Where a Little Coca Is as Good as Gold

A civil war has been raging at varying degrees of intensity for forty years in Columbia. Violent oppositions between left-wing guerrillas; the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN), right-wing paramilitary groups such as the United Self-Defence Forces of Columbia (AUC) and the Columbian armed forces have severely agitated much of the countryside. These main organizations have been able to finance and expand their operations by using opium, oil, gold, emeralds and mainly cocaine as trade goods. Due to a high demand for narcotics, particularly cocaine, in wealthy countries such as the United States, paramilitary groups such as FARC have been able to capitalize from the drug trade and finance their ambitions for social change. Thus, during these forty years of civil war, the Columbian government has had to contend with major changes in the economy.

The farmers who cultivate coca do so because of ineffective loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, and the poorly thought-out Plan Columbia. The United States initiated Plan Columbia as a way to eradicate coca, the plant from which cocaine is made, from regions controlled by FARC and ELN. The United States invested 1.3 billion dollars into Plan Columbia, which has gone almost entirely towards equipping the Columbian military so they can subsequently fight the war on drug trafficking in their own country particularly by fumigation. Under Plan Columbia, the Columbian government has been conducting aerial herbicide sprayings over suspected coca fields. American sponsored Plan Columbia has failed to promote development in Columbia because its fumigation process not only targets coca plantations but also kills legitimate food crops in the surrounding environment, creates unknown health problems, and forced displacement of innocent citizens who in large part are vulnerable children, who ultimately become weapons of war.

Plan Columbia has failed to promote economic development as paramilitary organizations have raised their illegitimate efforts to finance themselves. Plan Columbia caused coca productions in Columbia to rise and as a result diminishing food crop cultivation. This structure that Plan Columbia has created ultimately will lead to a worsening monetary situation and thus leaves no other solutions for Columbians but to become economically dependent

on corporations such as the IMF or World Bank. Consequently, unproductive loans from these corporations further indebt countries such as Columbia and force them to become more dependent

. The living standards in Colombia have worsened since Plan Colombia has been imposed, and precious resources are diverted to debt repayment.

As Columbia's main economy is based on the agriculture sector, ineffectual loans from the IMF and the World Bank have many farmers ensuing coca cultivations due to fiscal necessity and not simply free choice. Internal organizations such as FARC are willing to pay farmers a high premium for coca base, which they may more easily farm and export contrary to low paying exports for legitimate crops. Not only do coca plantations pay more but farmers have easier access to transporting and selling their goods. During off seasons farmers can use coca base as means of currency if they do not have paper currency, pesos. Farmers are victimized in this vicious civil war; they are dependent

on the agriculture business to support their families in a country where the financially viable sector is agriculture. Plan Columbia is simply decreasing positive economic development in Columbia.

In Plan Columbia, coca farmers are encouraged to switch to less profitable and perishable crops through an incentive which is completely insufficient as a family income. The American government offers farmers a mere one thousand American dollars to switch their coca crops to any crops that contain no extract of coca. The average salary for a Columbian family is $116 to $328 a month however the majority of Columbians are living below poverty levels. Plan Columbia's incentive is completely inadequate for a Columbian family's survival thus decreasing positive development. Moreover, many farmers do not gain the thousand dollar premium and have their crops unwillingly sprayed with herbicides, and consequently become victims as internally displaced people (IDP).

Due to Plan Columbia, the number of internally displaced persons has risen and many farmers' families have been forced to flee to the countryside and arrive to over crowded rural slums. It is estimated that 40 percent of the 1.5 million registered IDP in Colombia live in 10 cities. According to the Global IDP database three million Columbians have been displaced since 1985. This Columbian crisis has become one of the world's worst cases as it is disproportionately affecting Afro-Columbians and indigenous people. In many of these urban areas, internally displaced people are forced to relocate for a second or third time. Furthermore, according to Global IDP Project in 2004, Columbia was and still is considered to be among the worst countries in the world for widespread sexual violence against displaced women. Plan Columbia's objective to protect human rights has clearly failed as living conditions in Columbia have worsened.

Plan Columbia has not only failed to protect human rights for IDP but has intensified the violence between paramilitary groups and the Columbian government by escalating competition which leads to the usage of an unnecessary amount of children as weapons of war and thus further violations of human rights. Many children are seeking retribution for what they have lost and may be enticed to take up arms and fight with paramilitary groups. Children become especially vulnerable for recruitment as they are often extorted by uses of sexual violence or direct violence. According to a report published by Human Rights Watch, more than 11,000 children were fighting in paramilitary groups, being used as messengers and in many cases sexual slaves. On the other hand the Columbian government who is mainly financed by the Plan Columbia has created a "soldier for a day" program to entice children to join the army through recreational activities and visits to military facilities. Plan Columbia is failing to address the humanitarian aspects of its operations.

Plan Columbia puts the Columbian population's health at risk through its herbicide sprayings. The fumigation process is very comparable to the actions taken during the Vietnam War labeled as Agent Orange. Gallons of herbicides were sprayed in Vietnam by U.S forces. Serious health problems are now surfacing as the herbicides are known to have caused an increase in birth defects, Hodgkin's disease, multiple myeloma, respiratory and