Colombia’s production of cocaine dropped by 39% in 2009, according to a report presented Wednesday by the U.S. Ambassador to Bogota, William Brownfield.
The cultivation of coca crops fell by 29%, Brownfield revealed in the same U.S. report to President Alvaro Uribe.
Brownfield called the results “very positive,” news station Caracol reported Wednesday.
President Uribe will attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark next week. At the conference Uribe will raise the issue of drug trafficking’s negative effect on the environment. The Colombian dignitary will argue that the fight against cultivation of illegal crops is a fundamental step in combating climate change.
“The best way to protect the forests is to eradicate the illegal production of drugs,” said Senator Armando Benedetti in a meeting with the president in the lead-up to the Copenhagen summit.
