Monsanto Loses to Beekeepers of Yucatan Peninsula

Beekeepers have succeeded in preventing, through two suspensions obtained in amparo (specialized protection), the seeding of transgenic soy for 253,500 hectares in Campeche, Quintana Roo, Yucatan, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosi, Veracruz, and Chiapas. 59 organizations of beekeepers, environmentalists, and NGO´s have maintained that the amparos (or protections) granted by the second district court of Campeche, are setting a precedent to continue demanding the definitive suspension of permits that have been issued by SAGARPA to Monsanto. The organizations added in their press release communication that they will not cease in their fight for production that is free of transgenic interference. They have been encouraged greatly by the recent Felipe Carrillo Puerto council, which approved the initiative to declare its territory a “GMO-free zone”. The Felipe Carrillo Puerto council ruling signifies that the judges of Chiapas, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan have resolved in favor of the organizations that presented the initiative. The producers interested in the seeding of transgenic soybeans “are at risk when investing in such cultivation, as there is now a strong opposition and legal and political struggle that this country be declared a GMO-free zone” stated the press communication. During a reunion at SAGARPA, Simon Treviño Alcantara, director general of the Fomento a la Agricultura, assured that this year there will be no planting of transgenic soybean. He insisted that this seeding would affect close to 25 thousand families that survive in the agricultural sector. Alcantara mentioned that European businesses have suspended the purchase of honey from Yucatan and Quintana Roo until they have evidence that the product is free of transgenic organisms. Environmental groups, women, and community development organizations in Chiapas reiterated their rejection of transgenic planting of 30,000 hectares in the municipalities of Acacoyagua, Acapetahua, Cacahotan, Escuintla, Frontera Hidalgo, Huehuetan, Huixtla, Mazatan, Metapa, Suchiapa, Suchiate, Tapachula, Tuxtla Chico, Tuxtla Gutierrez, Tuzantan, Villa Comaltitilan, and Villaflores, as most of these areas are near protected natural zones. The environmental groups argued that Monsanto sells to farmers who plant the transgenic soybean a required herbicide, Roundup Ready, whose formula contains glyphosate, a chemical that when dissolved in water damages plants, animals, and people. Beekeepers blame, Juan Elvira Quesada, Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), in evading its responsibility in the approval of GM seed, this organization has the ability to issue an opinion to the SAGARPA binding so the institution can issue a final and negative decision to plant GM crops.