A recent recommendation of Colombia’s Minister of Health to suspend the aerial spraying of glyphosate has brought hope to millions of campesinos whose crops have been destroyed by the herbicide, and who also complain that it poisons their water and animals. For many years complaints have also been registered about damage done to pregnant women by the chemical, which has been declared a probable carcinogenic agent by the World Health Organization. According to one campesino leader, the suspension of glyphosate spraying is a public health issue as well as a measure for protecting the environment and the rural economy. It is also a measure to de-escalate the armed conflict because for decades glyphosate spraying has led to the displacement of rural communities. Natalia Margarita reports for teleSUR.
