Pesticide and GMO seeds giant Bayer has lost a battle in Mexico. But not the “glyphosate war”, which is waged behind the scenes of power. The president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (“AMLO”), issued, on December 31, 2020, a historic decree that bans, by 2024, the most widely used herbicide in the world as well as transgenic maize. But serial revelations show the extent of political pressure exerted by the American firm to prevent its application. The Mexican agribusiness lobby is working hard. The government is divided as Mexico, the land of origin of corn, imports millions of tonnes from the powerful American neighbor.
So many tensions that pushed Victor Toledo, Minister of the Environment, to resign in August 2020. Fervent defender of the “precautionary principle”, this eminent biologist published, Tuesday, February 23, an accusing column in the left-wing daily La Jornada, titled “The Glyphosate War: Actors and Drama”. Monsanto’s key pesticide ingredient, acquired in 2018 by the German Bayer, is widely used in Latin America.
It is “A chemical venom” for Mr. Toledo, who describes in his column a “Fierce battle” : “You have to understand that a powerful company (Bayer-Monsanto posted revenues of $ 51 billion [soit 43 milliards d’euros en 2019]) has an army of scientists, technicians, advertisers, lobbyists, spies and promoters, and in each country it develops very effective campaigns. ”
Shared stake
“AMLO” held on. On behalf of “Food sovereignty” and some “Defense of biodiversity”, the center-left president plays the pioneers on the subcontinent. His decree gives farmers three years to stop using glyphosate. By then, the purchase and distribution of the pesticide will be gradually reduced. In addition, the text provides, at the same time, for the end of imports and consumption of genetically modified maize.
Mr. Toledo ends his platform with a call for “Mexican and [aux] Mexicans’ at “Defend by all means” the application of the decree. And for good reason: a week earlier, the British daily The Guardian revealed exchanges between Bayer lobbyists and senior US officials aimed at dissuading “AMLO” from making a decision contrary to their interests.
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