Petro clarifies that Colombia will continue destroying coca crops if there is no "voluntary substitution"

MADRID, 25 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, has warned that his government will not completely eliminate the forced eradication of coca crops, since it will continue to be carried out on those places "where voluntary substitution agreements are not carried out."

Petro advocated at his inauguration for rethinking the current approach to fighting drugs. In a series of messages published this Thursday on Twitter, he has opted to "immediately implement" the Comprehensive National Program for Crop Substitution (PNIS), as well as to favor the development of "legal" plantations.

He has also clarified that suspending the aerial fumigation of crops, a tactic criticized for years for its indiscriminate nature, "is not permission to plant more coca plants" in Colombia.

The director of the National Police, Henry Sanabria Cely, assured this week in statements to 'El Tiempo' that the security forces will not use glyphosate in their actions or forcibly destroy plantations, while waiting for the new global strategy to be defined. .

Colombia had already stopped using aerosols in 2015 to indiscriminately spray crops due to the health concerns generated by its use, but it still continues to use workers who, under police custody, destroyed the plantations by hand.