Land Reform was a key reform issue under President Duarte, with some 2- 10% owning 72 - 80% of the arable land of Paraguay and he spent much of his early presidency making promises to return land to the "peasants". He has done next to nothing in this regard and has become increasingly militaristic when dealing with the poor. No doubt *co. are planning to make the most of this situation by inserting themselves into the situation and will make off with most of the spoils. Wonder what they have "promised" Duarte only to abandon him when it's time to insert another dictator who will follow orders to the letter.
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/411/5/Apparently GM soy is one of the only crops grown in Paraguay (did not know that) to the detriment of the poor and to the delight of the rich
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Tuesday, 29 August 2006
In Paraguay, the expansion of monocultures like soy leads to an agricultural model in which peasants have no stand. The soy production model is an export-orientated agro-industrial model that generates wealth for a few and poverty for many. Almost half of the population in Paraguay consists of farmers, peasants and indigenous, while land concentration in terms of the percentage of land that is in the hands of large landholders, is one of the highest of the world. The lack of access to land causes poverty, malnutrition, social marginalisation, rural unemployment and the migration of hundreds of families. For this reason, land reform is one of the most important challenges that the country faces. Since July 2006 the MCNOC (National coordination platform of peasant organizations) reintensified their campaign for integral land reform. In response, communities have been violently repressed by militaries and police forces. Thousands of families are currently living under threat.
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In Paraguay the economy depends on the export of 3 products: meat, wood and soy3; markets dominated by foreign enterprises. Commodities and food are produced for export while it is estimated that almost half of the population lives below the poverty line. Departments with the most intensive expansion of the acreage of soy (as Caazapá and San Pedro) are precisely those departments with the biggest incidence of extreme poverty4. Land is increasingly falling into hands of big landowners; the producers with more than 1000 hectares (1 percent of the farms) own 77 percent of the farm land5. Many of them are foreigners such as Brazilian and Japanese producers dedicated to GM soy production6. In 2005, 2 million hectares of soy got planted7 which is almost half of the total surface of Holland. It is estimated that half of these 2 million hectares, were illegally planted on lands destined for land reform. Many of these lands are obtained by Brazilian soy producers through different forms of corruption.
Cynically, current president Nicanor Duarte Frutos has stated publicly that ‘the capitalist soy producers’ are confiding in a production project that is “selfish and excluding, and are not even capable of giving 2 hectares of land to the farmers to sow it“, assuring that “Latin America doesn’t need this style of economic model”8 Meanwhile he has permitted numerous operations of police and militaries repressing the demonstrations and peasant communities. Under the government of Nicanor Duarte Frutos more than 2000 peasant leaders got charged, hundreds of families mutilated and more that 15 peasant leaders were murdered9. The presence of North American troops in Paraguay has aggravated the criminalization of peasant organizations. According to studies of Serpaj the worst cases of repression against farmers have taken place in areas with the highest concentration of US troops: “The US military is advising the Paraguayan police and military about how to deal with these farmer groups…they are teaching theory as well as technical skills to Paraguayan police and military…the US troops form part of a security plan to repress the social movement in Paraguay”10. National sovereignty, the welfare and sustainability of its population don’t seem to have much value for this government as long as the agribusiness keeps filling its pocket. The next cropping season for (mainly transgenic) soy starts in September. Is this why the level of evictions is accelerating?
The events of the last weeks show that repression against the peasant movements is intensifying.
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This is the critical situation lived in Paraguay, while at the same time representatives from big international NGOs like the WWF are giving a green face to the production model that is causing this violence. In the second Round Table Meeting on 'Responsible Soy' at the end of this month, a so called multi-stakeholders process will be held in Asuncion, Paraguay's capital. On the agenda is the elaboration of a ´brand´ of 'responsible' soy. This in order to try to 'soften' the effects of soy expansion that would reach up to 300 million tons in 2020 (a growth of 60%). NGOs like WWF, Solidaridad and Guyra Paraguay (Birdlife International) will be sharing their table with agribusiness like Unilever, Grupo Andre Maggi, investors like ABN-AMRO and the soy lobby. Civil society organisations and NGOs involved in this process, promoting sustainability seem to forget that talking about sustainability and responsibility doesn't fit with a market model that has profit and expansion as its only goal.
So looks like *co. is once again making sure that the poor brown people don't get what they are entitled to..
and this
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0609/S00489.htmsnip
Although Paraguay experienced some turbulence under the leadership of several lackluster figures after Stroessner fled the country – one example being former President Luis González Macchi who resigned in 2002 following embezzlement charges – successive administrations have shown Paraguay making slow strides towards a more open society. President Duarte, although surrounded by a ‘pink tide’ of leftist countries, has fashioned a traditionally America-friendly foreign policy and enthusiastically has allied himself with the Bush administration, much to the chagrin of fellow MERCOSUR members.
The White House is actively maintaining this valued connection with Duarte. As part of a broad range of activities in the country, the Bush administration has sent USAID personnel to the rural regions of Paraguay to assist with democratization processes. Moreover, Bush has dispatched units from US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) to train the Paraguayan military in anti-terrorism tactics, as well as National Guard troops to train and engage in civic action programs. However, even though these policies are meant to project a benevolent tone – characterized more by medical missions than military training exercises – Washington’s underlying strategic interests have still found a way to surface.
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U.S. foreign policy regarding Paraguay is two pronged: first, it is characterized by USAID attempts to implement a democratization process. After decades of tyranny and subsequent instability, Paraguay held its first bona fide election following the Coloradistas’ cessation of power in 1993. Since then, Washington reports that it has improved electoral transparency, modified penal code provisions, and mediated a dialogue between impoverished peasants who have taken up arms and government military units ordered to subdue them. USAID justifies its infiltration of the economically-depressed areas in the country, maintaining that its staff is creating jobs and ensuring higher standards of living for the local peasantry.
Interestingly, USAID is spending more time on preparing its lesson plans than dealing with the red tape that normally accompanies such endeavors. As opposed to other country donors, the U.S. has established a process in which it can sidestep the local bureaucracy and instead go directly to the local communities to develop grass-roots democratization programs. Much of this accommodation may not be merely aimed at expediting democracy; it could equally be aimed at servicing Washington’s security goals for the region. If accurate, U.S. authorities could be eliminating a potential source of populist support for their initiatives.
Entire article worth a read
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