Pressured by U.S., Colombians uproot coca plants, wary of landmines

[TomSea]

Pressured by U.S., Colombians uproot coca plants, wary of landmines
13 Sept 2019
Reuters
By Luis Jaime Acosta

TARAZA, Colombia (Reuters) - Dozens of Colombian soldiers dug up coca bushes under the tropical sun on a steep hillside near the Caribbean coast. Shovels in hand and guns slung across their backs in case of a sniper attack, they are part of their government's stepped-up efforts to slash cocaine production under pressure from Washington.

Alongside them, paid civilians in blue uniforms also dug on the hillside in the northwestern Antioquia province. Under protection from the army and police, they must uproot plants by hand because Colombia's top court banned aerial spraying with herbicides four years ago due to public health concerns in the world's largest cocaine producer.

The civilian workers earn about $530 per month, roughly double minimum wage, for the dangerous work. In addition to possible sniper attacks by drug gangs, antipersonnel mines buried among the coca bushes have killed or injured several people this year.

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