Pubdate: Tue, 17 Dec 2013
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2013 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Chris Kraul

ANTI-COCA SPRAYING HALTED

Program in Colombia Is Stopped After News That Shoot-Downs of U.S. 
Pilots Were Carried Out by Rebels.

BOGOTA, Colombia - U.S.-funded anti-coca spraying in Colombia has 
been suspended indefinitely in the aftermath of the shooting down, 
apparently by leftist rebels, of two spray planes and the death of 
one of the American pilots, sources confirmed Monday.

One fumigation airplane was shot down Sept. 27, killing the pilot, 
whose name was not made public. A second crop-duster was brought down 
Oct. 5, prompting the U.S. Embassy in Bogota to suspend spraying, 
according to one well-informed source who spoke on condition of 
anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

Although the crashes were reported shortly after they occurred, it 
was not reported until this week that both were brought down by 
hostile gunfire from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

The rebel group's involvement and suspension of flights were reported 
Sunday by La Silla Vacia, a respected online newsmagazine based in 
Bogota. Neither the U.S. State Department nor the U.S. Embassy in 
Bogota responded Monday to requests for confirmation and further 
details, including the identity of the dead pilot.

According to the Associated Press, the first shootdown occurred 250 
miles northeast of Bogota near the town of Tarra, killing the pilot. 
The second incident reportedly occurred in the southern province of 
Caqueta, where the FARC is still strong and allegedly engaged in 
cocaine processing and transport to neighboring Ecuador.

At the time the aircraft were downed, the U.S. Embassy said only that 
it was analyzing the cause of both crashes.

At least six U.S. pilots have been killed in the spraying program 
since 1995, according to recent interviews with U.S. Embassy staff. 
Danger comes not just from enemy gunfire but also hightension wires 
and palm trees.

The planes are slow but powerful propeller-driven aircraft with 
1,385-horsepower engines that are capable of carrying up to 800 
pounds of herbicide.

In a 2009 interview, one of the U.S. pilots, a contractor with 
DynCorp, told The Times that the planes made easy targets for rebels 
and drug traffickers but that he felt safe from gunfire with the 
cockpit's 3/4-inch armor. According to the Associated Press, the 
embassy is analyzing how gunfire penetrated the shield.

The U.S.-financed fumigation effort has eradicated an estimated 4 
million acres of coca, the raw material for cocaine, over the last 
two decades. The program uses mostly contracted American pilots who 
spray industrial variants of the weedkiller Roundup from several hundred feet.

Since 2000, the program has been part of Plan Colombia, the anti-drug 
and antiterrorism aid program that has funneled more than $8 billion 
in military, humanitarian and institution-building funds to this Andean nation.

According to recent interviews, the spray portion of the annual Plan 
Colombia aid allotment costs about $50 million per year. The area 
sprayed, according to United Nations and U.S. Embassy figures, 
totaled about 250,000 acres in 2012 and 258,000 acres in 2011.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom