Colombia Stamp Tribute Too Candid--U.N. Rejects It

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations has disavowed an envelope designed to carry the first-day issue of a U.N. stamp commemorating Colombia because it carried a short description of the South American nation listing drugs as among its main crops.

The brief note on Colombia that appeared on the envelope said agriculture was the country’s main industry “with coffee, cocaine and marijuana being the principal crops.”

Colombian delegate Carlos Alba Holguin protested that the wording gravely offended his nation.

The incident, which became known this week, arose during the U.N. Postal Administration’s minting of the stamp during September. It is one of a series of U.N. stamps that will eventually honor all member states.

Alice Weil, the assistant secretary general in charge of the Postal Administration, said the cover was produced by a commercial company and not by the United Nations. She said the offending text was spotted before the stamp was issued on Sept. 19, and the U.N. refused to process the envelopes.