Andean Group - October 2026

Colombia’s new President Abelardo de la Espriella suffered an early setback to one of the key pillars of his security strategy on 11 September, when a court blocked a pilot scheme seeking to revive the practice of fumigating coca crops from the air using herbicides. Aerial fumigation has not been carried out since 2015, when the constitutional court suspended the policy due to concerns about its impact on human health and the environment. The government has indicated that it will appeal the ruling.

Resuming the aerial fumigation of coca fields with herbicides was one of President De la Espriella’s key security promises on the campaign trail. He argued that the 11-year-old constitutional court ruling could be circumvented by using “latest generation” chemicals.

That plan began to be set into motion on 10 September, when the national police announced that its counternarcotics division would begin a pilot scheme in the southwestern department of Putumayo. This, according to a police statement, would be an “experimental” trial aimed at “generating technical and scientific information to determine the appropriateness of applying glufosinate ammonium via aerial spraying”. This would mark a change of herbicide, with glufosinate ammonium considered less harmful to the environment than the glyphosate which was used previously.

The police statement added that the pilot scheme would be carried out using just two aircraft and would not take place in protected areas, near bodies of water, or near vulnerable population groups. It emphasised that the project “does not constitute the resumption, adoption, or definitive authorisation of an aerial spraying programme with general or national reach, but is a pilot exercise subject to scientific, technical, environmental, and operational evaluation, which complies fully with the orders of the constitutional court”.

However, the pilot scheme was derailed on 11 September by a court in Putumayo’s Puerto Asís municipality. The court upheld an appeal by Jonathan Meneses Valencia, a social leader in Puerto Asís, who was cited in the local media as arguing that the spraying would have taken place in “a territory of special ecological importance, characterised by its wealth of water, biodiversity, and presence of peasant, indigenous, and afro-descendant communities, without there being sufficient public information to rule out possible risks to human health, ecosystems, water sources, legal crops, and pollinating species”.

Government lawyers reportedly argued unsuccessfully that the real threat to human health was posed by criminal groups’ involvement in the cocaine trade, which finances their expansion and therefore contributes to other crimes such as extortion and forced recruitment of minors, and the displacement of communities. The government also pointed out that coca cultivation is also massively ecologically damaging, driving deforestation, the expansion of the agricultural frontier, and contaminating water sources with chemicals used to manufacture cocaine. The case is likely to continue with the government expected to launch an appeal.

Fumigation and the growth of coca harvests

The Colombian right has been keen to get around the suspension on coca spraying ever since its imposition in 2015. Former president Iván Duque (2018-2022) attempted unsuccessfully to overturn it in the courts, while the third-placed candidate in the May first round of the presidential election, Paloma Valencia, advocated spraying coca harvests with vinegar from the air. Even De la Espriella’s left-wing predecessor, Gustavo Petro (2022-2026), called on the constitutional court to reconsider its ruling in September 2025, after 72 soldiers were held hostage by villagers in El Tambo municipality, Cauca department, while carrying out manual eradication efforts.

Proponents of fumigation point to the surge in coca cultivation that took place after the practice was suspended in 2015. Having vacillated between 48,000 and 69,000 hectares (ha) from 2010-2014, the coca harvest surged to 96,000 ha in 2015 and 146,000 ha in 2016, and continued expanding to reach 261,000 ha in 2024, according to the latest figures from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

There are, of course, other factors behind the surge in coca production over the past decade. Genetic modification of coca plants has enabled criminal groups to significantly increase their cocaine yield, incentivising larger harvests. This, in turn, has contributed to a lower price of cocaine in consumer markets, thereby fuelling demand. According to the UNODC’s 2026 World Drug Report, which was published in June, there were an estimated 25.2m cocaine users globally in 2024, up from 18.26m a decade earlier.

At the same time, successive governments have failed to fully implement the 2016 peace accords with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) guerrilla group, which included pledges to expand crop substitution programmes, boost rural development, and strengthen the presence of the State in remote areas. As a result, former Farc territory has widely fallen under the influence of other criminal and insurgent groups, who through financial incentives or coercion can deter coca-growing communities from switching to licit crops.

On top of this, the Petro administration faced constant criticism from the right that its ‘total peace’ policy, which saw the government maintain ceasefires with armed groups that committed to peace talks, was further fuelling violence and drug production by giving those groups time to regroup and bolster their finances. In a 17 June interview with the British newspaper Financial Times, the then defence minister, Pedro Sánchez (2025-2026), appeared to concede this point, acknowledging that some drug trafficking organisations “took advantage of the goodwill of the government to increase their production”.

Gun controls loosened

President De la Espriella signed a decree on 8 September which lifted a suspension in force since 2015 which had restricted people from carrying firearms in public, and had meant that even people with gun permits required special authorisation to carry them outside the home. This restriction was introduced by centrist former president Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018) and was initially intended as a temporary measure to improve safety during Christmas and New Year festivities, but it was extended yearly by Santos and his successors, the right-wing Iván Duque (2018-2022) and left-wing Gustavo Petro (2022-2026).

            De la Espriella wrote on social media that “for years, law-abiding citizens were restricted while criminals continued to arm themselves to the teeth – that has to change”. He said that his easing of gun controls “does not mean indiscriminate carrying” and that “strict controls, regulations, and permits from the competent authorities remain in place”. He emphasised that “what ends is the general suspension that turned prohibition into the rule”.

            However, the change has sparked significant criticism. Senator Ariel Ávila, of the centre-left Alianza Verde (AV), highlighted the easing of gun controls in Ecuador in 2023 by then-president Guillermo Lasso (2021-2023), which Ávila said had made it easier for criminals to carry guns and contributed to the fact that “today, Ecuador has six of the top 10 most violent cities in the world”.

Rubio lavishes praise on new gov’t

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited President De la Espriella in Barranquilla on 8 September and declared that his assumption of office marks the beginning of a “golden age” in bilateral relations which would usher in a “new stage of unprecedented cooperation”. De la Espriella revealed that during the meeting he and Rubio discussed a new bilateral roadmap to be known as the ‘Barranquilla Accords’ which centres on three main objectives; “rebuilding the homeland [following the 10 August earthquake which caused widespread destruction], recovering the economy, and shielding the hemisphere [from security threats].”

Plan Patriota 2.0

President De la Espriella announced on 8 September that he had proposed a new security plan to Rubio known as ‘Plan Patriota Siglo XXI’ (or 2.0). This would be a revamp of Plan Patriota, a major military offensive carried out under former president Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010) with US support to crack down on guerrillas. De la Espriella said that as part of this he was requesting more equipment such as drones, radars, and other tools. He also said that his government would work with the US to ensure stability in Venezuela by deepening cooperation with its neighbour on “border, migration, and security matters,” suggesting that Bogotá will play an active role in advancing US objectives in Venezuela.