Enviro Horror in Columbia after $3bn Washout

Washington's 'war on drugs' in Colombia is collapsing in chaos and corruption. The so-called Plan Colombia, which has cost the US more than $3bn in the past five years, is being abandoned, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has announced.

Last year, the hugely expensive effort to poison coca bushes by aerial spraying ended in failure. More bushes were flourishing in January this year than in January 2004. Meanwhile, complaints have multiplied about the damage done by the chemical poisons to the health of humans, especially children, as well as to livestock, fish and the environment.