People have been physically blocking all the access roads to a Monsanto construction site in the small town of Malvinas, Argentina, for over a year, protesting at the death and misery the corporation has brought to their community.
Monsanto´s RoundUp spray (a harmful pesticide called glyphosate) has been sprayed on the fields surrounding this poor town of 15,000 for more than ten years. Doctors have reported a rise in cases of cancer and birth defects, and everyone here knows someone with a chronic respiratory problem.
Monsanto´s plan to build a seed plant in Malvinas was too much for some residents, who decided to join forces to blockade the construction site in September 2013. The corp wants to build one of its biggest plants yet to process GMO corn seeds. These heroic activists- most of them mothers, and one who tragically lost a son to Monsanto´s chemical plant in her backyard- have been attacked by a construction workers´union and the Argentinian army, whose troops were sent in November last year to end the blockade. Despite the serious threat to life, the community has successfully blockaded the site for fourteen months now, seriously messing up Monsanto´s plans.
Truly inspirational people.
