Coca vs Glyphosate: Santos to visit Trump at the White House on May 18

May 7th, 2017

Awake Goy

nsnbc : Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos will visit U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on May 18. It will be the first meeting between Santos and Trump.

(archives)

The announcement about the meeting between Santos and Trump coincided with the unequivocal announcement by the UN Security Council that the Council endorses the peace process in Colombia.

The White House issued an official statement saying the two presidents will discuss ways to reinforce the strong ties that the United States and Colombia enjoy.

The two will also discuss the situation in Venezuela and talk about “countering democratic backsliding in Venezuela” states the White House.

The two presidents have not met before but they have talked over the phone twice since Trump was inaugurated in February.

The meeting is looked upon with anticipation as Trump previously said his administration might not honor U.S. commitments to the peace process in Colombia.

Courtesy UNODC

Colombia and the United States have also matters like differences in opinion on how to address issues with drug trafficking.

The U.S. State Department claimed earlier this year implied US consumption of cocaine was up as a consequence of an increase in production in Colombia.

Colombia has seen a 36% increase in coca cultivation since the beginning of Plan Colombia, a counter narcotics strategy initiated by former Presidents Bill Clinton and Andres Pastrana.

However, while the US government has insisted on the virtues of the aerial spraying of potentially carcinogenic chemicals including glyphosates, Colombia has embarked on a crop substitution plan.

Colombia’s court recently also banned the manual spraying of the US-produced glyphosate. Santos stressed the US-led “War on Drugs” “is probably more harmful than all other wars combined” when accepting his Nobel Peace Prize.

As part of the peace process with the FARC, the Colombian government and the United Nations have embarked on a crop substitution plan with which Bogota claims it can reduce coca production with 75% this year.

The policy is, however, difficult to implement and may first be fully implemented in step with the implementation of the peace agreement with the FARC, a peace treaty with the ELN, and increased efforts against right-wing neo-paramilitaries.

A/N – nsnbc 06.05.2017

Source Article from https://nsnbc.me/2017/05/06/coca-vs-glyphosate-santos-to-visit-trump-at-the-white-house-on-may-18/