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Guatemalan Protest “Monsanto Law” 2014

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On June 10, 2014 the Guatemalan Congress approved Decree 19-201, a law preventing local Guatemalan people from planting, growing, producing and selling privatized seeds without permission. Failure to abide by this law was punishable by between one to four years in prison, a $1000 US fine and confiscation of farmed product. Local Guatemalan people protested this movement of the local government through a variety of non-violent actions, including as petitions, group protests, and highway shutdown, eventually leading to the resolution on September 2, 2014 when congress repealed the law.

Introduction:

Guatemalan congress passed law Decree 19-201 also known as “Monsanto Law” on June 10th 2014[1] . The law was to go into effect on September 26th, 2014, which would make privatized seed accessible to the indigenous people of Guatemala only through permission of the seed manufactures. Many people from the indigenous community felt this law was unfair and unconstitutional. With 70% of the Guatemalan population being made up of small-scale agriculture and well below the poverty line, this law made it significantly harder on the population to grow crops and support their families[1] . After the announcement of the new law, much of the indigenous population expressed opposition to it through a variety of different methods such as press conferences, newspaper articles, and online sources. The Union of Indigenous and Peasant Movement, made up of Guatemalan people, fought against the new law on the bases that it infringed on the people constitutional rights with the law being suspended till further discussion[1] . This eventually led to the farmers, indigenous people and citizens to start petitions, protests and roadblocks.

Government law:

Guatemalan congress passed law Decree 19-201 also known as “Monsanto Law”. “Monsanto Law” which was brought into the country by complying with the 2005 CAFTA-DR free trade agreement between Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic and the United States [2] . The law was developed in order to help protect new plant varieties. The law prohibited farmers from the replanting, transportation, or selling of privatized seeds without permission [1]. Privatized seeds were seeds that were specially made or genetically modified by a company or group of people that were protected under patent. Ownership of these seeds belonged to the people who created and produced these seeds. Owners of these seeds also had the rights to the seeds that were offspring of the original[1] . Owners of these seeds had patents on there products, which lasted 25 years.

Government set up strict punishment for those who did not follow these laws. Punishment could be anywhere from 1 to 4 years in prison and 130 to 1300 dollar American fine [3] . Other measures of punishment famers in possession of privatized measures of punishment for farmers in possession of privatized seed were having their crops and seed confiscated with no reimbursement. If the seed happened to migrate through natural process and mix with the farmer’s original crop the farmers would still forfeit ownership of their crop. It was also recognized that once the two crop seeds had mixed that the offspring would now fall under ownership of the privatized seed inventor.

People Effected and Protests:

Small-scale agriculture made up 70% of the Guatemalan populations source of income [1] . The new law would affect a large amount of the population, with a large percentage of them already living below the poverty line. One of the main areas of Guatemala that was affected was the city of Sololá. Sololá was a major agricultural center in Guatemala that is made up of one of the largest number of indigenous people in Guatemala [1]. The population in this area identifies as Kaqchikel, T’zutujil, and Kiche Maya [1] . For the Mayan population in this community, maize, also known as corn was particularly sacred and had been depended on for many centuries. The importance of crops in these communities was irreplaceable. With “Monsanto law” being put in place it endangered potential growth of crops in these indigenous communities.

With large masses of the indigenous communities feeling that their human rights had been violated, mass protest eventually arose in 2014 in Guatemala. First protest against the law came from local groups such as Indigenous Observatory, the Maya Ukux Be Association, the Social Collective for the Right to Food, the Latin American Agroecological Movement, the National Network in Defense of Food Sovereignty, Rural Studies Collective, and the National Alliance for Biodiversity Protection through press conference [1] . These press conferences brought awareness and the effects of the law into the spotlight. Later on, the Union of Indigenous and Peasant movement filed legal action against the violation of the indigenous peoples human rights [1] . Large petitions were started among the indigenous community and gain more than 26,955 signatures [1] . The final turning point for the conflict came on September 2, 2014 when 30,000 members of the indigenous community shut down the Inter-American Highway going towards the Guatemalan capital [1] .

Outcome

After the highway protest on September 2, 2014, Congress announced its plans to alter this law over the following three days [1] . After the 10 days of the indigenous protests through press conferences, highway protest, and petitions the Guatemalan Congress members voted 117 to 3, with 38 abstaining to discard the “Monsanto Law” [1]. The non-violent efforts of the indigenous community ultimately put enough pressure on the Guatemalan government to repeal this law.

References[edit]

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Griest, Rebecca. "Guatemalan Protest against Monsanto Law". Non-Violent Action Database. Missing or empty |url= (help); |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  2. Callaghan, Heather (April 15, 2016). "Guatemala Rejects U.S. Trade Law Protecting Monsanto And GMOs". Activist Post. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  3. Compesina, La Viva (March 16, 2016). "Guatemala: Mass Mobilisations Won a Victory over a Monsanto Law". Missing or empty |url= (help)


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