Monsanto Works Hard to Evict Argentinian Protesters
Monsanto is trying to evict a bevy of protesters who have gathered in an agricultural province of Cordoba, Argentina. The protesters aim to stop a massive GMO seed plant which would spew vast clouds of toxic fumes and leave regular spills of the neonics, fungicides, and numerous other poisons that would be applied as seed coatings.
A Monsanto-friendly judge armed the monopolizing company with permission to evict the group, so now goons from Monsanto are trying to drive off the camp which is blockading further progress of the plant.
The protesters also argue the plant would add to the already-devastating poison burden the people of the soy zone must endure every day. Citizen groups are rallying to the support of the people of Malvinas, shouting slogans like “Monsanto, get out!”
Activists set up the blockade in 2013, self-organized under the banner of being “in favor of food sovereignty and life” in the Malvinas Argentinas Municipality. The camp has successfully blocked the completion of the GMO plant to date, but with the group’s eviction notice, new developments are sure to arise.
With further ‘friends in high places’ throughout South and Central America, Monsanto seems unphased by the hatred offered to them by so many people. Buenos Aires Governor Maria Eugenia Vidal recently appointed former Monsanto executive Leonardo Sarquis as the Minister of Agriculture in the province.
Sarquis was the general manager of Monsanto’s vegetable seed division for Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay from 2005 to 2007. This might be how Monsanto has been able to keep plans for the seed plant moving forward despite such vehement protests.
Argentina is the world’s largest soybean producer, and Monsanto sees the country as a target for future growth, but activists see Cordoba and the likely site of Monsanto’s GM plant as an “environmental emergency.”
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Featured image credit: AFP
