Agritoxins

The year 2013 won’t be missed by the Landless throughout the country. Regarding the struggle for land, the balance is positive, due to the demonstrations, marches and occupations of land and public buildings that occurred almost throughout the year.

But when referring to Agrarian Reform policy, almost nothing has been done, and in many cases the government walked backwards. This is the assessment of João Paulo Rodrigues Chaves, from the national coordination of the MST, on the agrarian policy stimulated by the federal government during all of this year.

As Rodrigues stated, something that has always been bad in this government became even worse. “So far, only 159 families were settled around the country. It's a shame. There were 10 properties expropriated by the Dilma government. Worse than the last military government of General Figueiredo, when 152 properties were expropriated," he says.

Check out the interview:

Last Tuesday morning (10/15), 5000 peasants, members of the MPA (The Small Farmers Movement), occupied Monsanto’s 36th Research Unit located at the Nilo Coelho irrigation district  in Petrolina, in the northeast of Brazil.

On May 25, 2013 over two million people marched and protested against agribusiness giant Monsanto.  See coverage from USA Today, Huffington Post and a roundup of articles on the Occupy Monsanto website.  The MST has long decried the unsustainable agricultural model that Monsanto has developed for profit – including the use of GMO seeds and a reliance on a flood of agro-toxins.

We include an article on how the Brazilian government is seemingly organizing for organic production, when in reality it is only support for agribusiness.  We also include two articles on Monsanto’s war on health, GMO labeling and its attempt to control the world’s food.

 “Agroecology Will Have A National Plan and Create A New Milestone for the Country” from Carta Maior.

From CounterPunch magazine:

 “Monsanto’s Dirty War: Why Labels on Genetically Engineered Foods Won’t Cost Consumers a Dime”

 “Monsanto Seeks to Control World’s Food: It's Not Science Fiction Anymore”

On Friday July 5, rural organizations and social movements met with President Dilma Rousseff in the Planalto Palace in Brasilia. They demanded more flexibility and less bureaucracy in carrying out policies in the countryside. “It is necessary and urgent for the government to get rid of bureaucracy.

Brazilian society faces, in the rural milieu, distinct problems needing different solutions. We have serious problems and emergencies that require urgent action. There are about 150,000 families of landless laborers living under black tarps, camping, fighting for the rights that are in the Constitution to have land to work. For this problem, the government needs to do a real joint effort among the various agencies and settle the families in lands that exist in abundance throughout the country.  Remember that Brazil uses for agriculture only 10% of its total area.

By Jose Coutinho Junior

The Minister of Agrarian Development (MDA), Pepe Vargas, in an interview with Carta Maior declared the decrease in the coming years of the number of families settled pursuant to agrarian reform.
 
The minister also claims that the number of families living in the encampments has decreased. For Alexandre Conceição, from the National Coordination of the MST, the statements mask the reality of the Brazilian countryside.

Check out the interview with the Página do MST:

May 31, 2012 by Brasil do Fato

The three words above are not mere propaganda. Over the past ten years Brazilian agribusiness has taken over as the form of production in agriculture. It is a model of agricultural production, now subordinated to the interests of finance capital and transnational corporations. When allied to large Brazilian farmers, they intrude on nature.

Transcription of the talk by João Pedro Stedile, of the MST, in the meeting between Dilma and representatives of civil society held on January 26 2012 during the Thematic Social Forum in Porto Alegre.

By Luiz Felipe Albuquerque

Agriculture has undergone a major transformation in Brazil over the past 10 years, with the advancement of the agribusiness model. This model is based on: the production of monocultures on large estates; in an alliance of capitalist farmers, transnational corporations and financial capital; a mechanization that promotes expelling families from the countryside; and in an excessive use poisons, the agro-toxins.