[03/22/2006] Demonstrators defend land occupation on test site of multinational corporation, Syngenta
An international delegation of activists, defending biodiversity and genetic resources, held a solidarity rally today in support of the 600 rural workers currently occupying a test site owned and administered by the multinational corporation, Syngenta. The 600 workers, tied to the Via Campesina, occupied Syngenta’s experimental farm in Teresa do Oeste, state of Parana, on March the 14th.
The solidarity rally began at 9:30am, with the delegates visiting the site currently held by the rural workers. They visited the area illegally planted in transgenic soy, as well as the facilities where experiments were conducted. Delegates went on to pronounce their support of the rural workers who decided to occupy Syngenta’s illegal test site.
Present at the rally were members of the International Via Campesina and Via Campesina – Brasil, along with representatives of Greenpeace, the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), Terra de Direitos (or Land of Rights), the Landless Workers Movement (MST), and members of Brazil’s Workers Party (PT).
Around 2:00pm the international delegation traveled to the local municipal courthouse, where they provided Judge Fabricio Priotto Mussi with a hand written letter in support of the workers. Judge Mussi is the judicial authority responsible for the March 16th ‘reintegration of possesion’ declaration that protects Syngenta’s right to the lands in question.
The purpose of the demonstration was to make clear to Judge Mussi that there is no justification for returning the lands to Syngenta – since the corporation has been experimenting with transgenic crops in an environmentally sensitive area near the Iguaçu Park, an act which violates Brazil’s Law of Biosecurity.
Just yesterday, the superintendent of the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) for the state of Parana, fined Syngenta R$1,000,000.00 for the illegal testing.
On March 8th, IBAMA conducted a site visit and confirmed the presence of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) on 12 hectares of the corporation’s experimental farm.
In Portuguese –
The above article is available in its’ original form by visiting:
http://www.mst.org.br/informativos/minforma/ultimas1752.htm
Also, Brazil's Folha de Sao Paulo reports on the R$1M fine to Syngenta Seeds:
http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/brasil/ult96u76874.shtml