Cargill may have broken law over Colombia land buying -Oxfam

[Judi Lynn]

4. (US company) Cargill made illegal farmland grab in Colombia, Oxfam says

Cargill made illegal farmland grab in Colombia, Oxfam says

By Tom Webb
[e-mail]
Posted: 09/27/2013 12:01:00 AM CDT | Updated: 111 min. ago

Social justice charity Oxfam is accusing agribusiness giant Cargill of using "36 shell companies" to acquire nearly 130,000 acres of farmland in Colombia, evading that nation's limits on land ownership.

In a report called "Divide and Purchase" on issued Friday, Oxfam says that a Cargill subsidiary moved quietly to buy huge tracts of farmland in Colombia's Altillanura region between 2010 and 2012.

Cargill spokeswoman Lori Johnson said Friday that it's true that one of its subsidiaries made sizeable purchases of Colombian cropland, but the Wayzata-based agribusiness giant believes the acquisitions were legal.

"There are parcels that have been set aside for family farms," Johnson said Friday. "We did not buy any parcels that had those restrictions. ... All of the actions taken were above-board and fully in tune with the laws of Colombia."

More:
http://www.twincities.com/business/ci_24191892/cargill-guilty-farmland-grab-colombia-oxfam-says