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Headlines : Sci-TechTwo killed in shoot-out at Syngenta GM farm
With two dead, the latest clash between landless peasants and Swiss biotech giant Syngenta is a reminder of the battles being fought over corporate control of the global agricultural market.
Activists from the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) in Brazil have been targeting agribusiness companies in an increasingly desperate bid to reclaim farmland from multinationals. These protests seem to focus less on GM crops than on the corporate takeover of local lands, but the MST acknowledges the role that these crops have played in the globalization of food markets.
While Syngenta blames overly aggressive tactics on the part of MST, it is clear that the actions of the private militias hired by the company have also led to the escalation of violence.
[Posted By tango]Republished from SwissInfo
This is the latest in several such protests by the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) in Brazil targeting multinationals in the agribusiness sector and what it sees as the “evil effects of genetically modified products”.
Police said a peasant leader and a guard were killed at the Swiss-owned Syngenta research farm at Cascavel in the southern state of Parana after it was occupied by 200 landless activists on Sunday. Six protesters and three security guards were also wounded during the clashes, police said.
Syngenta is the world’s largest agrochemical company, with a heavy focus on GM seeds. The 143-hectare property near the Iguaçu waterfalls has been at the heart of controversy and a legal battle over its testing of GM soya bean and corn.
Details of the clash were still unclear. Syngenta spokesman Medard Schoenmaeckers told swissinfo he was surprised by the attack and the aggressiveness of the activists.
Posted by tango
Tango.
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Posted by Butt on Wednesday, May 25th 2005
Brazil’s landless peasants occupy Syngenta plants Brazilian landless peasants occupied two production facilities of agrochemical producer Syngenta on Monday, demanding the Swiss company leave the South American farm export giant. Hundreds of activists broke into a Swiss-owned Syngenta agrochemical plant in the state of Sao Paulo, expelling 50 employees and shutting down production, a company spokeswoman told Reuters.
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The company said it was awaiting a decision from public prosecutors based on police investigations into the shooting of Valmir Mota de Oliveira. Activists accused private security guards at the farm for shooting Oliveira.
Landowners often hire armed guards and hit squads to repel invasions.
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Yet another case of Private Security Guards out of control.
Abajo todos los GM pendejos!
Sorry, no idea how to say that in Portuguese.
Viva Via Campesina and the Iguazú falls YO!