COLOMBIA: Ecuador recalls its Ambassador from Bogota as Colombia resumes fumigating illegal drug crops along the Ecuadorean border

Colombia resumed fumigating illegal drug crops along the Ecuadorean border this week, sparking such outrage by Ecuador which recalled its ambassador from Bogota on Friday (December 15). Bogota says that U.S.-backed spraying of herbicides in Colombia, a key part of its effort to crackdown on the cocaine trade, is safe and a critical part of its war against FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) rebels who have financed their 4-decades-old war with illegal drug and weapons trafficking and kidnappings. "The ones who should be unhappy are the (rebel group) FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), the drug traffickers, the criminals and the people who live here off of crime. Those are the only ones who have to be unhappy," said Colombian Police Commander General Jorge Daniel Castro as he oversaw the fumigation of coca fields in San Miguel. "The rest of the Colombian people, the entire world, should be happy for this purposeful fight under President Uribe's leadership." After an 11-month pause, Colombia resumed spraying along part of the 366-mile (586-km) border on Monday. Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe, a conservative attorney, has received millions of dollars in U.S. military aid to combat the drug trade and leftist rebels. Ecuador says that the spraying hurts the environment and damages people's health on its side of the border. Colombia urged Ecuador to return its ambassador to Bogota swiftly to work on bilateral ties, but reiterated that the drug crop spraying was essential to the fight against narcotics. "We have nothing but respect for the Ecuadorean government and people-- respect for their institutions, for their government, affection for the Ecuadorean people," Colombian President Alvaro Uribe told reporters in Bogota. "I think that in the end, the whole world has to understand that Colombia cannot permit the FARC to continue there, increasing the drug area because, with 10,200 hectares, the FARC is capable of financing the destruction of the world and that's what we cannot allow." Ecuador's President-elect Rafael Correa, a left-leaning friend of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, is a staunch opponent of Colombia's anti-drug campaign and is scheduled to visit Bogota next week for talks.

ITN Source | December 17, 2006

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