Argentina: Disappearing Farmers, Disappearing Food

Written by Marie Trigona for TOWARD FREEDOM

Thursday, 29 October 2009

Worldwide, industrial mono-culture farming has displaced traditional food production and farmers, wreaking havoc on food prices and food sovereignty. This is particularly true for the global south, where land has been concentrated for crops destined for biodiesel and animal feed. In response, peasants and small farmers organized actions in more than 53 countries on October 15 for International Food Day as an initiative of Via Campesina, one of the largest independent social movement organizations, representing nearly 150 million people globally. The National Indigenous Campesino Movement of Argentina joined the protests taking place on around the world by organizing a march in Buenos Aires for International Food Day. Argentina has often been described as South America’s bread basket because it once produced grain and beef for much of the region. But with the transgenetic soy boom the nation has shifted to a mono culture production for export, displacing traditional food production and farmers. Hundreds of campesinos marked the day with protests against this agricultural model outside of Argentina’s Department of Agriculture. “For the government, the countryside [is made up of] the landholding organizations and the agro-businesses, we practically don’t exist,” says Javier from the campesino movement in Cordoba, an organization that includes more than 1,500 families who have depended on traditional agriculture for generations. “We are also part of the countryside. We are the ones who live on the land and protect the land. We want to continue to live on our land, for future generations.” Evicted Farmers According to Argentina’s 2008 agricultural census, more than 60,000 farms shut down between 2002 and 2008, while the average size of farms increased from 421 to 538 hectares. The shift to soy has replaced cultivation of many grains and vegetables and even the country’s beef production. Researcher at the nation’s social research institute CONICET, Tamara Peremulter outlines the affects of monoculture soy on food production. “Soy historically hasn’t been grown in Argentina. Soy was brought in during the 1960’s during the Green Revolution. Transgenetic soy has been brought to lands where before cultivation wouldn’t have been possible. The low production cost of soy helped this process. Soy has replaced other crops, invading areas that were historically for cattle grazing and dairy production. Soy has also invaded indigenous and traditional farming communities. This model also implies deforestation and loss of biodiversity” Land access and disputes over land titles has become one of the central issues for traditional farmers being replaced by machinery and high tech mono-culture farms. The National Indigenous Campesino Movement of Argentina (MNCI) reports that 82 percent of farmers live off of 13 percent of the nation’s land used for agriculture, while 4 percent of large land holders or “growing pools” financial investors in the agro industry own more than 65 percent. The disparities in land titles have lead to violent evictions. On October 12, 2009 a day on which indigenous communities commemorate the genocide of their people following Christopher Columbus’s arrival in 1492, an indigenous farmer, Javier Chacoba was murdered during a protest against the forced eviction of indigenous people off of lands. The 68-old farmer died of a gun shot wound to the abdomen by Dario Amín, a landowner. Members of the Chuschagasta community had been camping along a provincial highway bordering the lands to demand land recognition for the Chuschagasta when Amín and two ex-police officers showed up at the protest. “On the day commemorating 519 years of genocide in Latin America, we suffered the loss of our brother (Javeri Chacobar) for simply standing up for his rights, defending his dignity and land that belongs to him,” said Margarita Mamaní, member of the Chuschagasta community. “They have been evicting farmers and members of the indigenous community from lands. People have been killed in the evictions,” says Ricardo Ortiz is an indigenous representative from The Campesino Movement of Santiago del Estero (MOCASE). More than 9,000 families make up MOCASE, a grassroots movement of traditional farmers and indigenous groups. “Now they killed a farmer in Tucuman, a brother. He was in a march to demand their rights and the man who bought the lands took out a gun and shot the man and injured four more. The government has been blind, deaf and mute; this is why we are worried.” Police Repression In 2008 alone more than 35 campesinos were arrested and arrest warrants issued for 95 more, in Mendoza, Formosa and Santiago del Estero, in communities rejecting the agro-industrial model. Santiago del Estero is a province once rich in forest land and untouched by soy. This changed as the boom in soy prices has made these remote areas now profitable for soy growers. This is a “witch hunt,” as the MNCI has described the situation for campesinos resisting land evictions, and defending traditional cultures. Local police enforce eviction orders and meet any resistance with police force, clubs and many times bullets. “Campesinos resisting are suffering a violent political persecution. We demand that detained farmers are released, that officials, judges and police that violate human rights be investigated and that evictions are stopped,” declared the MNCI. Agro Industry Creates Joblessness The shift to mono-culture crops and land concentration has stretched into cultivations traditionally employing small farmers such as vineyards. Argentina’s wine industry has boomed in recent years, with the total value of Argentine wine in the US increasing from 75 million to 146 million dollars between 2006 and 2008. Mendoza is Argentina’s largest wine producing region, with a micro climate perfect for the Malbec grape. Access to water is a major issue for rural and indigenous communities there. Marcelo Quieroga from the Union of Rural Workers (UST) says that much of the vineyards in Mendoza have been monopolized by French and Swiss investors, who buy land and mechanize wine production. “They are using machinery to replace workers. By producing high quality wines for export the wineries have essentially monopolized the production. Who suffers is the rural worker who can’t find work, and ends up living in a shanty town due to rural unemployment.” Rural displacement results in poverty and joblessness; the poorest provinces in Argentina have ironically hosted a boom in soy industry, with soy fields replacing forests and even cattle grazing land. The MNCI has reported that the soy model creates only one job post for every 500 hectares cultivated. Meanwhile, traditional agriculture provides 35 job posts for every 100 hectares cultivated, while also guaranteeing food diversity, production or local markets and sustainable use of resources such as land and water. Food Sovereignty Industrialization and the globalization of Argentina’s food system has led to spikes in food prices, and increasing rural poverty. This has become a global trend. “A billion people are without food because industrial monocultures robbed them of their livelihoods in agriculture and their food entitlements,” writes Vandana Shiva in the Nation Magazine. Via Campesina does have an alternative to the agro industry, pushing for governments to promote local, traditional farming which provides communities with real food. “It’s time for all civil society to recognize the gravity of this situation, global capital should not control our food, nor make decisions behind closed doors. The future of our food, the protection of our resources and especially our seeds, are the right of the people,” said Dena Hoff, coordinator of Via Campesina North America. Food sovereignty as defined by Via Campesina is the peoples’ right to define their agricultural and food policy, and the right of farmers and peasants to produce food. Worldwide communities are seeking an alternative to a model controlled by Cargill, Monsanto, General Foods, Nestle and Kraft foods. Starved by industrialization and concentration, citizens are now hungry for traditional production methods and diversity in the food system. *** Marie Trigona is a writer, radio producer and filmmaker based in Argentina. She can be reached at mtrigona@msn.com

Community on the Airwaves: End to Dictatorship Media Law in Argentina

Written by Marie Trigona

UpsideDownWorld

Like the United States, media laws in Argentina favor big corporations over small community groups. But this changed recently when Argentina passed a media law which will radically transform media ownership regulations. Senate approved the bill, which could open the airwaves to community groups with a 44 to 24 vote. Media conglomerates have been fighting the bill in an attempt to preserve their control over news and information. The passage was met with celebrations outside of congress, where thousands of government supporters, union representatives, human rights groups and artists converged in support of the law.

This law overturns dictatorship era legislation which limited media ownership to private corporations. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner presented the law in June. At a televised conference at the government palace, the president outlined the project: “Today the media is controlled mostly by private commercial groups. The bill will change this. One third of licenses will be for commercial groups, a third for government and public use, and a third for non-governmental organizations. Freedom of press can’t be confused with freedom for private media owners.”

The law was spearheaded by the Coalition for Democratic Broadcasting, a coalition of more than 300 groups, including unions, community media organizations, and human rights groups like the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo. For more than two years the coalition acted as an advisory committee to develop the bill.

Media in the Dictatorship

This is the first attempt to revise broadcasting legislation since 1980, when a law passed by the military dictatorship banned community associations from accessing broadcast licenses. Dictator Jorge Rafael Videla sanctioned the law, which guaranteed private media holders large profits, promised support for the dictatorship from media outlets, and silenced journalists from reporting on the systematic genocide taking place in the nation. During the dictatorship 84 journalists were disappeared and 12 were assassinated, adding to the long list of over 30,000 disappeared by the bloody junta.

That law placed the few TV stations existing at the time in the hands of the military. Article 96 of the law, which was still in effect until new legislation was passed in October, states that the Federal Broadcasting Committee (COMFER) falls under the control of the State Intelligence Agency. In a Big Brother paradox, the law essentially allowed only private media conglomerates, the Intelligence Agency, and the military to control and regulate the media.

Since Argentina's return to democracy in 1983, only minor reforms have been made to the law, but always to promote private media ownership and concentration. According to the law, only an individual or commercial group established in the country has the right to acquire a license to broadcast a television or radio signal. Non-profit groups, universities, cooperatives, or community associations do not have the right to apply for a broadcast license. For community radio and television stations, this law is a holdover from the days of authoritarian rule that has literally blocked any possibility of gaining legal permission to broadcast.

Media Consolidation

Claudio Caussandier is a regulator at COMFER, the state agency that regulates media broadcasters. “There has been a tendency toward media concentration since the 1990’s when the regulations were modified. The current law was passed in 1980 by a military dictatorship. Media conglomerates haven’t had any competition, so now it’s a big fight. The few companies that have broadcast licenses have been pressuring the government to not open access to the airwaves.”

This led to media concentration. Two media conglomerates control most of Argentina's airspace: Grupo Clarin and Telefonica. Clarin holds more than 264 broadcast licenses nation-wide. The media group also owns more than 50 percent of cable television, more than a dozen print publications, 2 national radio stations and shares in telecommunication and internet providers. Clarin has attracted international investors, including Goldman Sachs which holds 18 percent of shares in Grupo Clarin. Media concentration is reflected in the lack of diversity in programming. Clarin owns two of the three nation-wide television networks.

As the main beneficiary to the dictatorship’s media law, Clarin reported that the 1976 military coup was “inevitable.” In addition to annihilating all competition for Clarin, the military junta also allotted the sale of Papel Prensa, the largest paper producer and supplier in Argentina in 1977.

The heiress to Clarin, Director Ernestina Herrera de Noble, has been investigated since 2004 in connection with the appropriation of two children born to parents held in captivity during the dictatorship. Human Rights group Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo has issued legal requests for Noble’s children to have DNA tests, following evidence of irregularities in the adoption of her two children in 1976.

Clarin has attacked the president and the bill, accusing Fernandez de Kirchner of violating freedom of the press. Other opponents of the bill include other media leaders such as Telefonica and the Argentina’s Association of Cable Television providers, Kirchner’s political opposition and The International Association of Broadcasting. Opponents of the new law have criticized the President for trying to turn Argentina's privately controlled media landscape into a model like Venezuela's state supported community media stations, linking Argentina’s decision to a regional trend in democratizing media. Leading up to the October Senate vote, television stations aired apocalyptic ads describing the law as “death of freedom of press” and “end of our stations.” The campaign didn’t end there, for months the media has included coverage of all protests against the president, attacking progressive policies, while favoring the opposition.

The International Association of Broadcasting (IAB) opposed the newly passed law saying that the law would put freedom of the press in the South American nation in jeopardy. The IAB criticized Argentina's government, saying that the project creates "more vulnerable and dependent" media, during a meeting in Washington with the head of the Organization of American States earlier this year. In an alarmist editorial in Clarin, Argentina's largest national news daily and media conglomerate, titled "Don't Violate Freedom of Expression," Luis Pardo Sainz warns that Argentina may be at risk for a state takeover of the media, saying that the state would be a worse monopoly than the corporate media monopoly.

In his editorial, Sainz also said that the IAB was right to warn of weakening the media, and accused Venezuela of controlling media editorial lines under the guise of community purposes by building a wide network of media that seem diverse but only have one ideological tendency. Ultimately, Sainz’s protests seem to make a paradoxical claim that the building of community media for and by the people is dangerous for diversity.

New Space for Community Media

Despite opposition, community groups' efforts paid off. A coalition of more than 300 groups, including unions, community media organizations, and human rights groups like the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo participated in the advisory committee that developed the bill. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner presented a bill to change the current dictatorship law on March 18, 2009. Many journalists, actors, and media figures have supported the president's imitative, called the Audiovisual Communication Service law (SCA, by its Spanish initials). The law states: "Airwaves belong to the community, they are the patrimony of humanity ... they should be administered by the State with democratic criteria."

The SCA law calls for several fundamental changes to media legislation. The most important aspect of the law is the mandated 33% of airwaves reserved for non-profit groups. This would ensure that community associations, non-profits, and universities have guaranteed access to broadcast licenses.

COMFER Vice President Sergio Fernandez Novoa said in an interview with the state press agency Telam that "the previous law only allowed individuals or commercial businesses to apply for licenses, meaning that any individual without commercial purposes couldn't have a television or radio station in Argentina, like cooperatives, civil associations, or community radios. Now not only can they, but they should be guaranteed a third of the broadcast airwaves currently controlled almost completely by private commercial companies."

Now, however, community media and grass roots organizations will have to compete with all “non-profit entities” to win the spaces opened by the law. The term “all non-profit entities” opens the door for private associations, funded by corporations and church groups to compete with community media groups. Other criticisms of the law include the lack of legislation for funding for community media and guarantees for indigenous representation in local media.

Outside of Congress, community media groups from the National Network of Alternative Media broadcast live video and radio programming. They have hung a banner that reads: “Even though we’re not inside the law, we exist.”

“The new legislation recognizes communication as a right, which is a move in the right direction,” says Fabiana Arcencibia from the media collective Red Ecco, “but the current bill does not recognize us as community broadcasters, as alternative media outlets, and we’re demanding that the bill include us.”

Many hope that the new legislation will foster local media to cover issues which have been ignored by the corporate media for decades. Time will tell whether this shift to local, non-corporate media will foster a new age of free press in Argentina, or if the law was only the government’s attempt to quiet opposition. Either way, the legislation opens new doors for Argentina’s community media groups to legally access to the airwaves.

Marie Trigona is a journalist, radio produce and filmmaker based in Argentina. She can be reached through her blog www.mujereslibres.blogspot.com

Argentina farmers fight soy industry monoculture

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And now we go to Argentina, a country that has often been described as South America’s bread basket because it once produced grain and beef for much of the region. But with the transgenic soy boom the nation has shifted to a mono culture production that has displaced traditional food production and small farmers. FSRN’s Marie Trigona reports from Buenos Aires.

Argentina lawmakers vote on media reform; community radio stands to gain

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In Argentina Friday, lawmakers are expected to vote on a media reform bill that could open the airwaves to community groups. Media conglomerates have been fighting the bill in an attempt to preserve their control over news and information. FSRN’s Marie Trigona reports from Buenos Aires.

http://www.fsrn.org/audio/argentina-lawmakers-vote-media-reform-community-radio-stands-gain/5575

Kraft Firings Feed Protests

Americas Program, Center for International Policy (CIP)

Mass firings at Kraft Foods' plant in Argentina sparked protests throughout the nation, and ignited a new wave of worker organizing. In August, Kraft fired 160 workers after they went on strike to demand proper health measures at the company's factory in suburban Buenos Aires during the swine flu epidemic in Argentina. Most of the fired workers were active union members; almost all of the factory's union delegates were fired.

Kraft workers carry out a series of road blockades and a total work stoppage for more than 40 days. Photo: Marie Trigona.

Kraft workers responded by taking over the plant. They staged a 40-day work stoppage, with the majority of the 3,000 workers participating in the strike. The U.S.-based company has accused protesting workers of prohibiting personnel from leaving the plant, but the union says that they were camping inside the plant peacefully to demand their jobs. On Sep. 25, police attacked the workers and removed them by force so Kraft could resume plant operations.

The factory looks more like a prison than a factory. Barbed wire borders the gates, guards walk the perimeter with attack dogs, and police patrol on horseback. Union members are barred from entering.

"There are police inside the plant. The inspectors are going to the lines and forcing people to work. Outside the plant, there are police surrounding the factory," says Carlos Mores, a union delegate fired from Kraft.

Kraft: King of Consolidation

Kraft's history is laden with acquisitions, buyouts, consolidations, and the raw concentration of market power. The company dates back to 1903 when James L. Kraft opened a cheese distributor in Chicago, Illinois. In 1913, Kraft opened its first plant to manufacture cheese. Kraft's claim to fame came through consolidation and following Andrew Carnegie's motto: "Put all your eggs into one basket and then watch that basket, do not scatter your shot. The great successes of life are made by concentration."

By World War II the cheese giant was sending 4 million pounds of its patented pasteurized processed cheese to Britain weekly. Founding itself on the coattails of the military-industrial complex, its next frontier was the American housewife's modern kitchen, encouraged to cook easier, tastier, faster foods with a much lower nutritional value.

Kraft grew to become one of the largest food companies in the world after acquiring Nabisco Brands in 2000. Soon after, the Marlboro Man purchased Kraft in 1992. Altria (the new name for tobacco and food giant Phillip Morris) by 2000 planned to spin off control of Kraft Foods, which now is the second largest food company in the world, after Nestle.

The company produces in more than 70 countries, and distributes in more than 150 countries. In many countries, like Argentina, the food processing leader quietly buys out local brands and markets the brand under the same name. Consolidation of market power throughout the food industry has been a creeping trend, and Argentina's food market is no exception. Kraft's largest gem in Argentina is the Terrabusi cookie brand.

In 1994 Nabisco foods purchased Terrabusi, the nation's largest cookie/cracker manufacturer. At the time, the factory employed 8,000. By 2009, that number shrunk by half to only 4,000 workers. The company cornered nearly 50% of the nation's cookie market, making Kraft's plant in the working class suburb of Pacheco one of the most important outside the United States.

The U.S. multinational reaped record profits in 2008, taking in $42 billion dollars in revenue. "Kraft is one company that has managed to do well in spite of the economic downturn, because hey, people have to eat," boasts a Kraft online video. With skyrocketing food prices, many consumers turned to more economical, processed food, helping Kraft's stocks peak at an all-time high on Sep. 18, 2008 at $34 a share.

Anti-Union Practices

Around the country people organized actions in solidarity with the workers of ex-Terrabusi, today Kraft Foods, Inc. Photo: Marie Trigona.

During the swine flu outbreak in Argentina in July, the health ministry issued guidelines for workplaces. These included providing anti-bacterial soap, alcohol gel, and paper towels for increased hygiene and granting leave to pregnant women working in enclosed spaces, who are known to be at greater risk from the virus.

"The conflict started during the H1N1 epidemic," says Fernando, a worker fired from Kraft. "We were demanding improvements like paper towels, toilet paper, alcohol gel, and other health measures. Because we made our demands, they fired 160 workers."

In addition, the company refused to give pregnant women and women with children maternity leave. The Labor Ministry requested that Kraft Foods take health precautions, as schools, public spaces, and workplaces were shut down throughout the country to prevent the H1N1 virus from spreading, but the corporation refused. In addition, the company shut down the company daycare center offering women 200 pesos (70 dollars) to find their own private child care. The Labor Ministry or Food and Beverage Union did not intervene, but the ministry described Kraft as a "hard company" in respect to the labor conflict.

During this time, the company brought in police to guard the factory. According to union representatives, the company went so far as to bring in managers to interrogate workers with the police present, but without the workers' labor lawyers. The workers decided to hold a work-stoppage, showing up for their shifts and then camping inside the factory.

The U.S. company accused protesting workers of prohibiting personnel from entering the plant and threatening managers, but the union says that they were peacefully protesting to assert their demands. After striking workers went to the factory administrative offices, Kraft decided to fire 160 of the workers inside the plant.

A month-long campaign followed, to demand that the workers be rehired and persecution of union activists be halted. Workers carried out a series of road blockades and a total work stoppage for more than 40 days. Around the country, students, union activists, unemployed workers, and human rights groups organized actions in solidarity with the workers of ex-Terrabusi, today Kraft Foods, Inc.

For Kraft Foods, unionists and strikes blemish the company's public image. According to Sara Jones from the Say No to Kraft campaign in the United States, Kraft's headquarters have been following developments in Argentina closely. "One of the main reasons we're creating a solidarity campaign from here in Chicago is because the headquarters is located in Illinois and we are well aware that they are managing this 'operation.' On websites dedicated to news about the struggle we have seen the IP addresses of 17 computers that are connected from EDS/Kraft Glenview, IL."

Activists in Kraft's home state Illinois began the campaign in solidarity with the Argentine workers following the firings and have led a boycott campaign against the food leader, with products in 98% of American homes.

In the midst of a global economic crisis, job losses can literally destroy a family. At a time when Kraft has reported record profits, it decides to fire workers. Kraft has admitted that it fired the workers for participating in protests against the company. However, many of the delegates say that in addition to purging union activists from the company, Kraft planned to restructure shifts by cutting an entire shift and imposing extended hours on the others.

"The company wants to implement 12-hour shifts, but they need to cut personnel. First they had to remove all of the labor organization inside the plant—our elected union delegates and internal commission at the factory," says Fernando.

Signs point to a premeditated decision to fire the workers, with Kraft using the protests as an excuse to lay-off 160 workers en masse and rid themselves of union activism. In an interview published in Pagina/12 Labor Minister Carlos Tomada said that the conflict at the Kraft factory was "a conflict where the company made a decision to get revenge on its workers."

Kraft's Hopes for a Banana Republic

Following failed negotiations between the Labor Ministry, Kraft, and union delegates late on Sep. 25, police surrounded the plant and attacked protestors. They arrested 60 people and injured 12, police shot tear gas and rubber bullets, beating others and attacking protestors while on horseback. "Kraft is a North American multinational that has the money to finance repression and pay fines to the Labor Ministry when they violate Argentina's labor laws," says Fernando. The corporation has violated the Obligatory Conciliation period ordered by the Labor Ministry which would enforce the temporary rehiring of all fired workers until both sides of the conflict reached an agreement. Kraft even called for the U.S. embassy to take its side in the increasingly costly labor conflict.

Since the strike, the company has only reinitiated normal production on five of its 36 product lines. During the 40-day work stoppage, the production lines were paralyzed, including the Oreo line, clogging pipes with the white cream used in the cookies. The factory's silos have accumulated bugs contaminating flour supplies. Kraft's Director of Corporate Affairs Pedro Lopez Matheu said that the company has seen "significant losses," compared to 2008 sales in Argentina topping 370 million dollars.

During the eviction, police detained protesters inside the factory in a scene reminiscent of when unions were persecuted, detained, and disappeared inside the Ford factory during the nation's 1976-1983 military dictatorship. Human rights lawyer Maria del Carmen Verdu says Kraft is in violation of Argentina's criminal code because it used the plant as a detention center. "Instead of being taken to the police stations, prisoners were detained inside the factory, in an unprecedented circumstance where lawyers couldn't even enter the place where the prisoners were being detained."

Business leaders of the Industrial Union of Argentina (IUA) are pushing the government to get tough on rising protests. They fear the protests could interfere with their plans for massive layoffs using the economic crisis as an excuse. The UIA reports that since 2008 there have been more than 220,000 layoffs in Argentina.

"Here in Argentina the economic crisis is getting worse. Many companies need to 'restructure' and cut labor costs to maintain profits," says Carlos Mores, another union delegate fired from Kraft who witnessed the police attacks on Sep. 25. "Kraft Foods, and other multinationals that have the UIA's support, are seeking to restructure personnel. This is why the government allows violent repression against workers, in scenes we haven't seen since the military dictatorship. Because they want the workers to carry the burden of the economic crisis."

Violating its promise to stop the firings, on Sep. 26 Kraft suspended 100 more workers who they suspected of participating in protests. On Sep. 28, thousands of workers and supporters marched in Buenos Aires to demand that the workers be rehired. The Kraft case quickly became emblematic of a larger battle over who would pay for the economic crisis—workers or the companies who skimmed off record profits before the fall.

"When the conflict started over health measures for the swine flu, Kraft already had a plan to fire the union delegates in order to make cut backs, adding to poverty and unemployment throughout the region," said Nora Cortinas, from the human rights organization Mothers of Plaza de Mayo at the massive march in support of the Kraft workers.

In the end, Kraft agreed to review the dismissals "on a case-by-case basis." The only offer the company has made was to 50 of the workers, saying that the fired workers are dangerous to the company, according to Kraft's Lopez Matheu. The union delegates have refused this offer at the latest round of talks at the Labor Ministry.

The U.S. Embassy has not intervened directly. However, it issued a statement that contained the veiled threat of reduced foreign investment flows. "The embassy has been following the conflict based on our interest in promoting U.S. investments in Argentina, which have helped generate jobs for over 150,000 Argentine workers."

"Inside and outside, the plant has been militarized," says Mores. The company's most direct violation of Argentina's labor code has been to prohibit union delegates from entering the plant. According to the law, companies must allow even suspended delegates to fulfill their roles inside the plant. The Labor Ministry has reiterated the delegates' right to fulfill their duties, but provincial police and barbed wire protecting the factory has made this an impossible feat.

Kraft's Anti-Union Practices Across the Globe

"Kraft has a history of getting rid of the organized workers and union organizers that are not under their control," says Jones, from the campaign to boycott Kraft in the United States. Colombia's Food Union, Sinaltrainal, has reported persecution of union members at Kraft factories in that country.

Kraft closed five factories in South America after the acquisition of Nabisco brands. Since 2003, the company has fired hundreds of workers, cutting personnel by 37%. When firings weren't enough to stave off union activity, the company has resorted to direct threats, as in the case of a group of 30 workers who were locked inside a lunch room and told to sign letters of recognition. After workers realized that they were locked inside, they refused to sign and held a protest in front of the Colombian factory. Similar to the Argentine case, in Colombia Kraft has also used the police to forcefully remove protesting workers from factories.

"The plant managers that have passed through this company over the last six years have had rising careers, climbing through various posts and seeking promotion by strictly applying the company's anti-union policies and using coercive measures against the workers," states the Sinaltrainal union in Colombia.

The U.S. boycott campaign states that Kraft has also played a role in the recent Honduran coup. "Kraft Foods has ties with the coup in Honduras," says Jones. "The Kraft Foods Company is a member of the Honduran American Chamber of Commerce—AMCHAM Honduras, which strongly supports the coup in Honduras and has stated its support for Micheletti." Kraft joined CitiBank and Wal-Mart, also members of AMCHAM, in a public statement of support for the "new president of Honduras, Roberto Micheletti."

The Honduran National Business Council, of which AMCHAM is a member, issued a press release on the day the Honduran Armed Forces kidnapped the democratically elected president, Manuel Zelaya, and forced him onto a flight bound for Costa Rica. "President Zelaya's departure comes as a result of a systematic violation, by the government he headed, of the constitution and Honduran laws … What occurred today was the not changing of one president for another; today, framed in national unity, respect for the constitution, national laws, and institutionalism was achieved," states the press release.

The Kraft conflict in Argentina may be the straw that breaks the camel's back. It has already sparked massive protests as an outcry against further firings throughout the country. Many have said that if Kraft gets away with firings, it's a green light for companies in Argentina to follow suit. Other groups including the FUBA university student association, human rights group Mothers of Plaza de Mayo Linea Fundadora, Subway Workers, hospital employees throughout the nation, neighborhood assemblies, and unions are fighting for representation in their locales throughout the country to demand an end to repression of union activity and firings. The broad-based citizen response shows the resentment that has built up against transnational corporations that violate national sovereignty by breaking labor norms and laws, and unresponsive unions and governments unwilling to defend workers.

Kraft may have met its match in Argentina. The country has a long tradition of labor organizing and strong and active social movements. The current crisis has heightened demands for a new economic model less dependent on foreign investors and companies that use mobility as a way to control workers in developing countries.

Marie Trigona is a journalist based in Argentina and writes regularly for the Americas Program (www.americaspolicy.org). She can be reached at mtrigona(a)msn.com.

To reprint this article, please contact americas@ciponline.org. The opinions expressed here are the author's and do not necessarily represent the views of the CIP Americas Program or the Center for International Policy.

Sources

Honduran Chamber of Commerce Press Release:
http://www.cohep.com/pdf/Press%20Release%20June%20the%2029th%202009.pdf

Say NO to Kraft Campaign Facebook Campaign
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=124299898146

Sinaltrainal "Kraft Foods genera desempleo, hambre y miseria en Colombia"
http://www.sinaltrainal.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=620&Itemid=93

Mourning Mercedes Sosa

Legendary folk singer Mercedes Sosa died on Sunday at the age of 74.

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Argentina mourned “La Negra” as the folk icon was called in her home country, at the national congress where thousands came to say goodbye. The folk singer shaped the consciousness of many Argentines as a voice for the voiceless, criticizing Latin America´s military regimes and speaking on behalf of the poor. In today´s edition of Streetbeat, FSRN'S Marie Trigona joined the residents of Buenos Aires as they mourned and remembered this Latin American icon.

http://www.fsrn.org/audio/streetbeat-thousands-mourn-argentine-folk-singer-mercedes-sosa/5545

Kraft firings sparks protests

FSRN Radio Report
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A Kraft Foods factory has reopened in Argentina after workers shut it down for more than a month to protest massive layoffs and anti-union measures. The Illinois-based corporation denies it was trying to break up unions and last week it obtained a court order to dislodge more than 60 workers who were blocking operations at the factory. The incident sparked street demonstrations yesterday and a response from the US embassy. FSRN´s Marie Trigona has more from Buenos Aires.

Julio Lopez: Impunity Yesterday and Today in Argentina

Julio Lopez went missing three years ago on September 18, 2006 in his hometown of La Plata, Argentina. However, September 18, 2006, was the second time the father, construction worker, activist and torture survivor was disappeared. Julio Lopez went missing for the first time during Argentina’s 1976-1983 military dictatorship, when he was kidnapped from his home during the night by a commando group, taken to a secret detention center and tortured in several different police barracks that served as clandestine network for disappearing thousands. During his 1976 kidnapping and torture sessions, during which he was tortured with the Picana [electric prod], he met Miguel Etchecolatz, the police chief who coordinated kidnappings and torture in the network of clandestine detention centers in La Plata, 30 miles from Buenos Aires.

Lopez’s testimony during a historic human rights trial in 2006 led to Etchecolatz’s conviction. The police chief was sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity and genocide during the dictatorship. Absent from the courtroom following his forced abduction, Julio Lopez missed seeing the face of his torturer, Etchecolatz, dressed in police clothing and a bullet proof vest, kissing a rosary as he was sentenced to life in prison.

Three years after the key witness’s disappearance, thousands marched in Buenos Aires, La Plata and other cities to demand an end to impunity and that Julio Lopez reappear alive. Protestors marched in cold rain and under gray skies, which further clouded remaining hope that Lopez will be found alive. Investigations have led to no answer as to where Lopez could be located, alive or dead. “Three years after the disappearance of Julio Lopez, the investigation into his whereabouts is practically paralyzed,” said Myriam Bergman, attorney who represented Lopez during the trial against Etchecolatz. “We feel as if there’s been an absolute negation of justice.”

Human rights groups presented a formal letter to the Supreme Court accusing authorities of delaying the investigation into Lopez’s forced disappearance. These groups suspect police and court authorities with ties to officials who participated in rights abuses have disrupted the investigation into Lopez’s disappearance. “Three years after the second disappearance of Julio, we have denounced that the investigation has been tied up by corrupt judges and authorities with affinity to impunity for the military,” said Margarita Cruz, torture survivor and human rights activist. “Today, September 18, marking 3 years since Lopez’s disappearance, is a very painful day because once again we are condemned to live with impunity.”

A Legacy of Impunity

Impunity is an all too long living legacy for Argentines. And justice for the crimes committed during the bloody dictatorship has been slow. Immediately following the dictatorship’s end in 1983, several junta leaders were tried and sentenced. However, former President Carlos Menem passed an amnesty law in 1990 that released jailed leaders of the former junta and other military and police jailed for rights abuses. Following the Due Obedience and Full Stop laws, all doors to justice were closed, providing blanket amnesty for officers until 2003 when the Supreme Court cancelled junta pardons. Miguel Etchecolatz was one officer who was formerly pardoned. He had been sentenced to 23 years in prison for 91 cases of torture, but was released when the Due Obedience law went into effect. In the years since the Supreme Court revoked amnesty, ruling that immunity for former officers was unconstitutional, several high profile human rights cases have begun.

The trials were made possible by the work of human rights activists who have endlessly demanded justice for the crimes committed against their loved ones. One such group is HIJOS, ‘Children for Identity and Justice,’ which developed the escrache or “exposure” protest held at the home or workplace of an unpunished criminal, as a method to deliver justice. Eduardo Nachman is a part of HIJOS. “Justice is not only slow, but the courts have organized the trials to take years,” says Nachman. “This favors impunity: the suspects who are not held in jails while awaiting trials can enjoy freedom and the witnesses who must wait to testify are dying before they have information as to the whereabouts of their loved ones and seeing the murderers go to jail.”

CONADEP (The National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons) held an investigation into human rights abuses in 1984. The government gave the commission only 9 months to complete its report about fate of thousands who were forcefully disappeared. CONADEP put together a 50,000 page document, published as an official document Nunca Mas (Never Again). From the testimony of survivors, the document details crimes committed in a network of over 370 clandestine detention centers. Logically, thousands must have been involved in the illegal detention and disappearance of tens of thousands of activists, students and union organizers. “The reports from 25 years ago documents 1,600 repressors involved in crimes. If there were more than 400 clandestine detention centers, each center would have needed many people to operate, so it’s logical to conclude that several thousands were involved,” says Nachman.

Despite concrete evidence concluding that thousands of officers were involved, only 280 are facing trial, and many of those charged with crimes are under house arrest rather than waiting for trial in jail. Only 58 people have been sentenced, most are under house arrest. Three have been pardoned and Hector Febres, who worked at the infamous ESMA Navy Mechanics School, died in his jail cell from cyanide poisoning just days before he was to be sentenced. Rights groups believe that he was murdered so the former officer wouldn’t break a pact of silence and release information as to the whereabouts of children born in captivity and appropriated by military and raised with a false identity. In another case of impunity, Juan Miguel Wolk, who ran the Pozo de Banfield detention center where hundreds perished, lives in a beach home in Mar del Plata. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison but was later pardoned. When judges ordered him to appear in court, following the Supreme Court’s decision, they were informed that he had died. But Wolk, alias “the Nazi” lives pretty well for a dead man in his home, just blocks from his neighbor, Etchocolatz , who recently moved to a jail following his 2006 life sentence according to journalist Roberto Garron from Miradas del Sur newspaper.

The disappearance of Lopez has reopened painful wounds of impunity and fears about the possibility of violent repercussions against survivors and witnesses participating in human rights trials. “Julio Lopez had the courage to identify Etchecolatz as a torturer,” said Nachman. “His disappearance isn’t a coincidence. He was disappeared to scare off and threaten many people who must testify.” Evidence that has surfaced leads to Etchecolatz and his connections with the Buenos Aires provincial police. “When the investigation made progress, all clues led to the provincial police,” says Bergman. At the time of Lopez’s disappearance more than 70 police officers in the ranks of the provincial police served during the dictatorship, many have been “forcefully retired” following pressures from human rights groups. Bergman adds, “There is a lack of political commitment to investigate the police. The investigation was interrupted right after they investigated a doctor with ties to Etchecolatz and detectives found out that Lopez was in his car.” Investigators have gathered evidence from Etchecolatz’s cell in Marcos Paz, where another 100 officers from the dictatorship are under arrest, including notebooks with information about witnesses testifying against him and telephone numbers of members of the police force.

Jose Shulman, a survivor from the Brusa detention center in Santa Fe, said that despite the threats and disappearance of Lopez, none of the 2,500 witnesses have withdrawn their testimony or refused to testify in the human rights trials. He interpreted the threats as a “sign that those dictatorship supporters feel weak from the judicial defeat that they are now facing.”

The slogan “Never Again” was adopted with the hope that Argentina and other countries in the region, including Brazil, Chile and Uruguay, ruled by violent military dictatorships would never repeat that dark chapter in history. Military dictatorships ruled the region in the 70’s under the direction of Operation Condor, a shared regional plan to suppress political activism with support from the US government. Much of the files and top-secret information has yet to be released about the crimes the military coups committed. And, without justice and with outstanding impunity, history is likely to repeat itself. “Without Lopez there can’t be a ‘Never Again,’” writes Ana Maria Careaga, executive director of the Institute for the Space for Memory. For ‘Never Again’ to become a reality, justice must be delivered.

But Julio Lopez is not just a new name inscribed on the doleful roll call of Argentina’s disappeared; he is also a reminder of the crimes against humanity still taking place in the region. Today, Lopez’s disappearance, threats and persecution against activists, an active coup in Honduras, and US military bases in Latin America are chilling reminders that “democracy” in the region has only advanced minimally since the era of bloody military dictatorships.

Marie Trigona is a journalist, radio producer and filmmaker based in Argentina. She can be reach through her blog at http://mujereslibres.blogspot.com/

FASINPAT: A Factory that Belongs to the People

Americas Program, Center for International Policy (CIP)

The workers at Argentina's largest worker-controlled factory are celebrating a definitive legal solution to a nine-year struggle for the right to work and workers' self-determination. The provincial legislature of Neuquén voted in favor of expropriating the Zanon ceramics factory giving the workers' cooperative FASINPAT the right to manage the plant definitively. Since the workers occupied Zanon in 2001, they have successfully set up a system of workers' management, created jobs, duplicated production of ceramics, supported community projects, and spearheaded a network of over 200 recuperated enterprises. Zanon, renamed FASINPAT or Factory Without a Boss, can now continue production without threat of eviction from their factory.

Zanon Belongs to the People, Support the Workers. Photo: radiouniversidad.wordpress.com.

Zanon, still Latin America's largest ceramics manufacturer, is located in the Patagonian province of Neuquén, a region with rich working class traditions, history, and mystique surrounding the red desert, rich forests, and crystalline lakes. The workers officially declared the factory under worker control in October 2001 following a lockout of the factory bosses.

In Argentina, more than 13,000 people work in occupied factories and businesses, otherwise known as recuperated enterprises. The sites, which number more than 200, range from hotels, to ceramics factories, to balloon manufacturers, to suit factories, to printing shops, and transport companies, as well as many other trades. Most of the occupations occurred following the nation's 2001 economic crisis when unemployment rates soared above 25% and poverty levels hovered over 50%. Zanon, as one of the largest and foremost factory occupations, became a symbol for millions of workers who lost their jobs during the worst economic crisis in Argentina's history, in which thousands of factories shut down. The cooperative has proved that factories can produce without a boss.

Legal Victory

At a little past midnight on August 13, the legislature, controlled by the right-wing party the Popular Movement of Neuquén (MPN), voted for the law to expropriate the Zanon ceramics factory. The expropriation law passed 26 votes in favor and nine votes against the bill. Thousands of supporters from other workers' organizations, human rights groups, and social movements, along with entire families and students, joined the workers as they waited outside the provincial legislature in the capital city of Neuquén. Many activists from Buenos Aires travelled 619 miles to Neuquén to support FASINPAT's fight for the expropriation law, including workers from the worker-run Brukman suit factory, occupied Hotel BAUEN, rank-and-file union representatives from the subway system, and public hospital employees.

"When we found out that they were going to vote, we called our supporters. About 3,500 people participated in the protest including social movements, human rights organizations, teachers, unionists," said Jorge Bermuda, a veteran worker at the factory in an interview with the CIP Americas Program in Buenos Aires. Despite strong Patagonian desert winds, hundreds waited for the final legislative decision, huddled around bonfires. As the legislation voted, supporters watched from a screen transmitting outside the government building. Onlookers gathered in awe and immediately joined in to celebrate with the workers without bosses. Burly ceramists in their beige work clothes and blue jackets with the embroidered FASINPAT logo embraced each other in tears and joy, releasing the grief and happiness of the long struggle for control of the factory.

"This is incredible, we are so happy. The expropriation is an act of justice," said Alejandro Lopez the general secretary of the Ceramists Union, overwhelmed by the emotion of the victory. "We don't forget the people who supported us in our hardest moments, or the 100,000 people who signed the petition supporting our bill."

The workers credited the community's support for making the objective of expropriation become a reality. "The vote wasn't only the victory of the 470 workers at Zanon, or the original 150 who took over the plant, but the victory of an entire community that gave their support," said Bermuda. During the debate on the bill, deputy representatives took note of the fact that over half the population supports the factory expropriation in hands of the workers.

Aside from a political victory, the expropriation of the Zanon plant sets a legal precedent for terms of legislation in favor of other workers' cooperatives that have taken control of businesses closed down by their owners. The bill voted in Neuquén is the first expropriation without reimbursement by workers; the state will pay privileged creditors Luis Zanon's debt of 22 million pesos (around $7 million). The main creditors include the World Bank, which gave a loan of $20 million to Luis Zanon for the construction of the plant, and Italian company SACMY, which produces state-of-the-art ceramics manufacturing machinery and is owed $5 million. These interests were pressuring Argentina's judicial system to auction off the plant to pay off the debts.

Although previous expropriation bills have passed locally, no expropriation law has made it to vote on the national level, meaning workers' cooperatives must assume the debt left by the previous business firm. In return for this agreement, FASINPAT agreed to sell materials to the province at cost.

The Zanon workers argued that the government should not pay Luis Zanon's debts, saying that courts have proven that the creditors participated in the fraudulent bankruptcy of the plant in 2001 because the credits went directly to the owner Luis Zanon and not to investments into the factory.

"If someone should pay, Luis Zanon should pay, who is being charged with tax evasion," said Omar Villablanca from FASINPAT. The FASINPAT collective presented a previous expropriation bill, from which the current law passed was adopted, that would have cancelled the debt to creditors. More than 100,000 people signed the petition to get this bill passed.

Roots of Zanon

Union of ceramic workers and employees of Neuquén. Photo: Obreros de Zanon.

The massive factory, spanning several city blocks, was built in an isolated industrial park along Route 7, a highway leading into the capital city of Neuquén. The Zanon ceramics plant was inaugurated in 1980, three years before the nation came out of the nightmare of the dictatorship that ruled the nation with terror from 1976-1983. Officers from the military dictatorship and Italian diplomats presided over the ceremony, which included blessings from a Monsignor of the Catholic Church. Luis Zanon, or Luigi, thanked the military government "for the atmosphere of security and tranquility that the Armed Forces have provided since they took charge on March 24, 1976." That fateful date in 1976 marked the beginning of one of the bloodiest eras for Argentina, in which the military terrorized the nation and forcefully disappeared 30,000 workers, activists, and students.

Conditions inside Zanon previous to the workers' occupation led to an average of 25-30 accidents per month and one fatality per year. In the years of Zanon's production, 14 workers died inside the factory. Former management enforced rules to divide workers and prevent communication among ceramists as a way of controlling union organizing independent from company interests. Many workers recount how they had to organize clandestinely to win control of the union.

Carlos Villamonte participated in the efforts to win rank-and-file union seats, organizing secretly in the late 90s. "It was very difficult to win back the internal union at the factory because we had to do it clandestinely. The company had a very repressive system. They didn't let you in another sector, talk with fellow workers, or even use the bathroom freely. Many times we had to communicate by passing notes under the tables in the cafeteria or walking through each sector making secret times and places to meet. We found ways to evade the bosses' and bureaucratic union's control." One such way was forming a ceramists' soccer team. Between practices, games, and tournaments, workers were able to strategize how to win shop-floor union representation.

After the rank-and-file workers' union movement at the factory won control of the ceramists union in 1998, the struggle culminated with a bosses' lockout in 2001. The workers were fired and the factory closed down—still owed severance pay and millions in unpaid salaries. This led to a workers' protest camp outside the plant. While the workers were camping outside the factory, a court ruled that the employees could sell off remaining stock. After the stock ran out, on March 2, 2002, the workers' assembly voted to start up production without a boss. Many at the plant believe that the rank-and-file workers' movement gaining control of the union catapulted the fired workers into occupying the factory and starting up production after the company closed the doors.

Future of Autogestión

Autogestión obrera—workers' self-management—implies that a community or group makes its own decisions, especially those decisions that fit into the process of production and planning. One of the major feats of Zanon was putting into production a massive beast of a factory with an organization based on equality and democracy without trained professional managers, punitive systems, or hierarchical organization.

FASINPAT wokers celebrate the passing of the law to expropriate the Zanon ceramics factory. Photo: Obreros de Zanon.

The FASINPAT collective grew from 250 workers to 470. They began by producing 5,000 sq. meters of ceramics a month when they first occupied the plant in 2001. They soon managed to increase their production to 14,000 sq. meters a month. By 2008, FASINPAT produced 400,000 sq. meters a month, a record for worker control at the factory.

Although they continue to have the capacity to produce at those levels, demand has dropped lately, leading to the decision to adjust production levels. "In 2009, because of the crisis, we've dropped production to 250,000 sq. meters a month," explains Bermuda, who participates in technical planning at the plant.

Due to the crisis and slumping construction industry in the region, sales of ceramics have dropped by 40%. Unlike, their capitalist counterparts, the FASINPAT worker enterprise has taken on the task of cutting costs, not personnel. "We now have the legal aspect resolved, now we have to resolve production and fight for energy subsidies," said Omar Villablanca, a young worker at Zanon who was recently voted general secretary of the provincial-wide ceramists union. He visited Buenos Aires shortly after the victory to provide support for workers on strike at the Terrabusi cookie corporation who are fighting against lay-offs and voluntary pay cuts. "Factories that shut down are generally the result of a management that doesn't want to invest a peso of profits toward saving jobs."

A major challenge now to worker-run factories will be to devise production plans to respond to uncertain markets. Zanon's legalized status will allow the workers to focus on production and implementing technology. But they don't plan to eliminate their worker training programs. The factory assembly, which is the decision-making body at the plant, has voted to start up a primary school and high school for workers who weren't able to finish schooling. More than half of the workers at Zanon do not have their high school degrees. "We are working to train our workers. Primary and secondary school are one aspect. The next step would be to prepare a few compañeros to go to university for engineering, or whatever they would like to study."

In a 2004 article on Zanon, researcher on Latin American social movements Raúl Zibechi wrote, "The ex-Zanon workers hope that the Argentine government will decide to recognize their status and let them continue to operate under their own control." Many experts researching the role of the government and its persistent refusal to recognize that Argentina's 200 recuperated enterprises had created over 10,000 jobs, predicted that a definitive legal solution would take years, and it did. As a writer who has followed the development of workers' self-management at Zanon, I also shared the disbelief, joy, and emotion at the good news.

In over nine years of legal battles and uncertainty, the workers running Zanon were able to create more than 200 jobs; build health clinics and homes for families in need; donate ceramics to hundreds of cultural centers, libraries, and community projects; support strike funds for workers fighting for better working conditions; build a network of social movements; devise a democratic assembly and coordinating system within the factory that replaced hierarchy; not to mention successfully run a factory that the previous owner wanted to close for good, imagine what they can do now.

At Zanon, workers constantly use the slogan: "Zanon es del pueblo" or Zanon belongs to the people. The workers have gone to great efforts to ensure that the community benefits from worker control at the factory.

"I feel as if the law is our contribution to the working class, it's our grain of sand for workers to recuperate hopes that they can change things," said Raul Godoy, a worker and steadfast activist from the factory. While other recuperated enterprises are fighting eviction threats and other legal challenges, they can now look to the FASINPAT collective as a beacon of success. And other workers who are facing firings will be more inspired to follow the example of the Zanon workers of running their own factories and putting them at the service of the people.

The Soy Republic of Argentina

March Against Soy The increasing export of genetically modified crops is part of a regional trend with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay now adopting a soy-based economic model. Argentina has made a radical shift toward soy, which has displaced cultivation of many grains and vegetables and even its beef production, the nation’s diet staple and renowned around the world. Once a highly industrialized nation and agriculturally diverse, Argentina now uses more than half of its total arable land for monoculture soy. The majority of soy production is controlled by "growing pools" or financial speculators that buy or lease land from small farmers who can’t afford soy’s high production costs. In all, some 47 million tons of soy was produced in 2008. Argentina’s farmers have recently resumed a nation-wide strike in protest over the government’s agricultural policies. This protest is the latest episode in a long standing dispute between the agricultural sector and President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner over tax exports on soy. The fertile South American nation is now the world's third largest producer of soy, trailing behind the United States and Brazil. The boom in soy production in Argentina has reaped record profits for soy farmers and multi-nationals marketing bio-technology for the mono-culture crop in recent years, but it has taken its toll on food production, traditional farmers and the environment. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have increasingly played a key role in the economy and in the planet’s food supply. Nearly 95% of soy grown in Argentina is genetically modified, adopting the Roundup Ready technology marketed by Monsanto. The majority of the soy grown is for export to China and the EU which use soybean grain for feed and poultry lots. Unlike the Banana Republics still intact in many parts of Central America, which exude violence to keep governments, workers and the population at large in line with big business interest, the soy model or "soy republic" adopted in many countries in South America operates by sheer market force and consolidation. Agribusiness giants Monsanto, Dow and Cargill have developed mechanisms to make dictatorships an unnecessary luxury. What Argentina and other South American nations do have in common with Banana Republics is the colonial development model, or better put anti-development model, where the nation reverts to relying on exporting a single cash crop to First World nations. However, dictatorships that used terror, torture and censorship in the 1970’s and early 1980’s are responsible for laying the ground work for privatization, liberalization of trade barriers, deregulation of environmental standards and land concentration which ripened the region for the GMO invasion. The soy republic model has led to economic dependency on transnational investments, food sovereignty risks, displacement of rural populations, degradation of soil and water systems, severe health threats from the use of pesticides and herbicides and a long list of social problems such as increased inequality and unemployment. GMO Approval GMO soy was swiftly approved for cultivation in Argentina in 1996, under former Agricultural Secretary Felipe Sola. A 180-page file report, prepared by GMO giant Monsanto was written in English, with no Spanish translation made available, and was the only document evaluated before Sola approved GM soy after only 81 days of review. The former secretary and now investor in the soy industry won a seat in the legislature in the June 2009 elections, riding in on his opposition to President Cristina Kirchner's decision to increase the export tax on soy. Many of the ministers and congressional representatives involved in the passage have since become investors in the soy market. When Argentina approved the cultivation of GMO in 1996 14 million acres were used for soy production. By 2008 that area grew to 42 million acres. In his brilliant account of the world food system in Stuffed and Starved, Raj Patel describes the consolidation that spans the entire global market. According to Patel, 10 companies control half the world’s seed supply and 10 firms control 84 percent of the nearly US$30 billion pesticide markets. Agro-chemical firms Monsanto, Dow, Bayer and Dupont lead Argentina’s market. In an ironic twist the term "The United Soy Republic" has been coined by the genetically engineering industry to describe a map of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay with increasing tracks of land dedicated to soy. Sky rocketing commodity prices for soy due to increasing demand from the EU, China and India has driven a group of eager investors to enter the countryside. "The first group that benefit are obviously agro-business corporations, other than Monsanto the export/transport companies like Cargill, Bunge and ADM that sent the soy bean to the EU and China to feed animals," says Carlos Vicente, head of information for Latin America at GRAIN, a non-profit supporting small farmers. "The second group that benefits in the short term is the ‘growing pools’ and large land owners in Argentina that have seen quick and extraordinary profits producing a concentration of wealth and land." GMO on Strike In the Republic of Soy, a major showdown between mono-crop farmers and government has taken place. Both sides are fighting over an export tax on the lucrative crop. The latest strike came after the President vetoed a farming law that would have exempted farmers from draught struck areas from paying export levies. The farmers are also angry over President Cristina Fernandez's refusal to lower the 35% tax. Cristina Kirchner’s soy export tax is a policy carried over from her husband, former president Nestor Kirchner, who upped the tax to 35% as an emergency measure to revive the economy after the 2001 crisis. Unwilling to lose profits, the agrarian sector decided to go on strike, literally freezing the sale of grain and cattle, the longer the protest the more likelihood for food price increases and food shortages. "Countries accepted the soy model mostly because many ministers, deputies, senators and mayors are investors in soy, secondly, at least in the case of Argentina, the state has received income through taxing exports," says Javier Souza, agricultural engineer and regional coordinator of the Latin American Action Network for Alternative Pesticides. It’s unlikely that the government will reverse its support of the export levies on soy, as revenue from soy exports topped nearly 16 billion dollars in 2008, bringing crucial income for the government’s treasury reserves. On the eve of the farmers’ latest strike, GMO giant Monsanto received the "Prize of Gold" as the best business in Argentina for 2008 from Fortuna Magazine. The company sold over 2.7 billion dollars in seeds and herbicides used in the Roundup Ready package, controlling 50 percent of the seed market. In an interview with Fortuna Magazine, Bernardo Calvo, President of Monsanto’s Latin American branch, said that Argentina still has exponential capacity to expand the production of GMO soy and corn. For Monsanto, the agro-government conflict "the instability caused from the conflict between the countryside and government is here for the long haul and even if this company doesn’t participate in politics, for us it is better in countries and regions where our producers and governments are successful." Losing Farmers Locally, provincial governments have eagerly set up favorable conditions for soy cultivation even at the cost of local farmers and indigenous communities. Chaco is one such province, closer to Bolivia’s border than to Buenos Aires, where traditional farmers have legally occupied land, but without land titles where farmers have lived for decades and tilled the soil. Ramon Alberto Lopez, leader of a grassroots organization of displaced farmers in the northern province of Chaco says soy has brought many social problems. "As the result of soy, more than 50 percent of the population were displaced from the countryside. Soy for some means profits, for us it is death."According to the official agricultural census, a total of 103,405 farmers closed down their farms between 1988 and 2002, which constitutes ¼ of farming businesses, while the average size of farms increased from 421 to 538 hectares. Soy cultivation is highly mechanized, requiring minimal labor. Pushed off land, rural populations have been forced to migrate to urban areas where housing and employment are scarce. Chaco is the second poorest province with 40 percent of the population living below the poverty line. Santiago del Estero, another province seeing record profits from new soy plantations is the poorest province. "Families’ land has been bulldozed with the advance of soy, now we are cornered, literally surrounded by soy fields," said Veronica Gomez from MOCASE – The Campesino Movement of Santiago del Estero. More than 9,000 families make up MOCASE, a grassroots movement of traditional farmers and indigenous groups. It is estimated that more people from Santiago del Estero live outside the province than in their native Santiago del Estero. Gomez says farmers who decide to sell their land and live surrounded by soy fields, "we aren’t direct consumers of agro-toxins but we are still affected." Poisoned Communities Throughout Argentina in rural communities there have been reports of intoxications from the herbicides and pesticides needed in the Roundup Ready seed package sold by Monsanto. Numerous studies have shown that the herbicide glyphosate and pesticide endolsufan cause serious health effects from cancer to birth defects. Glyphosate is the top selling herbicide in the world and is widely used on soy crops in Argentina, used in the Roundup Ready package as soy beans have been genetically modified to tolerate the herbicide glyphosate. More than 44 million gallons of glyphosate is sprayed annually in Argentina. MOCASE has reported has taken more than 100 accusations of agrochemical poisoning to court in Santiago del Estero. Darío Aranda, a journalist with the national daily, Página/12, has reported on numerous communities in soy-producing regions throughout the country that have faced severe health problems, including residents in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Entre Rios, Chaco, Santa Fe, and Formosa. Industry leaders have resisted regulations on the use of agro-chemicals. This issue is so sensitive, the government has remained silent. Argentina's current Secretary of Agriculture Carlos Cheppi refused all formal requests for an interview. His press secretary said Ricardo Gouna is "unwilling to talk about the use and regulation of agrochemicals in Argentina's soy industry." Guillermo Cal is the executive director of CASAFE—Argentina's association of agrochemical companies that counts Monsanto, Dow Agro-sciences, Dupont, and Bayer CropScience among its members. He said in an interview that municipal orders to restrict the distances which agro-chemicals can be sprayed near residential areas were completely ridiculous. "No one is going to have a problem with a product like glyphosate being sprayed near their home." Future of the Soy Republic GMO’s next frontier in the region will be corn, with Monsanto preparing a 200 million dollar investment for Argentina over the next three years. The company hopes that the nation’s cattle ranchers will move to feed lots, rather than grass feeding cattle. Already, cattle ranching has lost 12 million acres to soybeans in the last five years alone. And prices have been affected due to scarcity with beef prices increasing by 20 percent in the past year. According to the Sociedad Rural, Argentina’s main agricultural organization, the production of basic food staples has dropped drastically. From 1997 wheat dropped -19%, Corn dropped -31%, Oats dropped -28%, Rice dropped -23%; while soy production increased +213%. The recent strike, which hasn’t gotten much support from small landholders or farmhands, is a sign that farmers are uncomfortable with the global drop in commodity prices. Meanwhile, consumers continue to pay high prices on food with intermediaries and agribusinesses funneling profits from the global food system. As with colonial countries ravaged by imperial powers, once profits from soy dries up due to a collapse on the global market, Argentina will be left with only the devastating impact of monoculture – displaced rural populations, nutrient depleted soil, loss of biodiversity, and poisoned communities. Marie Trigona is a journalist based in South America. She can be reached at mtrigona@msn.com and www.mujereslibres.blogspot.com Photo from Prensa de Frente

Argentine farmers protest government export taxes

Farmers in Argentina are holding a nation-wide strike against the government´s agricultural policies. FSRN´s Marie Trigona has more from Buenos Aires.

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Farmers camped out along highways burning tires and monitoring trucks carrying grain throughout Argentina as part of the protest that has frozen grain and cattle sales. This protest is the latest episode in a long standing dispute between the agricultural sector and President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner over tax exports on soy. Farmers say the on soy drives profits down for producers. They're also upset over the Presidential veto of a farming law that would have exempted farmers from draught struck areas from paying export levies.