Lethal wilt is one of the main disease problems of oil palm in Colombia and particularly in the East Zone. The first cases were reported in 1994 in Bajo Upia and since then it had been spreading to neighboring zones. The disease causal agent has not been identified but there are evidences that it is an insect transmitted pathogen and that the insect is breeding in certain weeds in the affected areas. In this work it was evaluated the use of insecticides and herbicides, individually or combined, in the development of the disease. The results indicated that it is possible to stop the development of lethal wilt when insecticides are applied for insect control, herbicides for weed control, and that the results are even better when they are used simultaneously. It was confirmed the presence of an insect vector of the lethal wilt pathogen and that some weeds in the affected zones are playing an important role in the development of the vector population and as a result of this in the spread of the disease.