Protests In Chile Against Monsanto Law

Protests In Chile Against Monsanto Law

Thousands of Chileans have rallied against a bill dubbed the “Monsanto law” that would let multinationals patent GMO seeds. Activists say it will not only compromise food sovereignty in Chile, but will also harm consumer health.

Mass protests were held in at least nine cities across the Latin American country to protest the bill that would allow for the development of genetically modified seeds. Activists carried banners emblazoned with slogans such as “Monsanto kills” and “Monsanto will patent your life.”

Other protesters dressed up as bees and zombies to illustrate their fear that the new legislation could lead to the degradation of Chile’s biodiversity.

The legislation, which was proposed by ex-President Michelle Bachelet, is currently being discussed by the Chilean Senate and has already been approved by the House of Representatives. The law’s official name is the Plant Breeders Act, but it was branded the “Monsanto law” for the multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation.

The patent would mean large corporations would set the price of seeds and who can use them, protesters claim.

“This law puts seeds into the hands of a few transnational companies,” said Ivan Santandreu, a member of Chile Sin Transgenicos (Chile without GMOs) on Radio Universidad de Chile. “This measure does not contribute to the innovation and wellbeing of independent farmers at all. What it does is put food sovereignty at risk by making it dependent on big corporations.”

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Monsanto announced recently that they would no longer be pursuing other GM crops in Europe due to intense backlash and rejection (though their Smart Stax pesticide corn is set for approval by the corrupted EFSA and they will most assuredly push imports.) They can say this because they are setting their sights on South America as they are already in Paraguay and Argentina (Argentina already suffering from soy monoculture and death by Glyphosate)and Africa (which sees farmers fighting them there as well.) These people are like parasites...nature and life hating parasites. They already destroyed the corn biodiversity of Mexico and the biodiversity of world crops has also decreased. This is not a plan to feed hungry people. This is a marketing strategy that aims to streamline production costs by fitting nature into their business model!

This is about creating a monoculture world where only two to three main crops exist, the largest ones that are most consumed, controlled by them, bringing them profit, being patented to make all future generations theirs in perpetuity while taking all power away from farmers and communities in choosing what they plant. To hold the entire world hostage not only as a science experiment but a cash cow. It is insidious and if allowed to continue will most certainly in time bring about a global famine.

This is why we must fight them EVERYWHERE, especially regarding how this will tie into the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement :



Obama's Covert Trade Deal

"WASHINGTON — THE Obama administration has often stated its commitment to open government. So why is it keeping such tight wraps on the contents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the most significant international commercial agreement since the creation of the World Trade Organization in 1995?

The agreement, under negotiation since 2008, would set new rules for everything from food safety and financial markets to medicine prices and Internet freedom. It would include at least 12 of the countries bordering the Pacific and be open for more to join. President Obama has said he wants to sign it by October.

Although Congress has exclusive constitutional authority to set the terms of trade, so far the executive branch has managed to resist repeated requests by members of Congress to see the text of the draft agreement and has denied requests from members to attend negotiations as observers — reversing past practice.

While the agreement could rewrite broad sections of nontrade policies affecting Americans’ daily lives, the administration also has rejected demands by outside groups that the nearly complete text be publicly released. Even the George W. Bush administration, hardly a paragon of transparency, published online the draft text of the last similarly sweeping agreement, called the Free Trade Area of the Americas, in 2001.

There is one exception to this wall of secrecy: a group of some 600 trade “advisers,” dominated by representatives of big businesses, who enjoy privileged access to draft texts and negotiators.

This covert approach is a major problem because the agreement is more than just a trade deal. Only 5 of its 29 chapters cover traditional trade matters, like tariffs or quotas. The others impose parameters on nontrade policies. Existing and future American laws must be altered to conform with these terms, or trade sanctions can be imposed against American exports.

Remember the debate in January 2012 over the Stop Online Piracy Act, which would have imposed harsh penalties for even the most minor and inadvertent infraction of a company’s copyright? The ensuing uproar derailed the proposal. But now, the very corporations behind SOPA are at it again, hoping to reincarnate its terms within the Trans-Pacific Partnership’s sweeping proposed copyright provisions.

From another leak, we know the pact would also take aim at policies to control the cost of medicine. Pharmaceutical companies, which are among those enjoying access to negotiators as “advisers,” have long lobbied against government efforts to keep the cost of medicines down. Under the agreement, these companies could challenge such measures by claiming that they undermined their new rights granted by the deal.

And yet another leak revealed that the deal would include even more expansive incentives to relocate domestic manufacturing offshore than were included in Nafta — a deal that drained millions of manufacturing jobs from the American economy.

The agreement would also be a boon for Wall Street and its campaign to water down regulations put in place after the 2008 financial crisis. Among other things, it would practically forbid bans on risky financial products, including the toxic derivatives that helped cause the crisis in the first place.

Of course, the agreement must eventually face a Congressional vote, which means that one day it will become public.

So why keep it a secret? Because Mr. Obama wants the agreement to be given fast-track treatment on Capitol Hill. Under this extraordinary and rarely used procedure, he could sign the agreement before Congress voted on it. And Congress’s post-facto vote would be under rules limiting debate, banning all amendments and forcing a quick vote.

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How can Obama stand in front of the American people and say he believes in Democracy while working on this in secret? This is not only undemocratic it is treasonous in its intent to sell out the basic human rights of millions to multinational corporations even further than they already have been!

If you care about workers' rights, clean air, clean water, a free Internet, solutions to the climate crisis, seeds without patents that enslave farmers, accountability for Wall Street and its excessive corruption and to maintain a free society you must oppose this agreement.



Plans "negotiated" in secret should not be part of how America does business:



More on this dangerous treaty:

EFF on TPP

This isn't even Capitalism. This is the face of Corporate Fascism.

This will effect everything you need to live. Seeds, water, environment, climate justice, food sovereignty, food safety, worker safety, Internet freedom...

Secret Trade Agreements Threaten To Undo Our Last Shreds Of Food Safety

Think Monsanto has a hold on your food now? Just wait.

DOWN WITH THE TPP!

Notice also that once again the American media is missing in action.