More Mexicans Join the Struggle Against GMO Corn
By D. Johnson
Last week, the leaders of 26 corn-producing municipalities in the state of Oaxaca declared the entire northern sierra of the state to be a GMO-free zone. Doing so adds these activists to the growing number of supporters of a campaign against the planting of GMO corn, which was started last year by the painter Francisco Toledo from the city of Juchitan, also in Oaxaca.
Toledo and other Mexicans involved in this struggle see GMO corn as nothing less than a capitalistic threat to their culture and health. You see, for thousands of years, Mexicans have vigorously cultivated numerous varieties of corn and have developed unique customs, rituals, and beliefs with respect to this plant. And now, multinationals, such as Monsanto, are trying to get their laboratory-modified seeds into the genetic mix. Why? So they can take control of yet another mega-market and make big profits.
And what does Mexico get out of it? Nothing but the corruption of their more than 60 landraces of corn, which is already taking place. Testing has shown GMO contamination to already be present in milpas (cornfields) in various states of the republic.
Currently, there is a temporary federal injunction against any GMO planting whatsoever. However, Mexico imports tons of both GMO and non-GMO corn from the US each year, with no way of distinguishing between the two. And although this corn is to be used directly as food, some of the kernels make it into the milpas, which is how much of the contamination has taken place. Also, some believe that agents of multinationals are playing Johnny Appleseed by scattering GMO seeds throughout the Mexican countryside.
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