Ethan A. Huff / Natural News – 2012-07-25 22:52:51

http://www.naturalnews.com/036486_Monsanto_Paraguay_impeachment.html

(July 16, 2012) — The political system in Paraguay is undergoing some major turmoil right now following the forced impeachment of former President Fernando Lugo, a “left-of-center” politician democratically voted into office by the people of Paraguay back in 2008.

And among those who initiated and brought about this controversial coup was multinational biotechnology giant Monsanto, which was apparently threatened by Lugo’s resistance against the company’s genetically-modified (GM) crop agenda.

For years, Paraguay’s government has been dominated by so-called “right-wing” politicians that have served the interests of the country’s local oligarchy, as well as the interests of the US embassy and transnational corporations that have established a powerful stronghold in the country. Among these corporate influences was Monsanto, which over the years has converted much of Paraguay’s arable land into plantations that grow GM crops.

But with the election of Lugo in 2008, things were beginning to change in many ways, according to reports, which triggered serious upset amongst Paraguay’s status quo class. Unwilling to capitulate to every demand made by the likes of Monsanto, Lugo was clearly a problem for these movers and shakers, who had long controlled national policy to their liking at the expense of the underclasses who have had to endure extreme poverty as a result.

“Monsanto planned to introduce a genetically modified seed for commercial use in the country … (But) [u]nder Lugo’s administration, Paraguay’s National Service for Plants and Seeds Quality and Health (SENAVE) refused to approve the seed’s use,” writes Berta Joubert-Ceci of Workers World concerning Monsanto’s involvement in the coup.

“The right-wing oligarchs favor dissemination of Monsanto seeds, while the peasantry has been demonstrating against it. The Union of Associations of Producers, a landowners group tied to Monsanto, was preparing a demonstration for June 25 against Lugo to benefit the giant transnational and the ‘liberalization’ of its genetically modified seeds.”

Though not perfect by any means, Lugo had at least tried to fight back in some ways against Monsanto’s gradual takeover of Paraguay’s agricultural land, the vast majority of which is now owned by less than three percent of the entire population. Many of Paraguay’s family farms have been eliminated over the years and forcibly replaced with large mono-crop plantations that now grow Monsanto’s GM soy and other cash crops.

The coup against President Lugo was undeniably engineered by special interests concerned about losing control over a nation that they have been exploiting for decades. By stacking Paraguay’s legislature with pro-industry hacks that have no regard for the interests of the people; corporate interests in Paraguay once against successfully marked their territory, just like they continue to do here in the US

You see, countries like the US and Paraguay, though they may differ externally in their political structures, operate in a disturbingly similar fashion. Private industry in both countries has essentially morphed with the government into a single, fascist entity that serves the interests of corporations and a select “elite” at the expense of everyone else.

The working class in Paraguay is obviously much worse off than the working class in America, at least at this point in time. But the principle remains that any government, including the American government, that operates for the sole benefit of its corporate masters is really nothing more than a dictatorship in which the people are no longer considered to be sovereign individuals, but rather slaves.

Sources for this article include:

http://uprisingradio.org

http://www.workers.org/2012/world/paraguay_0705/

http://leosevero.blogspot.com.br (You can translate this page into English by pasting the text into Google Translate: http://translate.google.com/)

Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.