Who doesn’t like a David vs. Goliath story (with a happy ending… unless you’re a Goliath enthusiast)? Such an article appeared in my inbox very recently, having been published on June 28, 2024 by Mexico News Daily.

Crop Comments: Mexican Small Farmers Take on MegacorporationThe article’s headline: “Great news out of Mexico: The country has sent the ag chemical company (now a subsidiary of a German aspirin manufacturer) packing.” Thus, our southern neighbors are one step closer to achieving freedom from what they consider to be toxic genetically modified (GM) corn.

After a four-year legal battle, that company dropped its lawsuit against Mexico’s GMO corn ban. Mexico beat the huge company in what is being called a significant victory for them. With its “tail between its legs” (so to speak), the ag chemical/seed company has withdrawn its legal challenge against the 2020 Mexican presidential decree. That decree aimed at banning glyphosate and GM corn for human consumption.

Mexico’s National Council of Humanities, Sciences & Technologies (Conahcyt) heralded the decision as “a triumph for life, health and food sovereignty.” The battle included over 30 amparo (judicial protective order) suits aiming to declare the decree unconstitutional. However, the majority of the cases concluded with rulings unfavorable to the foreign-owned conglomerate. In shooting down the mega-corporation’s latest legal challenges, Judge Elizabeth Trejo Galán emphasized the precedence of public over private interest. Noting that the legal victory over that ag chemical/seed company underscores Mexico’s commitment to safeguarding public health and environmental integrity, Conahcyt vowed to continue its efforts to ensure that GM corn and glyphosate are removed from the Mexican food supply.

Conahcyt also noted it continues to support alternative agricultural practices and bio-inputs, highlighting their effectiveness in various regions.

The fight isn’t over. The German-based parent company and its allies are using the U.S. government to pressure Mexico to drop the GMO corn ban. Science is on Mexico’s side, but they could use a helping hand. (The writers of this article plead with concerned U.S. citizens to ask our government to stop bullying Mexico.)

The chemical company (formerly based in St. Louis) produces several glyphosate-herbicide-based products that are used in the cultivation of GMOs such as glyphosate-tolerant corn, cotton and soybeans. A common genetic modification makes crops resistant to glyphosate, allowing farmers to apply large amounts of the weed-killer to GMO crops.

The legal battle was initiated in response to former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s 2020 decree to ban the widely used but controversial herbicide, which the World Health Organization classified as a “probable carcinogen” back in 2015 (though its safety remains a subject of debate). In July 2022, the German parent company obtained a court order against the application of the decree. However, the majority of the cases concluded with rulings unfavorable to the corporations involved.

Conahcyt provided scientific and legal defenses, presenting more than 250 pieces of evidence to support the decree. Judge Francisco Rebolledo Peña’s July 2022 ruling in favor of Monsanto was appealed by the Ministry of the Environment & Natural Resources (Semarnat), the Federal Commission for Protection Against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris) and Conahcyt. President-Elect Claudia Sheinbaum appears to be running with the anti-GM “baton,” handed to her by Obrador.

For Mexico, corn is more than agriculture and food safety – it’s geo-politics. A little history review is in order: In 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed into law the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). NAFTA had been negotiated between two developed nations (U.S. and Canada) and an emerging-market country, Mexico. NAFTA’s original aim was to expand trade and make the three countries more competitive globally. But NAFTA’s various impacts became hotly contested political points. The most sensitive of these, arguably, included lower wages vs. cheap gas and cheap food – as well as economic growth vs. farmer exploitation.

Since NAFTA was ratified in 1993, major fallout has resulted from the agreement. Collateral damage involves agricultural trade practices that have dislocated Mexico’s rural farming communities. Low-cost U.S. corn has displaced hundreds of thousands of Mexico’s campesinos (farmworkers). The resulting sharp decline in that nation’s corn economy pushed rural farmers and laborers off their native lands. In response, they sought more stable employment north of the Rio Grande, legal or otherwise.

Before 1994, Mexico limited corn imports to when domestic production fell short of needs. But NAFTA removed those limitations while preserving corn subsidies paid to U.S. corn growers. From 1997 to 2016, our government subsidized U.S. corn producers to the tune of $106 billion. Such subsidies include crop insurance, price supports and market loss assistance. American agribusiness giants, meanwhile, took advantage of NAFTA’s changes to begin dumping millions of tons of U.S. commodity corn onto Mexican markets at below production costs… ultimately driving campesinos from their farms.

Don’t for a moment think that Sheinbaum hasn’t studied this history lesson.