Ecuador condemns Colombia's drug crops spraying on shared border
Ecuador on Monday censured Colombia over its "hostile and unfriendly act" of spraying herbicides on drug crops on the Colombia-Ecuador border.

At a press conference, Ecuadoran Foreign Minister Francisco Carrion said the herbicide used by Colombia was harmful to Ecuadoran residents' health.

Alejandro Suarez, Ecuador's ambassador to Colombia, who has been recalled for consultations over the incident, told media that he would not return until the spraying stopped.

Ecuador's condemnation came in response to Colombia's decision to resume the fumigation of drug crops.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said the action was aimed at cutting off drug-trafficking funds for leftist guerrillas who had been fighting the government for decades.

Uribe said his government hoped Ecuador would understand that their goal was to prevent the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) from receiving funds from the coca crops, which are used to make cocaine.

However, Ecuador insisted the measure should be suspended due to health concerns.

"According to them, glyphosate is not harmful, but we say it is," Carrio said, urging the Colombian authorities to join their Ecuadorian counterparts in a joint study into the substance's effects on health.

Carrio said Ecuador would delay the deportation of wanted Colombians in response to the measure, and telephone talks between the two countries' foreign ministers had been unsuccessful.

He urged Rafael Correa, who takes office as Ecuadoran President on Jan. 15, to make an appointment with his Colombian counterpart to start talks on this issue.

Also on Monday, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Correa's Foreign-Minister-in-waiting, condemned the spraying.

"A Quito-Bogota commitment not to use spraying has existed for over a year," Espinosa said. "We have seen reports from Quito's Universidad Catolica and Universidad Central that have discovered side effects including genetic mutations in plants and humans," she added.

Colombia suspended its fumigation program after it reached a deal with Ecuador in December 2005. The agreement followed complaints from Ecuador that the fumigation harmed the environmentand the health of local residents.

However, the Colombian government renewed the program last weekas illegal drug crops were said to be mushrooming in the area. It said the fungicide in glyphosate was not toxic.

According to Colombia, there are more than 10,000 hectares of land planted with coca leaves in the area, which can be translated into nearly 70 tons of drugs with a black market value of 1.9 billion U.S. dollars.

Colombia is the world's top cocaine producer and exporter with an annual output in excess of 500 tons. Most of them are smuggled into the United States and Europe.