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Judi Lynn

(160,217 posts)
Wed Oct 21, 2015, 10:18 PM Oct 2015

US to support Colombia’s less repressive efforts to curb drug trafficking: Minister

US to support Colombia’s less repressive efforts to curb drug trafficking: Minister
Posted by Grace Brown on Oct 21, 2015

The United States will support Colombia’s new counter-narcotics policy that puts more focus on crop restitution rather than aerial fumigation, said Colombia’s defense minister on Tuesday.

Colombia in September announced that it would begin a crop restitution program for coca farmers after it banned the use of glysophate in aerial fumigation, until earlier this year one of the main forms of combating the crop used for cocaine production.

The South American country’s Defense Minister, Luis Carlos Villegas, met with US drug czar William Brownfield on Monday and said afterwards he had succeeded in reeling in US support for the less repressive policy.
“We spoke about the new anti-drugs plan and all of its layers, from the eradication of illicit crops to… money laundering and transport,” claimed Villegas, adding that “this plan has received important support from the United States government, which is our principal ally in this field.”

Earlier this month, US Secretary of State John Kerry had already promised to divert US funds for counternarcotics programs to post-conflict programs that seek the effective restitution of coca crops for legal produce.

More:
http://colombiareports.com/us-to-support-colombias-less-repressive-efforts-to-curb-drug-trafficking/

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