring? "No. > >Never. Absolutely impossible that we make mistakes", says the general. For > >at first aerial pictures are taken of the fields to be sprayed. After > >that, the coordinates are taken. And then everything is observed with the > >help of the Americans. "They have tried to denounce us for these things," > >says Socha. "But a conviction has never occurred." When we object that > >the Colombian judicial system is very slow, the general is swamped by > >emotions: > > > >"I don't know who you are or who sent you to throw doubt on our > >authorities. You undermine our rule of law". > > > >According to Colombian scientist and spraying expert Ricardo Vargas the > >general is correct on one point: the construction of the Colombian > >spraying programme makes the chance of a 'mistake' very low. "That makes > >very grim the scenario," ponders Vargas. > > > >"Spraying as a strategy to consciously affect the survival of communities? > >I'd rather not think about it". > > > > Copyright 2000 NRC HANDELSBLAD > >________________________________________________________________ > >**************************************************************** > >* CLM-NEWS is brought to you by the COLOMBIAN LABOR MONITOR at * > >* http://www.prairienet.org/clm * > >* and the CHICAGO COLOMBIA COMMITTEE * > >* Email us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or * > >* Dennis Grammenos at [EMAIL PROTECTED] * > >* To subscribe send request to [EMAIL PROTECTED] * > >* subscribe clm-news Your Name * > >**************************************************************** > > > > > "America's drug war is so stupid that if you pay close attention to just how > stupid it is -- it'll drive you to use drugs." -- Jim Hightower > **************************************************************************** > Constitutional Patriots Opposing Prohibition > > To Post a message, send it to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > For Subscription Info and to modify your settings, web postings,etc > > Go to the CP site: http://www.egroups.com/group/cp3/info.html > > CPOP web site: http://www.teleport.com/~nepal/canpat.htm > > http://www.greenpanthers.org > <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. 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