Coca crops face the chop

The peace deal that ended a five-decade war is about to have an impact on the drug trade.

Colombia’s government and Marxist FARC rebels have announced a plan to eradicate vast tracts of coca leaf, the raw material for cocaine, and substitute illegal crops over the next year as part of a peace deal to end a half-century conflict.

Colombia, which according to the United Nations has more than 96,000 hectares sown with coca, manually destroyed 17,642ha last year and seized a record 378 tonnes of cocaine.

Plantings of coca increased 39 per cent in 2015 after the government halted aerial spraying with the chemical glyphosate, which was a key part of its United Statesbacked counternarcotics strategy. Colombia and neighbouring Peru are the world’s leading producers of cocaine.

‘‘The goal is to replace approximately 50,000 hectares of illicit crops during the first year of implementation in more than 40 municipalities in the most affected departments,’’ the government and the rebels said in a joint statement.

The FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, was once considered one of the biggest players in Colombia’s drug business.

President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC’s leadership agreed on the crop substitution programme as part of a peace agreement signed last year.

Post-Conflict Commissioner Rafael Pardo said the government would invest US$340 million (NZ$468m) in the substitution programme, which he said would benefit 50,000 families.

Cacao and fruit trees are among that crops that will be planted instead of coca, depending on soil characteristics.

Colombia’s conflict, pitting Leftwing rebels against Right-wing paramilitaries and the military, has lasted almost 53 years and has taken more 220,000 lives.

The FARC initially ‘‘taxed’’ coca production by farmers in rural areas under its control, but it went on to dominate trafficking in those same areas.

The guerrillas vowed to abandon the lucrative drug trade once a peace deal was reached but other armed groups, including paramilitary groups and other crime gangs, have been looking to replace the FARC and take over its old income stream wherever possible.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government has demanded an apology from Colombia for ‘‘xenophobic’’ remarks by its vice-president, who used a derogatory term for Venezuelans while vowing that foreigners would not benefit from social programmes.

Relations between the South American neighbours have been tense for decades, in part because waves of Colombians have sought refuge from five decades of civil war through emigration to Venezuela.

That trend has started to reverse in the past few years, with the peace deal that ended Colombia’s civil war and Venezuela’s economic crisis leading many Venezuelans to emigrate.

During a visit on Friday to a border town where he was giving out state-built homes, Colombian Vice-President German Vargas said: ‘‘No way in the world is this for ‘venecos’,’’ according to a recording of the event by local media.

‘‘There is no place in Colombia where people who are not from the country are allowed to benefit from social programmes,’’ he said.

The Spanish word ‘‘veneco’’ is widely used around South America to refer to Venezuelans in a disparaging way.

Venezuela’s foreign ministry warned that the remarks could incite aggression and violence against Venezuelans living in Colombia.

The Maduro government itself is no stranger to strong language towards Colombia, frequently denouncing its ruling elite as ‘‘fascists’’ and ‘‘coupsters’’ intent on bringing down socialism in Venezuela.

Venezuela has closed the border several times in a crackdown on smugglers, and last year it deported hundreds of Colombians it accused of criminal activities.