美国逼萨尔瓦多购买孟山都转基因种子
US pressures El Salvador to buy Monsanto's GMO seeds Published time: June 10, 2014 18:11 Get short URLhttp://cdn.rt.com/files/news/28/50/80/00/us-pressures-salvador-monsanto-gmo.si.jpg The entrance sign is seen at the headquarters of Monsanto, at Creve Coeur (St. Louis), Missouri (AFP Photo / Juliette Michele)
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Tags Biology, Conflict, Ecology, Food, GMO, Global economy, Globalization, Health, Human rights, Law, Monsanto, Politics, Scandal, Science, Security, USA
As one of the preconditions to authorizing close to $300 million in aid, the United States is pressuring El Salvador to purchase genetically modified seeds from Monsanto instead of non-GM seeds from local farmers.
According to Sustainable Pulse, a website covering developmentsrelated to genetically modified organisms and sustainableagriculture, the US will reportedly withhold $277 million in aidthrough the Millennium Challenge Compact if El Salvador refusesto purchase GM seeds from the biotech company Monsanto.
The website states that the stalled aid package was originallyput on hold in late 2013, when it was revealed that MillenniumChallenge Corporation would not deliver funds to the countryunless “specific” economic and environmental reforms were made.Apparently, one of those is related to the purchase of GMO seeds.
Speaking with Verdad Digital, however, the president of the ElSalvadoran Center for Appropriate Technologies (CESTA) criticizedthe US negotiating position and said the country should back awayfrom its demand.
“I would like to tell the U.S. Ambassador to stop pressuringthe Government (of El Salvador) to buy ‘improved’ GM seeds,”CESTA president Ricardo Navarro said, adding that the move wouldhurt the local economy and only benefit US companies.
Navarro specifically singled out Monsanto for criticism as well,saying, “There is a harmful corporation on the planet calledMonsanto … it is truly disturbing that the U.S. is trying topromote them.”
In Europe, too, Monsanto’s GM seeds have garnered criticism. InMarch, France banned the growth and sale of the company’sinsect-repelling maize seed MON 810, just a few days before itwas revealed that insects in the US were developing resistance tothe crop.
The comments from Navarro also arrive as Monsanto is under firein several South American countries, including El Salvador andBrazil. As RT reported previously, El Salvador passed legislation in September 2013 banningglyphosate, used in Monsanto’s Roundup pesticides, as well asdozens of other agricultural chemicals.
Similar proposals are being considered in Brazil, where thecountry’s prosecutor general recently urged the National HealthSurveillance Agency to “reevaluate the toxicity of eightactive ingredients suspected of causing damage to human healthand the environment,” including glyphosate and seven otherchemicals.
As for why glyphosate is coming under such heavy scrutiny, newresearch has indicated that while the chemical is not asdangerous on its own, it becomes extremely toxic to humans onceit mixes with natural metals found in soil.
Meanwhile, other reports have linked glyphosate to the outburst of afatal kidney disease that has killed thousands of people in ElSalvador and Sri Lanka, and could also help explain similarsituations in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and India. 给你一点甜头，”送“你一匹特洛伊木马
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