Colombia's first steps of resistance against Monsanto's chemical war
Colombia's first steps of resistance against Monsanto's chemical war
W.T. Whitney Jr
8th June 2015
The mass spraying of glyphosate in Colombia, both on farmland and in the 'war on drugs', is a direct an attack on small scale farmers, rural communities and FARC rebels, writes W.T. Whitney Jr. But since the chemical was declared a 'probable carcinogen' Colombia has restricted aerial applications. The first step in a wider backlash against the toxic herbicide?
Monsanto Corporation's glyphosate, sold as 'Roundup', is the world's most widely used herbicide.
For the globalized capitalist economy it's a tool for wealth accumulation and, secondarily, for subjugating rural populations. In Colombia glyphosate is a weapon of war.
For 20 years the US and Colombian governments have used glyphosate in their so-called drug war to eradicate coca crops. Glyphosate now returns to the news. The occasion is ripe for a look at the herbicide's outsized role in the world economy and its dire effects everywhere.
More:
http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2892995/colombias_first_steps_of_resistance_against_monsantos_chemical_war.html
