U.S. DEFENDS PROGRAM TO ERADICATE COCA

WASHINGTON -- The State Department on Monday defended the U.S.-backed
program to eradicate coca cultivation in Colombia against charges that the
pesticide used in the air campaign kills corn and other legal crops.

Criticism of the program has escalated since the Colombian Army waged an
extensive December-February campaign to spray herbicides over tens of
thousands of acres in several southern Colombia provinces.

William Brownfield, a senior State Department official, acknowledged that
some legal crops may have been destroyed by the pesticide, which contains a
powerful chemical called glyphosate. But he suggested such crops may have
been interspersed with coca plants.

Farmers who cultivate legal and illegal crops in the same area "do so for
the purpose of protecting the illegal ones," he said.

Responding to critics who say the pesticide harms people and animals,
Brownfield said it is the most widely used defoliant in the world.

Jim Mack, another State Department drug control expert, said legal crops
that are interspersed with illegal crops are considered by the government
of Colombia to be "legitimate targets for eradication."

At a briefing, Brownfield, Mack and several other officials explained the
U.S.-backed effort to curb narcotics trafficking and help Colombians
improve their justice system. A key component is the provision of high
performance U.S. helicopters in the counterdrug effort.

The briefing coincided with a visit by four governors from southern
Colombian coca producing states who advocate alternative development
projects as a substitute for coca cultivation.

All four states have been targets of the fumigation campaign conducted by
the Colombian army.

Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo Martinez, governor of Tolima province, said
corn, banana and other legal crops were destroyed by spraying in Putumayo
Province, one of the principal coca growing areas.