The United States has begun a process to acquire a drone system that would be used in the eradication of illicit crops in Colombia.
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That, at least, is what is stated in a public document from the State Department in which it asks contractors to submit proposals for this new program, which would be under the supervision of the National Police.
“The Department of State (Bureau for International Narcotics Control, Bogotá) has a requirement to purchase an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle system (UAV, for its acronym in English) to support eradication operations throughout Colombia,” says the announcement, which was published at the end of last week.
By way of reasoning, the US explains that coca crops in Colombia remain at record levels and that “eradication operations in the country are extremely dangerous. The Bureau wants to strengthen the capacity of the Police to improve the rates of eradication and minimize the risk to staff on the ground.
In a separate document accompanying the application, the state department lists ambushes, landmines and wild animals as some of these risks.
According to the request, the US is looking for two UAV systems to get the job done. The first of the drones would be in charge of making a specific map of the area planted with coca that is planned to be fumigated.. Then the second, equipped with chemicals, would do the spraying.
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A team of technicians would have to travel to the area to carry out the operation. The State Department estimates that a single drone could spray about 40 acres in two hours before needing a recharge.
Other specifications that it includes is that the system could not contain components produced in China, since it is feared that this country could access them remotely to acquire information.
At this time, aerial fumigation in Colombia has been suspended since 2015 following a ruling by the Constitutional Court under the precautionary principle against possible damage to health and the environment from glyphosate, a chemical that in Colombia has been used to control species of Coke.
Both Rodolfo Hernández and Gustavo Petro, the two candidates for the presidency of Colombia, have opposed the use of glyphosate to fumigate.
It is not clear if that would change if a different chemical were available, although Petro has always rejected spraying as a mechanism to control illicit crops.
Despite this, since spraying remains prohibited for the time being, the State Department’s request indicates that the US remains interested in aerial spraying.
Something that he also left in writing in a similar request from the end of last year.
SERGIO GOMEZ MASERI
Correspondent of THE TIME
Washington
On Twitter @sergom68
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