Colombia had a total of 234,000 hectares of coca leaf cultivated in 2021, compared to 245,000 in 2020, which implies a decrease of about 11,000 hectares, 4.5%, according to the annual report of the Office of National Policy of Drug Control (ONDCP) of the United States published this Thursday. The Office highlights the reduction in the production and cultivation of coca, although it indicates that the figure is still high.
The monitoring system also presented data from other Andean countries such as Peru and Bolivia, which ranked second and third in production, respectively. Colombia heads the list with a total of 972 tons, followed by Peru with 785 tons, and finally, Bolivia with 317 tons.
The White House maintains that Colombia remains “a close ally of the United States in reducing and replacing coca cultivation and cocaine production,” and stresses the importance of “implementing the holistic bilateral strategy to help Colombians establish means of safe and productive lives. According to estimated data, there has been no reduction in coca production and cultivation in Colombia since 2018.
“The high levels of cocaine production in South America represent a security challenge for the Andean countries and a threat to public health in the United States,” says the report, which expresses its support for the Colombian government’s efforts to stop the environmental crimes that, they detail, are sustained thanks to groups dedicated to drug trafficking and that affect the Amazon region.
Although the latest report from the United Nations Integrated Illicit Crop Monitoring System, Simci, has not yet been made public, its 2020 figures spoke of a production potential of 1,228 metric tons in Colombia. What added to what was reported by the White House, continues to consolidate crops for illicit use as a challenge of great magnitude for the next Government of Gustavo Petro, who will take office on August 7.
The Comprehensive National Program for the Substitution of Illicit Use Crops (PNIS) emerged from the Peace Agreement, showed slow progress in the outgoing administration, with President Iván Duque, as warned by the Ombudsman’s Office. However, this issue already sounds like an issue on the new president’s agenda. Last week, his vice president-elect Francia Márquez announced the first meeting with members of the United States diplomatic corps accredited in Colombia. Among the points discussed at the meeting, was the drug policy.
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