Huff reports: "Unwilling to capitulate to every demand made by the likes of Monsanto, Lugo was clearly a problem for these movers and shakers."
Monsanto was involved in the coup that overthrew Fernando Lugo in Paraguay. (photo: Reuters)
Monsanto Linked to Coup That Ousted Paraguayan President
24 July 12
he political system in Paraguay is undergoing some major turmoil right now following the forced impeachment of former President Fernando Lugo, a "left-of-center" politician democratically voted into office by the people of Paraguay back in 2008. And among those who initiated and brought about this controversial coup was multinational biotechnology giant Monsanto, which was apparently threatened by Lugo's resistance against the company's genetically-modified (GM) crop agenda.
For years, Paraguay's government has been dominated by so-called "right-wing" politicians that have served the interests of the country's local oligarchy, as well as the interests of the U.S. embassy and transnational corporations that have established a powerful stronghold in the country. Among these corporate influences was Monsanto, which over the years has converted much of Paraguay's arable land into plantations that grow GM crops.
But with the election of Lugo in 2008, things were beginning to change in many ways, according to reports, which triggered serious upset amongst Paraguay's status quo class. Unwilling to capitulate to every demand made by the likes of Monsanto, Lugo was clearly a problem for these movers and shakers, who had long controlled national policy to their liking at the expense of the underclasses who have had to endure extreme poverty as a result.
"Monsanto planned to introduce a genetically modified seed for commercial use in the country ... (But) [u]nder Lugo's administration, Paraguay's National Service for Plants and Seeds Quality and Health (SENAVE) refused to approve the seed's use," writes Berta Joubert-Ceci of Workers World concerning Monsanto's involvement in the coup.
"The right-wing oligarchs favor dissemination of Monsanto seeds, while the peasantry has been demonstrating against it. The Union of Associations of Producers, a landowners group tied to Monsanto, was preparing a demonstration for June 25 against Lugo to benefit the giant transnational and the 'liberalization' of its genetically modified seeds."
Though not perfect by any means, Lugo had at least tried to fight back in some ways against Monsanto's gradual takeover of Paraguay's agricultural land, the vast majority of which is now owned by less than three percent of the entire population. Many of Paraguay's family farms have been eliminated over the years and forcibly replaced with large mono-crop plantations that now grow Monsanto's GM soy and other cash crops. (http://www.naturalnews.com/030390_GMO_soy_poverty.html)
Unholy alliance between corporations and government destroying the world
The coup against President Lugo was undeniably engineered by special interests concerned about losing control over a nation that they have been exploiting for decades. By stacking Paraguay's legislature with pro-industry hacks that have no regard for the interests of the people; corporate interests in Paraguay once against successfully marked their territory, just like they continue to do here in the U.S.
You see, countries like the U.S. and Paraguay, though they may differ externally in their political structures, operate in a disturbingly similar fashion. Private industry in both countries has essentially morphed with the government into a single, fascist entity that serves the interests of corporations and a select "elite" at the expense of everyone else.
The working class in Paraguay is obviously much worse off than the working class in America, at least at this point in time. But the principle remains that any government, including the American government, that operates for the sole benefit of its corporate masters is really nothing more than a dictatorship in which the people are no longer considered to be sovereign individuals, but rather slaves.
Sources for this article include:
http://www.workers.org/2012/world/paraguay_0705/
http://leosevero.blogspot.com.br
(You can translate this page into English by pasting the text into Google Translate: http://translate.google.com/)
Learn more:
http://www.naturalnews.com/036486_Monsanto_Paraguay_impeachment.html#ixzz21Zx0vtOe
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Can you believe the hubris of that title?
We cannot afford to let corporations take over the world. They will destroy it simply to make more money. They have no love of people or the planet.
One of the great American myths is that the United States supports and promotes democracy throughout the world.
Was it that Lugo simply played into the hands of the Monsanto/elite crowd, the way Clinton almost did with Monica?
For all the whining going on by Romney and the American right, THIS is exactly what we are fighting for - governments and PEOPLE vs governments and CORPORATIONS.
As the book, Confessions of an Economic Hitman" talks about, the cabal of money that really runs the world go about threatening leaders of other nations: "Play with us and we'll make you very rich, refuse and you will be deposed or killed. Your Choice."
We are in real danger of destroying the world through global warming, polluting (and over-fishing)th e seas and destruction of the agricultural diversity of the planet. GMO is CRAP.
We, the peoples of the world, must unite against these forces that would kill us all for profit. That's all it's about. Neither Monsanto, nor any other corporation doing this, is out for anything more than another buck. they don't care about YOU, me or the planet, only MONEY.
Don't forget that Morales' Bolivia threw Bechtel out of the country after their attempt to dominate and privatize the country's water supply.
This may yet backfire on Monter-anto, as the recent successful lawsuit of $7.7 billion by 5 million farmers have shown Brazil.
They are NOT as invincible as their huge staff of lawyers and lobbyists seem to make them -except in the US and it's puppet nations.
Then the Bushes will have to sell up and move to- where? Colombia?
I strongly suspect that Monsanto was just one of several players in this action. The Colorado Party didn't need any encouragement or help to do what it did. The "excuse" for impeachment was when some local police tried to throw a bunch of peasants off a ranch where they were squatting, they fired back. The ranch is owned by one of the ruling families who got it under the former dictatorship. From the start, Lugo had been trying to institute some sort of land reform and neither the Colorado Party nor American Ag Corp. are very big on that.
As for Lugo's "erstwhile supporters," the Liberal Party, they now have the presidency so it was to their advantage to get rid of him. The 3% of the population that owns the farm land got it under Stroessner when he handed out land deeds to the oligarchy that supported him.
Look back at the past track records of corporations such as United Fruit and it is the same old story.
We send in the "Economic Hitmen" of CIA infused corporate America to coerce what "we" want. If that fails the assassins will follow.(Refer to Trujillo in Panama and the Sandinistas in Nicaragua as examples.)
The Latin American countries have been treated as a corporate plantation for decades. Much of Central and South America have awakened to this and have backlashed against North American empire. It is a continuous struggle ,however, which remains unfinished.
That's the former United Fruit (Guatemalan coup. '54) and still referred to in trading circles as "United Brands". I worked for them as a consultant construction manager in several countries until I found out what they are all about, which includes funneling funds to right wing death-squad militia in quite a few countries for which they were recently successfully sued in Colombia by the families of many "Dissapeared".
I was personally threatened in Ecuador whilst working there in '88, for showing solidarity towards a student rally to get clean drinking water and more open education in Guayaquil on a day off. The company car I was driving was also sprayed by one of their crop-duster planes near Machala in the south of the country -probably with some Monsanto-concoc ted brew.
And they practically own Cincinnati, their world headquarters now under the thumb of the Carl Linder family owner dynasty who call the shots in everything from the press to the arts.
So you might be a bit vigilant next time you shop for fruit -AND please, boycott their bananas, drinks and all products and spread the word about Chiquita; they are as much a part of the death culture as Monsanto!
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