Colombia is again the world’s top coca producer

Here’s why that’s a blow to the U.S.
The Washington Post (US)
Tuesday, November 10, 2015

fumigationcolombiaIllegal coca cultivation is surging in Colombia, erasing one of the showcase achievements of U.S. counternarcotics policy. Just two years after it ceased to be the world’s largest producer, falling behind Peru, Colombia now grows more illegal coca than Peru and Bolivia combined. Last month the government halted aerial spraying of the crop, citing concerns that the herbicides used may cause cancer. That program had been a pillar of Plan Colombia, under which the United States has provided more than $9 billion to this country since 2000.