MEXICO "What's frightening is how fast it has spread" said Yolanda Lara,
spokesperson for Oaxaca's non-governmental Rural Development Agency about
the spread of GM corn in Capulalpan, a village in the hills of Mexico's
Oaxaca State. Normally locals might be thankful for this new source of
corn, the staple food of villages in the area. But they now know this corn
is GM, which is surprising because GM crops have been banned in Mexico
since 1998. Berkeley scientists have confirmed that this new corn is the
spawn of Monsanto: it has the same DNA as the biotech giant's commercial GM
maize. David Quist, responsible for the study suggests that "It's more
likely that the contamination came from food aid brought into these
regions. A lot of it comes from the United States and a lot of it is
transgenic." So under the guise of offering support to poverty stricken
villagers in remote parts of Mexico, the US has managed to off-load tonnes
of subsidised GM maize on unsuspecting shopkeepers and subsistence farmers.
Locals are worried that the GM corn, which they say has been around in
their shops for several years, will out-compete native varieties. The
Berkeley study confirms their fears, suggesting that GM corn is likely to
dominate local corn and may also threaten the research of the International
Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre, home to the largest variety of
endangered maize in the world. Quist believes a well-enforced ban on
imported GM corn and a programme to encourage traditional habits of
swapping and testing wild seeds is the way forward. PHILIPPINES In February
this year Greenpeace Asia activists blocked the unloading of 17,000 tonnes
of GM soybeans from the United States. The Philippine government buys about
300,000 tonnes of soybeans and over one million tonnes of soymeal annually,
mainly from the United States. Last October, Swiss corporation Novartis AG
confirmed allegations from Greenpeace that some samples of baby food it
sold did contain genetically modified soybean. Beau Baconguis of Greenpeace
Asia said, "We should not be forced to feed our children with food the rest
of the world is increasingly rejecting." INDIA India is the biggest cotton
producer in the world so it was big news when, in 1998, 500 farmers
committed suicide in Andhra Pradesh because of the failure of their cotton
crops. Dr. Pushpa Bhargava, an Indian biologist, told the Indian Science
Congress that the failure of the cotton seed in Andhra Pradesh in 1997 and
1998 should be investigated since Monsanto could have been using local seed
companies to market bad seed in order to destroy the supply system. "The
destruction of the seed supply and Monsanto's purchase of Indian seed
companies would have ensured that Indian farmers had no option but to buy
Monsanto's Bt. cotton and in future Monsanto's terminator crops." The
Indian farmers ain't taking this lying down and in 1998 the Karnatka
farmers union occupied and burned down the three fields of GM cotton and
500 farmers occupied Cargill, the biotech multinational offices, throwing
loads of their processing kit out of windows. They did loads of other
actions too as part of 'Operation Cremate Monsanto' and hundreds of farmers
and activists took part in the Intercontinental Caravan, which toured
through Europe. The struggle against biotech giants in India continues
today and on Monday 18th Indian women farmers will be in London to
challenge British Government aid to the state of Andhra Pradesh's "Vision
20\20" programme, which will displace 25 million rural people, and
corporatise agriculture in the state. This action opposes the Memorandum of
Understanding signed by Chief Minister of AP and Monsanto, which will give
the company free rein to plant GM crops throughout Andhra Pradesh. They
will present the findings of a Citizen's Jury at 2pm in the House of
Commons.
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RESISTANCE IS FERTILE While 9 EU states have a legal postponement of
genetically modified organisms, countries such as Sri Lanka and India have
been forced to bow to the 'superior' power of US backed World Trade
Organisation and sign the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights
(TRIPS) Agreement which limits their ability to deny access to Monsanto and
the like. That said, anti GM and anti-capitalist actions are growing, so
get yer arse in gear and see what you can do to stop the greedy corporate
elite (and their government chums) from controlling our food supply. The
first GM crop bashing of the year kicked off in Warwickshire last weekend.
Following a procession about 100 people pulled up some plants in a field of
GM oil seed rape for half an hour before police made five arrests. Despite
the non-violent protest a police spokesman said "We were treating it as a
peaceful protest, but it did go beyond that." - probably unaware of cops
enjoying tea and cakes provided by the local Women's Institute, in the
village hall, with the protesters after the event. * To see if there's any
farm scale trials in your area contact: 020-7272-1586,
www.geneticsaction.org.uk. * After suing Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser
for infringing patent rights when his fields were contaminated with GM oil
seed rape, even though he was unaware of the contamination and was unable
to prevent it (SchNEWS 300) Monsanto are now threatening other farmers. See
the threatening letters at www.percyschmeiser.com. In a separate case two
Canadian organic farmers are trying to sue Monsanto and Aventis. They seek
compensation for damages caused by GM oilseed rape, and an injunction to
prevent Monsanto from introducing GM wheat into the region. The local
organic farmers group said "losing wheat to genetic contamination would
devastate organic farming - our very future is at stake. Info:
www.saskorganic.com. * This Sunday (17th) there's a Global Day of Action
for Farmer's Struggle, www.viacampesina.org. And on 27th March is a Genetic
Futures in Food and Farming CDB talk, 12-4 pm, Main Lecture Theatre School
of Oriental and African Studies, London. Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
And running alongside the UN Conference in Holland, Resistance is Fertile
are organising actions, workshops and activities for a world without GMOs
and patents on life April 6th-19th. www.resistanceisfertile.org.
