BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos said Saturday he is halting use of a herbicide that is a key part of U.S.-financed efforts to wipe out cocaine crops.
Santos said he was taking the move following a Health Ministry recommendation based on a World Health Organization decision to classify glyphosate as a carcinogen.
Speaking at an event in the capital, Bogota, Santos said that defense and health officials should agree on a transition period, during which “spraying of glyphosate has to be replaced with other mechanisms, for example, intensifying manual eradication” of coca plants.
The U.S. ambassador to Colombia, Kevin Whitaker, said a decision on whether to use the chemical is a decision for Colombia and the U.S. government respects it.
More than 4 million acres of land in Colombia have been sprayed with the popular weed killer over the past two decades to kill coca plants, whose leaves produce cocaine. The spraying program is partly carried out by U.S. contractors.