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Monsanto Stands Firm on Genetically-Modified Corn in Mexico
Monsanto Vows to Force its Genetically-Engineered Corn Variety on Mexican Maize
Mexico City
The powerful biotech corporation Monsanto, which anti-genetic modification activists charge is corrupt, maintains that it has a positive image around the world and announces that it will continue to fight to ensure that Mexico, birthplace of maize, will open its doors to transgenic varieties of the grain.
In an interview with TierramĂ©rica in Mexico City, Eduardo PĂ©rez, director of technology development for Monsanto in northern Latin America, said that although “activism has created a mistaken perception of us,” it does not affect the company’s commercial performance.
In 2005, some 8.5 million farmers in 21 countries planted genetically modified (GM) crops over 400 million hectares. Most of the transgenic seed was produced by Monsanto.
The corporation has been accused of pressuring and bribing government officials, of going after farmers who fail to pay royalties to Monsanto for seed production, of altering scientific reports, and even of having taken part in creating agent orange, the chemical weapon that became infamous during the Vietnam War (1964-1975).
The representative from Monsanto, a company that rarely grants press interviews, denies many of those charges, but does acknowledge that there was a case of bribery. PĂ©rez announced that the firm does not plan to leave Mexico, despite the Vicente Fox government’s ban on GM maize.
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