Infiltration of GM Corn Sparks Anger in Mexico

The discovery of genetically modified corn in the tiny plots here set off a national furor over what many here see as an assault by American agribusiness on the crop that is at the core of Mexico’s identity.

CAPULÁLPAM DE MÉNDEZ, Mexico – This ancient Zapotec Indian town of whitewashed adobe houses and tiled roofs perched on a verdant slope of the western Sierra Madre could not be farther from the American laboratories where white-coated scientists create strains of genetically altered corn.

This is the birthplace of maize, where people took thousands of years to domesticate its wild ancestor, where pre-Hispanic myths describe it as a gift from the gods, and where cooks prepare it in dozens of ways to be served at every meal. So the discovery of genetically modified corn in the tiny plots here set off a national furor over what many here see as an assault by American agribusiness on the crop that is at the core of Mexico’s identity.

“For us, maize is in everything: tamales, tacos, tortillas, pozole,” said Miguel Ramírez, a local teacher who is active in community affairs. “For us it’s sacred.”

Then, radiating distrust of government assurances after a decade of free trade that has all but depopulated the Mexican countryside, he asked a familiar question here: “What is the government doing to make us self-sufficient?”

The response was a controversial biosecurity law passed by the Mexican Congress in February, a step that…

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