Colombian Government Could Allow Coca Plantations: Biden Weighs In

By Joana Scopel via El Planteo

Colombia President Gustavo Petro, during the first Assembly of Coca Growers (held on December 16 in the Catatumbo region, northeastern Colombia), affirmed that in order to change the economic reality of those who only find profitability in the crop illicit use of coca, the current repressive approach should be repealed.

Moreover, Petro hinted that the policy that he would seek to implement would allow growers to plant coca and a substitute, in parallel, until this substitute guarantees their livelihood and, thus, they can dedicate themselves completely to its production, reported Infobae.

Currently, the peasants in these areas have no other alternative to survive. In addition, the persecution of these people has not resolved the problem related to drug trafficking in the country, said the Colombian president.

“The ideas that you have expressed here to find other paths seem pertinent to me. We must explore them together, you and us if they turn out well; if not, they should be changed. For example, one that had been mentioned at some point: if a farmer who produces coca leaves doesn't remove his crop completely because he doesn't know what awaits him, he doesn't know if it's hunger,” Petro said.

Coca-Crop Substitution Program

The illicit crop substitution program consists of peasant families, mostly with limited economic resources, voluntarily agreeing to replace these crops with others and not to plant coca again.

In exchange, they receive economic support in legal projects that include planting vegetables or fruits. However, experience has shown that this method still needs to be improved.

“Of course, here it could be taken into account, and I would tell the officials that we devise the program so that a farmer can still grow coca leaves while he is planting the substitute crop until we prove that it works and if so, there is no longer a need of the other,” noted Petro, who would also seek gradual substitution of crops. “We are going to establish graduality. To the extent that alternative cultivation works, the peasant's coca leaf cultivation is decreasing. Then a period is established in which both coexist,” he added.

Ahora en la asamblea de campesinos cocaleros del Catatumbo. pic.twitter.com/bJIFhQi2bV

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) December 16, 2022

The current crop substitution program does not allow coca to be planted at the same time as the alternative, so a new program would have to be devised or renegotiated, said Elizabeth Dickinson, senior analyst for Colombia at the International Crisis Group, who argued that the gradual substitution cultivation, and making the alternative crop production, could be a process that takes years.

Additionally, Petro acknowledged that such a proposal could generate great controversy worldwide. However, it would be a possible solution for those most affected by drug trafficking, which in this case are the growers.

“When we say that we are not going to attack a peasant, when we say that we are going to buy his crop while we transform the region so that it can become productive in legal economies, we are not saying that we are going to allow cocaine,” said Petro, who promised to capture through the public force "the owners of the world's cocaine", with intelligence capacity and "shielding against power money."

Biden Weighs In On The Matter

Days after the Assembly in Colombia happened, the administration of Joe Biden asked President Gustavo Petro to maintain the forced eradication of illicit coca crops, according to Infobae.

Biden's administration has warned that a planned and not immediate transition from forced eradication of crops to voluntary substitution is necessary. In fact, it proposed “to have a well-designed, fully funded substitution program before moving to (voluntary) substitution as the primary means of crop control.”

“We caution the Petro administration against immediately transitioning from a force to a voluntary eradication strategy to control the growth of illicit crops,” the US State Department said in a press release. "So far, forced eradication continues and is expected to continue while a viable crop substitution program is developed," per the press release.

The United States hopes Colombia continues to comply with international commitments and that Petro manages to "prevent the growth of coca cultivation." However, Biden’s administration clarified that will continue working with Colombia "to implement a holistic approach to address counternarcotics challenges."

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Image by El Planteo