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US to Start ‘Trade Wars’ with Nations Opposed to Monsanto

Buggernut

By Buggernut
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Buggernut

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Monday, January 2, 2012

Leaked: US to Start ‘Trade Wars’ with Nations Opposed to Monsanto, GMO Crops

Anthony Gucciardi

Activist Post

The United States is threatening nations who oppose Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) crops with military-style trade wars, according to information obtained and released by the organization WikiLeaks.

Nations like France, which have moved to ban one of Monsanto’s GM corn varieties, were requested to be ‘penalized’ by the United States for opposing Monsanto and genetically modified foods.

The information reveals just how deep Monsanto’s roots have penetrated key positions within the United States government, with the cables reporting that many U.S. diplomats work directly for Monsanto.

The WikiLeaks cable reveals that in late 2007, the United States ambassador to France and business partner to George W. Bush, Craig Stapleton, requested that the European Union along with particular nations that did not support GMO crops be penalized. Stapleton, who co-owned the Dallas/Fort Worth-based Texas Rangers baseball team with Bush in the 1990s, stated:

Country team Paris recommends that we calibrate a target retaliation list that causes some pain across the EU since this is a collective responsibility, but that also focuses in part on the worst culprits. The list should be measured rather than vicious and must be sustainable over the long term, since we should not expect an early victory. Moving to retaliation will make clear that the current path has real costs to EU interests and could help strengthen European pro-biotech voices.

The Leaked Political Agenda Behind Monsanto’s GMO Crops

The ambassador plainly calls for ‘target retaliation’ against nations who are against using Monsanto’s genetically modified corn, admittedly linked to organ damage and environmental devastation.

Amazingly, this is not an isolated case. In similar newly released cables, United States diplomats are found to have pushed GMO crops as a strategic government and commercial imperative.

Furthermore, the U.S. specifically targeted advisers to the Pope, due to the fact that many Catholic bishops and figureheads have openly denounced GMO crops. In fact, the Vatican has openly declared Monsanto’s GMO crops as a ‘new form of slavery’.

'A Martino deputy told us recently that the cardinal had co-operated with embassy Vatican on biotech over the past two years in part to compensate for his vocal disapproval of the Iraq war and its aftermath – to keep relations with the USG [uS government] smooth. According to our source, Martino no longer feels the need to take this approach,' says the cable.

Perhaps the most shocking piece of information exposed by the cables is the fact that these U.S. diplomats are actually working directly for biotech corporations like Monsanto. The cables also highlight the relationship between the U.S. and Spain in their conquest to persuade other nations to allow for the expansion of GMO crops. Not only did the Spanish government secretly correspond with the U.S. government on the subject, but the U.S. government actually knew beforehand how Spain would vote before the Spanish biotech commission reported their decision regarding GMO crops. The cable states:

'In response to recent urgent requests by [spanish rural affairs ministry] state secretary Josep Puxeu and Monsanto, post requests renewed US government support of Spain’s science-based agricultural biotechnology position through high-level US government intervention.'

Monsanto has undoubtedly infiltrated the United States government in order to push their health-endangering agenda, and this has been known long before the release of these WikiLeaks cables. The U.S. is the only place where Monsanto’s synthetic hormone Posilac is still used in roughly 1/3 of all cows, with 27 nations banning the substance over legitimate health concerns. Despite Monsanto’s best attempts at incognito political corruption, nothing can stop the grassroots anti-Monsanto movement that is taking over cities and nations alike.

Explore More:

Monsanto’s GMO Crops Ravage US, USDA Ignores Dangers

Monsanto Declared Worst Company of 2011

USDA Steps Back and Gives Monsanto More Power Over GMO Seeds

Vatican Condemns Monsanto Genetically Modified Crops as “New Form of Slavery”

Monsanto Admittedly Influences Colorado GMO Ban, Launches Phony ‘GMO Co-Existence’ Protests

GMO Crops Continually Banned Around the World in Display of Health Freedom

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key2thecup Canucks Regular

key2thecup

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Monsanto’s Ill-Effects In India

Monsanto’s operation in India illustrates the monopolization and manipulation of market economy, tradition, and technology. The world’s largest producer of genetically engineered seeds has been gaining ground in India to benefit the Indian farmers – or so the company claims. However, instead of letting farmers grow their crops organically, the company has influenced them to use the genetically modified (GM) seeds.

It is one thing to convince farmers to use artificial seeds for the purposes of enriching their lives, it is quite another to manipulate nature and technology to profit from them.

The irony is GM seeds have not been effective in India and the consequences are not as rosy as what Monsanto had promised to deliver. Scathing reports of the mass suicides of Indian farmers broke out as recently as three years ago when scores of farmers took their own lives in order to escape the burden of high prices and the failure of Monsanto’s GM seeds.

Monsanto offered its GM seeds to the farmers of India with hopes of reaping plentiful crops. Mostly uneducated farmers thought Monsanto had come to provide a “magic” formula that would transform their lives. They had no idea what was coming.

Monsanto’s seeds in India did not produce what the company had promised and farmers hoped. The expensive seeds piled up debts and destroyed farming fields. In many instances, the crops simply failed to materialize. The farmers were not aware that the GM seeds require more water than the traditional seeds. Lack of rain in many parts of India exacerbated the crop failure.

With no harvest, the farmers could not pay back the lenders. Burdened with debts and humiliation, the farmers simply took their own lives, some by swallowing poisonous pesticides in front of their families. To date, an estimated 125,000 farmers have committed suicide all over India.

To add to the misery, wives inherited the debts along with the fear of losing their homes and lands. With no money coming in, they also had to pull their kids from schools. The mass suicide among the Indian farmers is known as the “GM genocide.”

In its company website Monsanto declares that its pledge is “our commitment to how we do business.” And then there are the business philosophies with virtuous words like “integrity” and “transparency.”

Monsanto’s business practices in India quite remarkably live up to the company’s motto. It leverages its power and influence to penetrate farming markets with motive but without morale.

Market power

Using legal and market powers, Monsanto penetrated Indian markets. It convinced the Indian local government by producing scientific data to invest its biotechnology for producing better crops. Through binding contracts and “vested interests,” the company prohibited selling traditional seeds in the local markets.

Unable to purchase traditional seeds, the farmers had to pay a hefty price for the expensive GM seeds. Many farmers had to borrow money from the local lenders to buy Monsanto’s seeds. To cite an example of how expensive the GM seeds are, 100 grams of GM cost $15 to the farmers compared with $15 for 1000 grams of traditional seeds.

Early last year, India Today reported that Monsanto manipulated scientific data to get approvals from the Indian government to sell its GM seeds to the local farmers. Monsanto has sold genetically altered seeds for products like tea leaves and brinjal to farmers all over India.

Vandana Shiva, a renowned scientist and activist in India, wrote that Monsanto had also planned to control water in India.

Its aim was to control water supply by privatizing its source. In other words, Monsanto sought to profit from water, a lifeline of Indian livelihood. By seeking control of water, Monsanto also seized the opportunity to benefit from the scarce water supply that plagues communities throughout India.

Manipulation and misinformation

The failure of Monsanto’s GM seeds was palpable. The farmers held onto their hopes for better crops after they had planted the “magic” seeds. Their crops never came. Throughout the villages in India the harvest from the GM seeds failed. The parasites destroyed the so-called “pest-proof” GM seeds.

By contract, the farmers could not save the seeds for the next season because of Monsanto’s patent clause which prevents farmers from reusing the seeds. Whether or not the farmers understood this legal binding would merit an examination to underscore the extent of Monsanto’s market power and business practices.

Action against GM seeds

Prince Charles does not like what Monsanto is doing or causing to the lives of the farmers in India. He has expressed his contempt for the “bio-tech leaders” and “politicians” who have contributed to suicides among the Indian farmers. His charity organization promotes “long-term benefits of sustainable agriculture” that would provide “decent returns” to the farmers.

The Indian government has stepped up to fight against the GM seeds. In 2010, the Indian Environment Minister issued a “moratorium” on Monsanto to introduce genetically engineered egg plant seeds in India. Only time will tell how long this policy’s effects will last.

A number of private companies have also teamed up with transnational companies like Monsanto to rake in profits from the GM seeds. In a country where money, politics, and business often go hand in hand, the farmers are at the mercy of their own fate.

http://www.eurasiareview.com/28122011-monsanto%E2%80%99s-ill-effects-in-india-oped/

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