Death by Coca
The coca farmers suffering in the Colombian war
The government has a new tactic in the war with FARC guerrillas: dropping poison from the skies. It's meant to destroy coca crops, but the farmers suffer more.
Deep in the Colombian jungle, a lethal chemical snow falls from an unidentified plane. Ironically, it looks vaguely like the processed result of the valuable illegal crop it's meant to kill. It's all part of the ruthless civil war in Colombia waged between the government and guerrilla-run cocaine empire. To the coca farmers, this is simply a way to eke out a living. But Clinton's 1.7 billion dollar plan to crack down on cocaine production has done more than threaten their livelihood. Even farmers who have tried to substitute coca with rubber have had their crops ruined by planes that fumigate their land anyway. Alfredo Bocanegra, a coca farmer and father, recalls the day his daughter Bianei Garzón Zuniga was killed by fumigation on January 14th this year. "Two planes came and fumigated around 10 o'clock in the morning. My little girl got poisoned...and I found her dead. She was just 17 months old." It's all part of the ruthless civil war in Colombia waged between the government and guerrilla-run cocaine empire. To the coca farmers, this is simply a way to eke out a living. But Clinton's 1.7 billion dollar plan to crack down on cocaine production has done more than threaten their livelihood.
Produced by Icaro Productions
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