An Open Letter To Paul Wellstone Regarding U.S. Involvement In Colombia

June 21, 2001

The Honorable Paul Wellstone
2550 University Avenue, W
Court International Building
St. Paul, MN 55114-1025

Dear Senator Wellstone:

In the last decade, U.S. military assistance to the Colombian government has increased to the point where it has become the world’s third-largest recipient of U.S. aid. Commitment of both active armed services personnel and retired troops hired as ‘contractors’ has been dramatically enlarged. The program of crop defoliation undertaken by both Colombian and U.S. soldiers increases with every passing year. America has straddled the fence for a decade and now must choose which side it wishes to stand on. Senator Wellstone, I submit to you that the United States Congress must put an immediate end to this escalation.

According to a Congressional Research Service report to Congress Colombia: US Assistance and Current Legislation, updated May 15, 2001, p.32), total U.S. aid to Colombia FY1991-1996 ranged between $48.1 and $97.8 million per annum. Aid for FY 1997 and 1998 was $175.1 and $157 million respectively. This amount was increased to $389 in 1999. With President Clinton’s signing of H.R. 4425 the combined regular and supplemental appropriations for FY2000 skyrocketed to $972.1 million. Only Israel and Egypt currently receive more monetary aid than Colombia.

With this rising financial commitment has come a concomitant increase in America’s commitment of human resources. In 1999, there were no more than 200 American military personnel operating in Colombia. Section 3204(b) of H.R. 4425 now Public Law 106-246 increased this “Troop Cap” to 500 troops and 300 contractors. Since 1997, five servicemen and three private contractors have died
in Colombia. As the number of Americans in Colombia increases, so too must
American casualties.

But as concerned as I am with the expenditure of America’s blood and treasure, even more disturbing is the extent of the U.S. financed and staffed crop defoliation campaigns. Ricardo Vargas Meza of the Center for Investigation and Popular Education writes in his study ‘Fumigacion y Conflicto that between 1992 and 1998, 182,326 hectares (450,345 acres) of Colombian coca and opium fields were air-sprayed with 2,438,336 liters (644,330 gallons) of herbicide, an average of 26,046 ha/year. According to
OAS figures given in their report Colombia: Evaluation of Progress in Drug Control, during 1999 approximately 52,500 hectares were fumigated. This represents a twofold increase in fumigation rates for 1999 alone, and the millions of dollars of additional assistance given through H.R. 4425 will surely allow for expansion past the 1999 level.

The website of the Colombian embassy states that “[t]he only herbicide currently used for aerial eradication is glyphosate.” According to a fact sheet prepared for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service, advisable use rates for Glyphosate range from 0.3 to 4.0 lbs. per acre. The statistics referenced above indicate that the amounts of Glyphosate used in anti-drug efforts in Colombia ‘92-‘98 come to approximately 11.5 lbs. per acre, almost three times the maximum level recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Even when used at recommended levels, the USDA report indicates that “[g]lyphosate may be a hazard to endangered species if it is applied to areas where they live.” And referring to concerns of possible carcinogenic effects, the reports states that “[t]here is not enough information available at this time to determine whether Glyphosate causes cancer.”

But as hazardous as the herbicide’s active ingredient is, perhaps even more disturbing are the hazardous characteristics of the surfactant that Monsanto mixes with glyphosate to produce Roundup. The Colombian embassy states that Roundup is currently the only glyphosate mixture used in anti-drug efforts in Colombia. The USDA report previously mentioned states the LC50 (the concentration in air, water, or food which will kill approximately 50% of the subjects) of glyphosate for fish at 1,000 ppm. When mixed with the Roundup surfactant, however, this number drops to a range of 5 to 26 ppm. By using Roundup instead of other glyphosate-containing herbicides, therefore, aerial spraying programs are increasing the risk of damage to native fisheries by almost 20,000%.

Already there is evidence of widespread environmental devastation in the areas affected by the fumigation. Governmental officials and peasant farmers’ groups have complained of livestock deaths and mistaken fumigation of vital agricultural crops. Marjon van Royen, a correspondent of the Dutch Newspaper NRC Handelsblad, went to a town in the southern Colombian province of Narino where she witnessed widespread skin disorders, intestinal problems, and other health maladies that the peasants claimed were caused by aerial spraying of the nearby poppy fields.

Colombia is a good neighbor and a valuable ally. It is in the best interests of both our nations that the U.S. provide humanitarian aid and help broker peace between its warring factions. However, we must scale back our present involvement in the internal affairs of Colombia. We must decrease the amount of military aid that we provide. We must decrease the number of U.S. citizens that serve there in the employ of our military. We must immediately cease all usage of the herbicide ‘Roundup’ and decrease generally the extent of our involvement in the government’s defoliation programs, withdrawing both financial and manpower assistance to the project.

One of the greatest sins committed by Congress in the 20th century was its slavish acceptance of policy decisions made by the White House regarding U.S. military involvement in Indo-China. Senator Wellstone, you must not let such an abrogation of responsibility happen again. Bring our nation out of Colombia.

Sincerely,

Cal D. Margulis