US State Department officials are reviving a very controversial scheme to use biological agents to eradicate coca and opium poppy crops in Colombia and elsewhere.
The eradication agent is a special formulation of the fungus Fusarium oxysporum (dubbed “Agent Green”). Using airplanes, the plan is to blanket large areas where coca and poppy are grown with tons of the toxic fungus. F. oxysporum can also cause potentially fatal disease in humans and poses significant threats to the environment, including non-target plants. For arms control, using a biological agent in the Drug War is likely to erode prohibitions against biological warfare.
Previous attempts to use Agent Green were shelved in 2000 and 2001, following widespread protest and discussions that resulted in then-President Clinton determining that use of the fungus could run afoul of the Biological Weapons Convention.
Agent Green was the topic of the first editions of Aerogramme in 2000. At the time, many non-profits were coming together in opposition to the plan. If the renewed US pressure continues, it is likely to generate new protest by non-profits, indigenous peoples, and Colombia's neighbors - all of whom oppose use of the fungus.
The renewed pressure came to light at the end of March, when a Colombian Senator released a copy of an October 2003 letter from the State Department to Colombia's Ambassador in Washington. The US asked Colombia to send a team of officials to Washington, including a senior policymaker close to Colombian President Uribe. The Colombians were to be briefed by the US on “mycoherbicides” (the official term for Agent Green) as part of an effort to gain Bogotá’s approval for field testing in Colombia.
This is not the first attempt to revive Agent Green. In late 2002, a Florida Congressman urged use of Agent Green in Colombia, saying “it would do a lot of damage.” The recent US letter, however, is more worrying because of its pressure on senior Colombian officials and the suggestion that new mycoherbicide technology has been developed by the US since 2001.
When the US pushed Agent Green in 2000, the specter of a biological escalation of Colombia's civil conflict – far and away the bloodiest in the Western Hemisphere - raised strong objections from governments and civil society. Brazil lodged opposition directly with UN Secretary General Annan and the European Parliament weighed in with a 474-1 vote to condemn the plan.
In 2000, Agent Green was profiled in an hour-long BBC television documentary, in which the primarily scientist of the plan, a plant pathologist from Montana State University, told the BBC that he knew that Agent Green is biological warfare; but that he favored its use in countries where narcotic crops are grown, with or without the consent of foreign governments.
The controversy prompted consideration of the issue by the National Security Council. As a result, in August 2000, then-President Clinton halted the project, citing concerns over biological weapons proliferation.
More on Agent Green, can be found in Risks of Using Biological Agents in Drug Eradication, (Backgrounder #4), on the Project website.
The Sunshine Project
http://www.sunshine-project.org
Please also see:
Information concerning Southern Research Institute (Frederick, MD)
and the anthrax incident in Oakland, California
On June 10th, Childrens Hospital Oakland (California) announced that a shipment of "dead" anthrax sent to it by the Southern Research Institute (Frederick, Maryland location) in fact contained live bacteria. This error is reported to have resulted in the exposure of 5 to 7 laboratory workers to the bacteria. Believing that the anthrax was "killed", the workers handled the live agent with inadequate personal and environmental biosafety precautions. http://www.sunshine-project.org/biodefense/sriibc.html
The eradication agent is a special formulation of the fungus Fusarium oxysporum (dubbed “Agent Green”). Using airplanes, the plan is to blanket large areas where coca and poppy are grown with tons of the toxic fungus. F. oxysporum can also cause potentially fatal disease in humans and poses significant threats to the environment, including non-target plants. For arms control, using a biological agent in the Drug War is likely to erode prohibitions against biological warfare.
Previous attempts to use Agent Green were shelved in 2000 and 2001, following widespread protest and discussions that resulted in then-President Clinton determining that use of the fungus could run afoul of the Biological Weapons Convention.
Agent Green was the topic of the first editions of Aerogramme in 2000. At the time, many non-profits were coming together in opposition to the plan. If the renewed US pressure continues, it is likely to generate new protest by non-profits, indigenous peoples, and Colombia's neighbors - all of whom oppose use of the fungus.
The renewed pressure came to light at the end of March, when a Colombian Senator released a copy of an October 2003 letter from the State Department to Colombia's Ambassador in Washington. The US asked Colombia to send a team of officials to Washington, including a senior policymaker close to Colombian President Uribe. The Colombians were to be briefed by the US on “mycoherbicides” (the official term for Agent Green) as part of an effort to gain Bogotá’s approval for field testing in Colombia.
This is not the first attempt to revive Agent Green. In late 2002, a Florida Congressman urged use of Agent Green in Colombia, saying “it would do a lot of damage.” The recent US letter, however, is more worrying because of its pressure on senior Colombian officials and the suggestion that new mycoherbicide technology has been developed by the US since 2001.
When the US pushed Agent Green in 2000, the specter of a biological escalation of Colombia's civil conflict – far and away the bloodiest in the Western Hemisphere - raised strong objections from governments and civil society. Brazil lodged opposition directly with UN Secretary General Annan and the European Parliament weighed in with a 474-1 vote to condemn the plan.
In 2000, Agent Green was profiled in an hour-long BBC television documentary, in which the primarily scientist of the plan, a plant pathologist from Montana State University, told the BBC that he knew that Agent Green is biological warfare; but that he favored its use in countries where narcotic crops are grown, with or without the consent of foreign governments.
The controversy prompted consideration of the issue by the National Security Council. As a result, in August 2000, then-President Clinton halted the project, citing concerns over biological weapons proliferation.
More on Agent Green, can be found in Risks of Using Biological Agents in Drug Eradication, (Backgrounder #4), on the Project website.
The Sunshine Project
http://www.sunshine-project.org
Please also see:
Information concerning Southern Research Institute (Frederick, MD)
and the anthrax incident in Oakland, California
On June 10th, Childrens Hospital Oakland (California) announced that a shipment of "dead" anthrax sent to it by the Southern Research Institute (Frederick, Maryland location) in fact contained live bacteria. This error is reported to have resulted in the exposure of 5 to 7 laboratory workers to the bacteria. Believing that the anthrax was "killed", the workers handled the live agent with inadequate personal and environmental biosafety precautions. http://www.sunshine-project.org/biodefense/sriibc.html