International
Colombia breaks coca-growing record, slams ‘war on drugs’
| By AFP |
Colombia, the world’s leading cocaine producer, broke its own record for coca leaf cultivation in 2021, a UN body said Thursday, as the government highlighted the “failure” of the US-led war on drugs.
There was “an increase of 43 percent in the area planted with coca… from 143,000 hectares in 2020 to 204,000 ha in 2021,” the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a statement.
This was the highest figure since the UNODC started monitoring Colombia’s cocaine production 21 years ago.
The increase in coca cultivation went hand-in-hand with a rise in cocaine production from 1,010 tons in 2020 to 1,400 tons last year, destined mainly for the United States and Europe.
This continued an “upward trend that has been consolidating since 2014,” said the UNODC.
At the presentation of the report in Bogota, Justice Minister Nestor Osuna said the numbers were clear evidence “of the failure of the war on drugs.”
He said the government was working on a new drug policy, which for now would not include legalizing cocaine.
But he expressed the hope that “one day” the cocaine trade will be regulated at a global level.
As part of a new approach, Colombia’s leftist President Gustavo Petro has mooted an amnesty for drug traffickers willing to give themselves up and abandon the trade.
He has also proposed purchasing arable land to redistribute to small farmers to make a living from legal crops, free from the violent yoke of the drug gangs they rely on to make a living.
‘Holistic approach’
Petro considers small-scale coca growers the victims of a state that for years poisoned their land with pesticides to eradicate the illegal plantations.
Thousands of coca growers and pickers are behind bars on trafficking charges in Colombia.
Petro’s predecessor, Ivan Duque, had been a key ally of the drug war led by the United States — the world’s leading cocaine consumer.
Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Petro in Colombia, saying afterwards they shared “extensive common ground,” despite the new president’s change of tack.
“We strongly support the holistic approach the Petro administration is taking,” Blinken said after the meeting.
“On both the enforcement side but also on the comprehensive approach to the problem… I think that we’re largely in sync,” he added.
The UNODC said coca cultivation “continues to threaten the cultural potential of the country and its biodiversity,” contributing to deforestation.
Half of the plantations are in special management areas, it said, and a high percentage on the lands of black communities and in forest reserve areas.
International
Chile enters runoff campaign with Kast leading and Jara seeking a last-minute comeback
Chile’s presidential runoff campaign for the December 14 election kicked off this Sunday, with far-right candidate José Antonio Kast entering the race as the clear favorite in the polls, while left-wing contender Jeannette Jara faces an uphill scenario, hoping for a comeback that some experts describe as “a miracle.”
The final polls released in Chile—published before the mandatory blackout on survey dissemination—give Kast, an ultraconservative former lawmaker running for president for the third time, a lead of between 12 and 16 points. His opponent, the communist former minister in Gabriel Boric’s current administration, is weighed down not only by the government’s low approval ratings but also by a fragmented electorate.
Although Jeannette Jara received the most votes in the first round with 26.9%, her lack of alliances beyond the left makes it difficult for her to expand her support. Kast, who secured 23.9%, has already brought key figures on board: ultralibertarian Johannes Kaiser (13.9%) and traditional right-wing leader Evelyn Matthei (12.4%), both now backing his candidacy.
Analysts note that although Kast’s support base consolidates more than 50% of the electorate, it does not guarantee an automatic transfer of votes. Populist economist Franco Parisi, who placed third with 19.7%, emerges as the major wildcard. His party, the People’s Party (PDG), is set to decide this Sunday through an internal consultation whether to endorse one of the two finalists.
International
Trump says asylum decision freeze will remain in place “for a long time”
U.S. President Donald Trump warned on Sunday that the suspension of decisions on asylum applications—implemented as part of his order to “halt” immigration from third-world countries following Wednesday’s shooting in Washington—will remain in effect “for a long time.”
The president declined to specify how long the freeze, imposed last Friday by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), would last. The suspension affects individuals waiting for an asylum ruling from that agency, though it does not apply to cases handled by U.S. immigration courts.
The delay is part of a series of measures enacted by the Trump Administration after a shooting on Wednesday in which an Afghan national allegedly opened fire on the National Guard in Washington, D.C., killing one officer and leaving another in critical condition.
Trump has ordered a permanent halt to immigration from 19 countries classified as “third-world.” He also indicated on Sunday that “possibly” more nations could be added to the list.
“These are countries with high crime rates. They are countries that do not function well… that are not known for success, and frankly, we don’t need people from those places coming into our country and telling us what to do,” Trump said, adding: “We don’t want those people.”
USCIS had already announced on Thursday a “rigorous review” of green cards held by migrants from 19 “countries of concern,” including Afghanistan, Cuba, Venezuela, and Haiti.
International
Sri Lanka and Indonesia deploy military as deadly asian floods kill over 1,000
Sri Lanka and Indonesia deployed military personnel on Monday to assist victims of the devastating floods that have killed more than a thousand people across Asia in recent days.
A series of weather events last week triggered prolonged torrential rains across Sri Lanka, parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, southern Thailand, and northern Malaysia. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said Monday in North Sumatra that “the priority now is to deliver the necessary aid as quickly as possible.”
“There are several isolated villages that, with God’s help, we will be able to reach,” he added. Subianto also stated that the government had deployed helicopters and aircraft to support relief operations.
Floods and landslides have claimed 502 lives in Indonesia, with a similar number still missing.
This marks the highest death toll from a natural disaster in Indonesia since 2018, when an earthquake and subsequent tsunami killed more than 2,000 people.
The government has sent three military ships carrying aid and two hospital vessels to the hardest-hit regions, where many roads remain impassable.
In the village of Sungai Nyalo, located about 100 kilometers from Padang, the capital of West Sumatra, floodwaters had receded by Sunday, leaving homes, vehicles, and crops coated in thick mud.
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