URGENT Call for Solidarity Action with Paraguayan campesino movement against soy monoculture
To the Relevant Authorities:
We direct this letter to the Paraguayan authorities and Cargill--the largest exporter of soy in the country--in relation to the citizen protest that will take place on March 26, 2008 in the department of San Pedro. This protest, organized by the Interdistrict Coordination in Defense of Sovereignty, under the banner “Against the Soy Invasion”, expresses the concern of campesino and Indigenous communities for the serious social and environmental problems that are being caused and exacerbated by the expansion of transgenic soy monoculture.
We want to declare our deep solidarity with the action of the local organizations from San Pedro, organized under the Interdistrict Coordination. These organizations constantly speak out against the violence and widespread criminalization that campesino and Indigenous communities suffer due to continuous chemical fumigation and land conflict that is the result of the advancement of soy in Paraguay. In San Pedro, this process has caused massive deforestation and the purchasing of land that belongs to campesinos, leading to the consequent disappearance of communities.
The advancement of the agricultural frontier has created a situation wherein fundamental human rights are constantly violated, there is no respect for environmental laws (like the systematic omission of “living barriers” which results in massive contamination of communities and ecosystems). The deterioration of environmental conditions causes losses to small-scale campesino agriculture, generating poverty and forced expulsion.
Finally, leaders of campesino organizations in the region give testimony to the growing pressure exerted by soy producers on the communities that resist and organize against the expansion and fumigation of soy plantations. They also denounce intents to link them to supposed guerilla organizations in what is recognized as an escalation in the use of violence on the part of the State and agribusiness, violating political rights, civil rights, and rights to social organization which characterize democratic states.
For all of these reasons, and so that the wellbeing of Paraguayan citizens is guaranteed, we demand:
• There should be no repression against the protest being called by the Interdistrict Assembly of San Pedro on March 26, 2008 at the intersection of Guayaibi, route 3 and road 6000.
• The District Attorney’s office should not take any legal actions against the protestors convened by the Interdistrict Assembly of San Pedro on March 26, 2008 at the intersection of Guayaibi, route 3 and road 6000.
• SENAVE , SEAM , the Minister of Public Health, and other relevant authorities should undertake a comprehensive investigation into the situation of large-scale land owners that are under suspicion for violating environmental laws.
• Authorities should create a tracking system for monitoring the health of the population and environment in areas where soy plantations directly adjoin communities.
• Legal procedures should begin for environmental crimes that have been committed and compensation should be established for the victims.
• Measures should be taken against the defamation and criminalization campaigns waged against social organizations by the soy industry and their accomplices and allies.
Finally, we want to highlight that Paraguay subscribes to international agreements related to Human Rights that assist, promote, and protect its citizens. Also, Paraguay is a signatory to the Convention on Biodiversity, which obliges it to defend the rights of its Indigneous and local communities to the protection of biodiversity--understood as cultural, biological, and agricultural diversity.
Attentively,
[signature]
Presidente de la Republica del Paraguay
Nicanor Duarte Frutos
secretariadecomunicaciones@presidencia.gov.py
Fiscal Gral. Del Estado
Dr. Rubén Candia Amarilla
fisgral@infonet.com.py
Defensor del Pueblo
Manuel Maria Paez Monges
defensor@defensoriadelpueblo.gov.py
paezmonges@latinmail.com.py
Ministerio de Salud Pública y Bienestar Social
Dr. Oscar Martínez Doldán
sgeneral@mspbs.gov.py
Policía Nacional
Comisario General Comandante Fidel Alejandro Isasa Palacios
policia.paraguay@gmail.com +595 21 443-125
Cargill Paraguay
Fernando Acosta Gerente general
fernado_acosta@cargill.com
Min de Agricultura
Ingeniero Agrónomo Alfredo Molinas
dgp@mag.gov.py
Dr. Ricardo Merlo
rmerlofaella@hotmail.com
Viceministerio de Agricultura
Ing. Agr. Miguel A. Pangrazio
vagricultura@mag.gov.py
Ministro de Defensa Nacional
Nelson Alcides Mora Rodas
ministro@mdn.gov.py
SENAVE Servicio Nacional de Calidad y Sanidad Vegetal y de Semillas
Presidencia
presidencia@senave.gov.py.
Secretaría del Ambiente de la República del Paraguay (SEAM)
Ministro del Ambiente
Carlos Antonio López Dose
gabinete@seam.gov.py
Pte. Comisión Salud Pública, Seguridad Social, Prevención y Lucha contra
el Narcotráfico ? Senado
Armando Vicente Espínola Wiezell
salud@senado.gov.py
Pte. Comisión Crisis campesina- senado
José Nicolás Morínigo
jnmorinigo@senado.gov.py
Pte. Del Congreso
Miguel Abdón Saguier
msaguier@senado.gov.py
Pte. Comisión de DD HH - Senado
Ana María Juanita Mendoza de Acha
ddhh@senado.gov.py
Pte. Comisión de reforma agraria y bienestar rural
Herminio Chena Valdez
ragraria@senado.gov.py
Pte. Comisión de DD HH - Diputados
Víctor Hermógenes Encina Silva
cdhumanos@diputados.gov.py
Pte. Comisión de Salud Pública
Ignacio Ramón Mendoza U.
csalud@diputados.gov.py
Pte. Comisión Agricultura y Ganadería
Daniel Rojas López
cagricultura@diputados.gov.py
Pte. Comisión Ecología, Recursos Naturales y Medio Ambiente
Agustin Perdomo Ortiz
cecologia@diputados.gov.py
Pte. Comisión Bienestar Rural
Miguel Angel Torres Olmedo
cbierural@diputados.gov.py
Pte. Comisión Energía, Recursos Naturales, Población, Ambiente,
Producción y Desarrollo Sostenible - Senado
Ronaldo Eno Dietze Junghanns
energia@senado.gov.py
Dirección General de Protección y Conservación de los Recursos Hídric os
Ing. Elena Benítez
dgpcrhpy001@yahoo.com