AVAAZ,ORG - Monsanto's extending its power over the globe...
Dear friends,
 Sofía Gatica received death threats and a brutal beating after joining the protests against a massive Monsanto industrial plant opposed by nearly 70% of area residents! Our global solidarity with her and this community could create a local media storm that presses Argentina's President to shut down the plant, and rolls back the global spread of Monsanto's toxic agriculture:  |
Monsanto manufactures the genetically modified seeds that, when combined with toxic pesticides, create the devastating 'monocultures' -- where nothing grows but a single plant -- that increasingly cover our planet. Now they plan to build one of the world's largest GM seed factories in Malvinas.
Sofía, worried about health risks from the plant, has joined the protests, backed by nearly 70% of the area's residents. If 1 million of us join the people of Malvinas in the next 3 days, we can raise the profile of the issue in local media, feature the petition in an ad campaign, and push the unpopular Argentine President to shut down the plant and roll back the spread of Monsanto's toxic agriculture:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_monsanto_in_argentina_global_/?bInxCab&v=32825
Sofia and the people of Malvinas have been lying in front of bulldozers to block the construction of the plant. If we can amplify their protest -- we can help them win. President Kirchner is facing a wave of unpopularity right now, and she can't afford to be seen to be choosing Monsanto's profits over her own people.
The mega-plant will use toxic chemicals to engineer seeds, which sounds weird because seeds are supposed to come from plants right? Not in Monsanto's scary new world, where plants are genetically designed to be sterile, and the only way farmers can keep planting food is by buying seeds every year from Monsanto! In the US, up to 90% of some types of crops are planted with Monsanto seeds, and with its new mega-plant in Argentina, the infamous company is extending its power over the globe.
The threats and beating of Sofía and her fellow protesters are the last straw -- let's stop Monsanto's invasion of South America, and start rolling back the devastation wreaked on our ecosystems by their products:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_monsanto_in_argentina_global_/?bInxCab&v=32825
Some argue that genetic modification holds great promise for increased agricultural efficiency. There may be many such benefits in the future, but often the gains are hyped by corporate PR (such as the line that GM seeds 'feed the world' by being far more productive than normal seeds -- in fact there's little evidence of that), and GM technologies often put profit over people and planet. Governments should adjudicate the public risks and benefits, but Monsanto is skilled in undermining democratic governance. They even passed a law in the US that says that a judge cannot order a recall of Monsanto products, even on grounds of public safety!
Our planet is being rapidly transformed by genetically modified, industrial agriculture, and our governments are far too heavily influenced by the American mega-corporation at the center of it all -- a corporation that is gradually coming to control the world's food supply. Let's not force our children and grandchildren to deal with a world fed by Monsanto, when we can stop it now.
With hope,
Ricken, Meredith, Laura, Nick, Alice, Luis, Marie, Nadia and the whole Avaaz team
More Information:
Anti-Monsanto activists assaulted in Argentina (RT)
http://rt.com/news/argentina-monsanto-protest-clashes-483/
Pesticide illness triggers anti-Monsanto protest in Argentina (DW)
http://www.dw.de/pesticide-illness-triggers-anti-monsanto-protest-in-argentina/a-17013525
Birth defects, cancer in Argentina linked to agrochemicals: AP investigation (CTVNews)
http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/birth-defects-cancer-in-argentina-linked-to-agrochemicals-ap-investigation-1.1505096
Sofia Gatica (The Goldman Environmental Prize)
http://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/sofia-gatica
Photos from Argentina’s farms, documenting an agrochemical plague (Denver Post)
http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2013/10/21/photos-argentina-agrochemicals/6446/
Argentina's Bad Seeds (Al Jazeera)
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2013/03/201331313434142322.html
Monsanto’s Harvest of Fear (Vanity Fair)
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/05/monsanto200805
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