Thanks be to
God, titans like Monsanto are not invincible.
Here is the opening of the story of how one persistent lady and her
friends overcame them:
Leydy Pech, an indigenous Mayan beekeeper,
led a coalition that successfully halted Monsanto’s planting of genetically
modified soybeans in southern Mexico. The Mexican Supreme Court ruled that the
government violated the Mayans’ constitutional rights and suspended the
planting of genetically modified soybeans. Because of the persistence of Pech
and her coalition, in September 2017, Mexico’s Food and Agricultural Service
revoked Monsanto’s permit to grow genetically modified soybeans in seven
states. Now Pech has been awarded the 2020 Goldman Environmental Prize.
It is
important to note what enabled their success - a firm adherence to and love for
their old traditions and a mechanism in the fundamental law of Mexico that
allows for local autonomy:
The state of Campeche in Mexico’s Yucatan
Peninsula features an ancient mixture of forests, beekeeping, local
agriculture, and deep-seated Mayan culture. Mexico is the world’s sixth largest
producer of honey, and 40% of the nation’s honey production originates from the
Yucatán Peninsula. In Campeche, 25,000 families — especially within indigenous
Mayan communities — depend on honey production for their livelihoods.
Beekeeping is also integral to Mayan
culture and a key factor in the protection of Campeche’s forests. Recently, with
the rise of industrial agriculture, the state lost nearly 94,000 acres of
forest — the highest rate of deforestation in Mexico.
. .
.
In 2012, the Mexican government granted
Monsanto permits to plant GM soybeans in seven Mexican states, including Campeche
and the Yucatán, without consultation by local communities. It was soon
apparent that the GM crops were contaminating local honey in Campeche,
threatening the food supply, environment, and livelihoods of the Mayan
communities.
Leydy Pech, 55, is a proud Mayan woman who
makes her living as a beekeeper in a collective of Mayan women. She was born
and raised in Hopelchén, where the practice of beekeeping goes back centuries
for the Mayan community. Pech has focused her beekeeping practice on a rare native
bee species, Melipona beecheii. She is also a promoter of sustainable
development for rural Mayan communities as a member of Koolel-Kab/Muuchkambal,
an organic farming and agroforestry cooperative composed solely of Mayan women.
Beekeepers fight back
In June 2012, in response to the planting
of GM soybeans in the region, Pech brought beekeepers, NGOs, and
environmentalists together in a coalition known as Sin Transgenicos (Without
GMOs). That same month, Pech led the group in filing a lawsuit against the Mexican
government to stop the planting of GM soybeans. Their case rested on the fact
that neither the government nor Monsanto consulted indigenous communities
before approving the permits — in violation of the Mexican Constitution and
International Labor Organization’s Convention 169.
. .
.
In November 2015, in response to the
coalition’s lawsuit, Mexico’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the
government must consult indigenous communities before planting GM soybeans. The
ruling effectively canceled Monsanto’s permits and prohibited the planting of
GM soybeans in Campeche and Yucatán. And, in September 2017, thanks to Pech’s
organizing, Mexico’s Food and Agricultural Service revoked Monsanto’s permit to
grow genetically modified soybeans in seven states, including Campeche and
Yucatán. This decision marks the first time that the Mexican government has
taken official action to protect communities and the environment from GM crops.
. .
. An unassuming but powerful guardian of Mayan land and traditions, Pech
experienced frequent discrimination and was widely underestimated: upon seeing
her in person following her court victory, a lawyer for Monsanto remarked that
he couldn’t believe that this little woman beat them.
--Ibid.
Would that
the South still had as much tenacity to fight for her traditions, and the structural
mechanisms to protect them, as Miss Leydy Pech and the Mayans of Mexico.
--
Holy Ælfred
the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!
Anathema to
the Union!
