Tagged: Mexico

Mexico

Monsanto and the Carnival of Corn

By mary@yeslab.org on Aug 14 2013 - 6:40pm Reveal date: Aug 14 2013 Status: Complete Partners: Sin Maíz No Hay Vida Tags: Mexico, corn, Monsanto, genetically modified

See also: "Monsanto attempts to silence criticisms of its transgenic seeds business" (in Spanish)

On August 14, 2013, the St. Louis based biotech corporation, Monsanto Company, released an announcement saying the Mexican government had finally, after months of debate, approved the commercial sale of their patented, genetically modified seeds in Mexico. Agricultural news outlets across the internet reported on the development with little surprise and anti-GMO circles lamented another domino felled by the frankencorn-producing, wheat crop-contaminating, farmer-suing agribusiness giant.

That is, until it was revealed that the release was a fake by Monsanto's Twitter feed and blog.

Shortly thereafter, a press release again seemingly from Monsanto denounced the release as a hoax, crediting a group of students and activists called Sin Maíz No Hay Vida (Without Corn There Is No Life). This press release was also written by the activists, offering the true story and countering a claim by Monsanto that they were intent on spreading "misleading information."

In addition to the fake press releases, the group staged a Carnaval del Maíz (Carnival of Corn) in San Cristobál de las Casas, Chiapas, the epicenter of Mexico's Zapatista rebellion. The procession of colorful, painted people embodied the beauty and diversity of the earth, corn, and Mexico herself. They danced and chanted in the the main square, inviting passerby to join in a ballgame representing the people versus Monsanto, and said plainly: Monsanto will not impose their monopoly on life here.

This action is one among many recent mobilizations against Monsanto. For more info on resistance to Monsanto and/or to get involved, please visit the links below:

Stop Monsanto in Mexico

Rechazo internacional a la siembra de maíz transgénico en México (International rejection of the planting of gentically modified corn in Mexico)

Sin Maíz No Hay País (Without Corn There Is No Country)

Stop Trans-Pacific Partnership

Unión de Científicos Comprometidos con la Sociedad (UCCS) (Union of Scientists Committed to Society)

Viva la Milpa

Selected Press:

PolicyMic: Meet the Activists Who Just Humiliated Monsanto
The Pairie Star: Mexico grants Monsanto approval to plant large-scale GM corn fields
AG New Wire: Monsanto Press Release Hoax
La Jornada: Piden activistas en Chiapas informarse sobre daño del maíz transgénico
St. Louis Journal: Monsanto hoax site should be investigated, company says
Flickr Photo Set: Sin Maíz No Hay Vida
Beyond the Rows: Website Hoax

While the live version of the fake Monsanto site was taken down, you can see a saved version in our Museum of Fake Websites.

Leaked Letter from Monsanto to Mexican Government

By mary@yeslab.org on Sep 10 2013 - 12:08pm Project: Monsanto and the Carnival of Corn

This is a translation of a letter sent by Manuel J. Bravo Pereyra, President and General Director of Monsanto Latinoamérica Norte, to Enrique Martínez y Martínez of the Mexican Secretary of Agriculture, on the day the fake press releases were sent. The original letter is here.

México, Mexico City, 14th of August

Lic. Enrique Martínez y Martínez
Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fish, and Food (SAGARPA)

In addition to sending you cordial regards, I would like to inform you that false information about our company was disseminated today through a fake website announcing that “Mexico Grants Monsanto Approval To Plant Large-Scale GM Corn Fields.”

In the context of this reprehensible action, I would like to reiterate that Monsanto Company and Monsanto Latinoamérica Norte categorically reject the authorship of the statement circulated on the internet; any information attributed to the company lacks veracity and represents an intent to create an adverse environment in the government as well as in the company during the process of consideration that your branch of government is currently undertaking.

In Monsanto we are conscious of the responsibility of informing the public about this and other topics in a true and opportune way. Nevertheless, I wish to assure you that all of us at Monsanto do understand the importance of information remaining confidential, and based on a message that has been developed in accordance with the requirements and demands of the Federal Government and each of the Secretariats that safeguard the interests of Mexican land.

Thus I want to specify that the only official global web page of the company is www.monsanto.com. Any information presented elsewhere in the name of the company is totally false.

I want to reiterate our promise to continue collaborating with the authorities in the process of obtaining the authorization that will allow us to use these seeds commercially.

I take advantage of this occasion to send you an affectionate greeting in the name of all of us at Monsanto.

Attentively,

Engineer Manuel J. Bravo Pereyra
President and Director General
Monsanto Latinoamérica Norte

Monsanto, Mexican government caught in the act

By mary@yeslab.org on Sep 10 2013 - 11:57am Project: Monsanto and the Carnival of Corn

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 10, 2013

Monsanto's Panicky Letter to Mexican Government
Leak reveals cozy corporate-government relationship

In response to a fake press release by activists last month, it has been revealed that the President of Monsanto Mexico wrote a lengthy email to the head of Mexico's Agriculture ministry, SAGARPA, in which he assured the minister that "all of us at Monsanto do understand the importance of information remaining confidential, and based on a message that has been developed in accordance with the requirements and demands of the Federal Government and each of the Secretariats that safeguard the interests of Mexican land."

The fake Monsanto release, emailed to hundreds of journalists by an activist group named Sin Maíz No Hay Vida, working together with the Yes Lab, announced that the company had received the Mexican government's authorization to plant 440,000 hectares of patented, genetically modified corn in Mexico—the first time GM corn will have been planted on a large commercial scale in Mexico. Monsanto is indeed applying to the government for the authorization, but SAGARPA is still considering whether to approve it. The consequences of approval, scientists and activists believe, would be dire, and the fake release was intended as a warning for those concerned about Mexico's future.

In the leaked letter (journalists may contact the real Monsanto México or SAGARPA for confirmation), the President of Monsanto Latinoamérica Norte, Manuel J. Bravo Pereyra, condemns the activists for their "reprehensible" action, and promises the head of SAGARPA that all "confidential information" will be developed in cahoots with the government. Bravo Pereyra closes by “reiterat[ing] our promise to continue collaborating with the authorities in the process of obtaining the authorization that will allow us to use these seeds commercially,” and then blows the minister a kiss in the form of “an affectionate greeting in the name of all of us at Monsanto.”

It was already clear before this leak surfaced that the action had struck a nerve with the company. On Twitter, Monsanto lambasted anyone who shared the story. On their company blog, they ungrammatically but lengthily denounced the hoax. And behind closed doors, Bravo Pereyra sent the groveling letter to the man who is currently deciding whether Monsanto should be allowed to monopolize corn.

Please visit the Yes Lab for full text and translation of the letter, and to learn more about mobilizations against Monsanto.