Roundup

Este libro es una compilación de Ensayos sobre las consecuencias sociales, económicas y ecológicas de la expansión de los monocultivos de soja en Latinoamérica. Es el fruto de una red de militantes que estamos trabajando
en las temáticas relacionadas con los impactos del modelo agroexportador.
La compilación intenta hacer un aporte al debate político y académico en Latinoamérica, sobre las consecuencias del modelo de la soja. En este proyecto del Grupo de Reflexión de Argentina participan investigadores de Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, Brasil, Argentina, Suiza y España. Las realidades que presentan los ensayos nos demuestran que la soja no es un mero cultivo, la soja es un sistema, tiene un valor geopolítico y sustenta la globalización económica de la agricultura en función de los intereses corporativos. Los impactos de este modelo trascienden las fronteras de las nuevas republiquetas sojeras. La deshumanización de la agricultura y el despoblamiento del campo a favor de los intereses corporativos se extienden tanto en los países del Norte como del Sur.

BUENOS AIRES (Dow Jones Newswires, September 26 2007): Glyphosate-resistant weeds have spread throughout much of Argentina's Pampas, threatening to drive up the cost of growing soybeans and other crops genetically modified for resistance to the herbicide, Daniel Ploper, plant pathologist for the national food and animal health inspection service, or Senasa, in Tucuman Province said Wednesday.

"Isolated cases have been confirmed in Salta, Tucuman, Corrientes, Santiago del Estero, Cordoba and Santa Fe provinces," Ploper said. The glyphosate-resistant weed, known as sorghum halepense, or "Johnson Grass," had previously been confirmed only in Salta and Tucuman provinces.

The government has launched a number of projects to control the spread of the weed, including the use of herbicides other than glyphosate and attempting to mandate cleaning of harvest machinery to prevent spreading the weed between fields, Ploper said.

A research group (CRIIGEN) at the University of Caen, France, has published a study on the previously unknown toxic effects of Roundup on human embryonic cells.
Roundup is the Monsanto-developed herbicide in use worldwide, including on GMOs for food and feed. Read the full report
Press Release CRIIGEN - May 2007: Effects of the herbicide Roundup on human embryonic cells
Professor Seralini's group (1), in the University of Caen, France, just published a study on the previously unknown toxic effects of Roundup on human embryonic cells.

Javiera Rulli - July 18th, 2006: The tragedy faced by Petrona Villasboa's peasant family doesn't seem to come to an end. The family has been affected by agrotoxic contamination for more than 3 years. This time Petrona's 3 month-old grandchild is suffering from hidrocefalia. Even after 3 years of judicial battle the family is still waiting for the conviction of those responsible for the poisoning of Petrona´s son.

In Paraguay because of massive pesticide spraying, people suffer acute and chronical diseases. Which sometimes leads to death. The struggle for justice for the 11 years old boy Silvino Talavera that died as the consequence of indiscriminate herbicide use on soy platations in his village, tells a story of corruption and pressure but also of courage and struggle.
A short chronological overview of the facts

How producing RR soya destroys the food security and sovereignty of Argentina
A report by Lilian Joensen, Stella Semino (Grupo de Reflexión Rural, Argentina) and Helena Paul (EcoNexus, UK) for the Gaia Foundation

For an introduction and an overview of developments in the Silvino Talavera campaign, please see the article 'Paraguay: Silvino Talavera' on this site.

Asuncion, 29 November 2006: The Paraguayan Supreme Court has declared the extraordinary cassation request submitted by Lic. Fabio Daniel Baez Acosta, the defence lawyer of Alfredo Lautenschlager and Herman Schlender, as inadmissible. This means they will have to fulfil the sentence that was confirmed by the Appellation Tribunal of Encarnación and go to jail for two years for causing general risks and homicide. The sentence was confirmed without suspension.

Marcela Valente, IPS News, November 11 2006: Residents Say "Stop the Spraying"
BUENOS AIRES, Nov 17 (Tierramérica) - Cultivation of genetically modified soybeans is expanding in Argentina, and with it, the use of herbicides. The "Paren de fumigar" (Stop the Fumigation) campaign warns against agro-chemical spraying in urban areas, as activists collect information about its impacts in order to denounce it.