El glifosato alza el vuelo. Análisis retórico del discurso en la prensa nacional de Colombia (2018-2019)

Since 1984, Colombia has carried out aerial spraying of glyphosate as the main strategy to stop the illegal crops. In 2015, glyphosate sprayings were halted due to their harmful effects on both the human health and ecosystem. But in 2018, when the Government announced they would be resumed, a hot public debate started and the media spread it. To identify the rhetorical artifices most efficiently used by both the detractors and sympathizers of this measure, 167 pieces were analyzed; all of them published in four national media outlets between June 2018 and July 2019. The debate, going from the need of the sprayings to fight against drug-trafficking to the State duty to protect both the environmental and Human Rights, ceased temporarily after a confusing statement by the Constitutional Court approving the sprayings. This study unveiled the potential of the rhetorical critic, in order to understand how opinions are shaped in the social debates.