από τις 53 μελέτες που είχαν υποβληθεί από παραγωγούς της γλυφοσάτης στην EFSA μόλις δύο ήταν επιστημονικά αξιόπιστες με βάση τα διεθνή πρότυπα του ΟΟΣΑ. Οι 34 ήταν μη αξιόπιστες ενώ οι υπόλοιπες 17 μερικά αξιόπιστες.

and hand control to Big Ag

In recent months, Monsanto’s most controversial and notorious product — the pesticide glyphosate, branded as Roundup, and linked to cancer in recent U.S. court rulings — has threatened Bayer’s financial future as never before, with a litany of new court cases barking at Bayer’s door. It appears that many of the forces in the U.S. now seeking to overthrow the Venezuelan government are hoping that a new Guaidó-led government will provide Bayer with a fresh, much-needed market for its agrochemicals and transgenic seeds, particularly those products that now face bans in countries all over the world, including once-defoliated and still-poisoned Vietnam.

Despite Hugo Chavez's ad hoc ban on transgenic crops in 2004, large multinational corporations, like Monsanto, are trying to use the current economic climate to negotiate for the arrival of GM seed in Venezuela.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are campaigning against the destruction of the Gran Chaco. According to ENDEPA, a national organisation of indigenous people, deforestation is not even mainly about timber: “The Indios in Argentina are facing multinational corporations which are massively buying real estate, in Patagonia as well as in the Chaco. Many of these companies are bogus firms with addresses in tax havens. As far as we understand the motives of these companies, they are interested in the natural resources of this country. We are seriously concerned, because great water reserves – above and below the surface – are coming under the control of these corporations.” Under the dry, thorny forest, there is a huge subterranean water reservoir: a part of the Gran Chaco belongs to the Guaraní aquifer, which also passes below Brasil, Paraguay and Bolivia. It is assumed that this aquifer is the second biggest freshwater reserve of the world.

The protection of seed is thus of the utmost importance for the indigenous peoples of Guatemala and across Mesoamerica. “We cannot live without our corn,” said Acetún of the indigenous municipality. “It makes up all of our lives. We consume it for our food, we sell it, it is us.”

In addition to their deadly chemicals, studies note Monsanto’s GMOs increase human allergy susceptibility, suppress the immune system and possibly cause autism and cancer.

Last year senior Monsanto scientist Dan Goldstein attempted to quell fears over the mega company’s chemical pesticide RoundUp poisoning people’s bodies over time.