COLOMBIA HERBICIDE PROGRAM DEFENDED

WASHINGTON -- The State Department yesterday defended the U.S.-backed
program to eradicate coca cultivation in Colombia against charges the
herbicide used in the air campaign kills corn and other legal crops as well
as the plant used for cocaine.

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 herbicide, which contains a
powerful chemical called glyphosate. He suggested such crops may have been
interspersed with coca plants.