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==Plan Columbia and the Deforestation of the Amazon==
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_Colombia Reminiscent of Vietnam], and as a result of the United States' War On Drugs, the aerial spraying of vast sections of the Columbian Amazon Jungle with Monsanto's Roundup Ultra (since 1999) in a supposed effort to eradicate coca (cocaine) plants being grown in the region has been occurring. The effectiveness of the program, however, is greatly in dispute. Additionally, peasants living in he the area have been telling of widespread destruction to the forest and other unwanted devastating "collateral damage", damage which they say the United States and Monsanto have turned a deaf ear toward.
"I recently received a disturbing email from southern Colombia warning that the fragile Amazonian soil could "soon be turned to desert". They were the words of a Catholic priest, so I rang a church worker whose parish lies deep in the Amazonian state of Caquetá. Military planes targeting coca farms, funded by the US, had been spraying mists of herbicides over food crops, grazing animals and even areas where children were playing, she said: locals were complaining of breathing problems and rashes; "strips of skin" have been peeling off cows, and chickens have died; and maize, yucca, plantain and cacao crops have wilted and shrivelled. "We fear there will soon be a very serious food shortage in the region," she said. The local parish has issued an urgent appeal... Glyphosate is the most frequently used herbicide; its biggest selling commercial formulation is Roundup, made by Monsanto. The company acknowledges that contact with glyphosate may cause mild eye or skin irritation. But independent studies have suggested a far greater range of symptoms, including facial numbness and swelling, rapid heart rate, raised blood pressure, chest pains, nausea and congestion... Farm workers in the US are advised to keep clear of weedkillers, yet in Colombia aerial spraying takes place with no warning, showering humans and animals with chemicals... All Colombia's neighbours - Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil - oppose the "fumigation" policy. The Andean and European parliaments have called for its suspension, as have numerous environmentalists, scientists and politicians in Colombia. But spraying has intensified since the launch in 2000 of Plan Colombia, the US-funded counter-narcotics strategy... Back in Caquetá, the church worker described how herbicides have run into rivers and streams, killing fish. Locals wait days before they dare drink the water. One of the most fragile ecosystems in the world "is being poisoned".
