A soldier of the Colombian National Army stands guard during an operation to eradicate coca plants at a plantation in Taraza, Antioquia province, Colombia September 10, 2019. REUTERS/Luis Jaime Acosta
TARAZA, Colombia (Reuters) - Dozens of Colombian soldiers dug up coca bushes under the tropical sun on a steep hillside near the Caribbean coast. Shovels in hand and guns slung across their backs in case of a sniper attack, they are part of their government's stepped-up efforts to slash cocaine production under pressure from Washington.
Alongside them, paid civilians in blue uniforms also dug on the hillside in the northwestern Antioquia province. Under protection from the army and police, they must uproot plants by hand because Colombia's top court banned aerial spraying with herbicides four years ago due to public health concerns in the world's largest cocaine producer.
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