[PEN-L:34185] US biological warfare

[Dan Scanlan <dscanlan@xxxxxxx>]

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P A N U P S
Pesticide Action Network Updates Service
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U.S. Moves Towards Biological Warfare in Colombia

January 24, 2003

U.S. legislators are making new threats to use biological weapons in
Colombia's civil war. In December 2002 a plan resurfaced in the U.S.
House of Representatives to employ an untested pathogenic fungus,
Fusarium oxysporum in Colombia's U.S.-funded "War on Drugs." Critics
say the plan proposes illegal acts of biological warfare, poses major
ecological risks to one of the world's most bio-diverse countries,
and will increase the human damage of a failed eradication policy.
The new fungal agents were dubbed Agent Green by the Sunshine
Project, a non-governmental organization opposed to the use of
biological weapons, and were developed by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, and by two other facilities using U.S. government
funding--a private company in Montana, and a former Soviet biological
weapons facility in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The lead agents are types
of Fusarium oxysporum (to kill coca and cannabis) and Pleospora
papaveracea (to kill opium poppy). Their ecological and human health
safety is very poorly tested, and they are known to impact non-target
species.

In June 1999, the U.S. Senate approved a US$1.3 billion aid package
in support of Colombia's "War on Drugs," that required testing of the
fungal pathogen as another weapon to be employed against illicit
drugs, along with conventional pesticides. The plan was opposed by
civil society worldwide, and President Clinton eventually waived this
requirement, citing concerns for the proliferation of biological
weapons. Colombia also rejected proposals to test this pathogen due
to environmental risks.

The coca-killing strain of Fusarium oxysporum is naturally abundant
in temperate and tropical zones, killing plants by releasing fungal
toxins (mycotoxins) into plant roots. A generalist fungal pathogen,
the toxin attacks a variety of plants. Because it persists in soil,
Fusarium oxysporum would make the soil sprayed in Colombia unfit for
coca-cultivation for up to 40 years.

Pesticide Action Network scientist Margaret Reeves states "Fusarium
oxysporum is a huge threat, with potentially enormous negative
consequences for a variety of plant species. Little is known about
possible dangers of a massive introduction of these fungi into the
environment, their potential to attack other plant species or the
health risks caused by the toxins they produce." The Sunshine Project
considers Agent Green an indiscriminate killer, that poses threats to
human health and to non-targeted species. Some Fusarium species are
also known to cause human disease, especially in individuals with
compromised immune systems due to cancer, AIDS or even asthma.

Clearly, the large-scale introduction of a persistent and generalist
toxin, is extremely risky for Colombia. However, Colombia is at a
disadvantage because it depends heavily upon U.S. aid.

The U.S. plan to spray Fusarium oxysporum would violate the
Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), which prohibits international
transfers of bioweapons and equipment. Some of Colombia's neighbors,
including Ecuador and Peru, have passed national regulations to try
to preempt U.S. bioweapons pressure like that exerted on Colombia.

If biological warfare in the form of Agent Green is used in Colombia,
it may legitimize global biological warfare on a larger scale. The
Sunshine project explains that Afghanistan is also on the U.S. target
list, as are other countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Latin
America.

Attempts to use Agent Green on illicit cannabis crops within the U.S.
were quashed by environmental regulators in Florida. The Sunshine
Project terms the use of this fungal pathogen in Colombia not only
hypocritical but also colonialist. The use of this generalist and
highly persistent fungal pathogen would legitimize biological
warfare, and provide a major threat to the health and environment
within Colombia.

Sources: The Temptation of Dr. Weed, Missoula Independent, January
16, 2003; Press Release, New US Bioweapons Threat on Colombia, The
Sunshine Project, 17 December 17, 2002,
http://www.sunshine-project.org/; Biological Weapons Join Pesticides
in Misguided "War on Drugs," PANUPS, Aug 1, 2000, PANNA Web site.

Contact: PANNA

PANUPS is a weekly email news service providing resource guides and
reporting on pesticide issues that don't always get coverage by the
mainstream media. It's produced by Pesticide Action Network North
America, a non-profit and non-governmental organization working to
advance sustainable alternatives to pesticides worldwide.
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