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Fumigant fight.(SOUTH AMERICA)(herbicide spraying in Ecuador)
- Article from:
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Earth Island Journal
- Article date:
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June 22, 2008
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Copyright informationCOPYRIGHT 2008 Earth Island Institute. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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For nearly a decade, Ecuador has used neighborly diplomacy to ask Colombia to stop aerial herbicide spraying of coca and poppy fields along their shared border. The spraying, Ecuadorians say, sickens people and livestock, poisons farmland, and damages ecologically sensitive rainforest areas. The Colombian government has refused, claiming the sprayings are a linchpin in the war on drugs.
Now Ecuadorians are taking their demands a step further. In March, Ecuador filed a suit against Colombia at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, claiming that the sprays, which often drift across the border, violate the country's sovereignty.
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