Venezuela to Prohibit Transgenic Crops -- good, short article

...which gets to the crux of the issue:

CARACAS, April 21, 2004 (Venezuelanalysis.com) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias has announced that the cultivation of genetically modified crops will be prohibited on Venezuelan soil, possibly establishing the most sweeping restrictions on transgenic crops in the Western Hemisphere. Though full details of the administration’s policy on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are still forthcoming, the statement by President Chavez will lead most immediately to the cancellation of a contract that Venezuela had negotiated with the U.S.-based Monsanto Corporation.

Before a recent international gathering of supporters in Caracas, President Chavez admonished genetically engineered crops as contrary to interests and needs of the nation’s farmers and farmworkers. He then zeroed in on Monsanto’s plans to plant up to 500,000 acres of transgenic soybeans in Venezuela.

“I ordered an end to the project,” said President Chavez, upon learning that transgenic crops were involved. “This project is terminated.”

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1254

President Chavez emphasized the importance of food sovereignty and security—required by the Venezuelan Constitution—as the basis of his decision. Instead of allowing Monsanto to grow its transgenic crops, these fields will be used to plant yuca, an indigenous crop, Chavez explained. He also announced the creation of a large seed bank facility to maintain indigenous seeds for peasants’ movements around the world.

rock on! keep monsanto out.

It shows Hugo Chavez is moving along, right on schedule, getting the important decisions made which benefit the entire country, rather than the tiny minority which was running the show for so long previously.

From the article:

The international peasants’ organization Via Campesina, representing more than 60 million farmers and farmworkers, had brought the issue to the attention of the Chavez Administration when it learned of the contract with Monsanto. According to Rafael Alegria, secretary for international operations of Via Campesina, both Monsanto and Cargill are seeking authorization to produce transgenic soy products in Venezuela.

“The agreement was against the principles of food sovereignty that guide the agricultural policy of Venezuela,” said Alegria when informed of the President’s decision. “This is a very important thing for the peasants and indigenous people of Latin America and the world.”

Alegria has good reason to be concerned. With a long history of social and environmental problems, Monsanto won early international fame with its production of the chemical Agent Orange—the Vietnam War defoliant linked to miscarriage, tremors, and memory loss, to which over a million people were exposed. More recently, the company has been criticized for side-effects that its transgenic crops and bovine growth hormone (rBGH) are believed to have on human health and the environment.
(snip)

Not until I read this article, was I aware that MONSANTO is the company which produced AGENT ORANGE. I had NO IDEA! Quite the achievement.

Monsanto needs to cease and desist, now. It will help _Bush and Company close the brief chapeter of life on earth if they become any more successful.


Ambassador Charles Shapiro, friend of Venezuela's "opposition"


Here's looking at you, kid, Otto Reich