Since cultivation of transgenic crops was introduced seventeen years ago, the promise that they were going to reduce the use of pesticides was not met. What happened instead was an "exponential increase in the use of pesticides in countries that have adopted the technology", said thirty organizations belonging to the Network for a GMO-Free [genetically modified organisms] Latin American.
They also rejected the intention of the companies to cultivate 3 million hectares [7.4 million acres] of transgenic corn in Mexico, which they considered to be
"an unprecedented event in the history of agriculture, since it would be the first time that devastation of such magnitude might occur in one of the centers of origin [maize, corn] and for a crop that feeds humanity".In a statement, the network claimed that in the Southern Cone [Argentina, Chile, Uruguay], the glyphosate-resistant transgenic soybean covers 475,700 square kilometers [183,669 square miles], and the surface is sprayed with a "cocktail of pesticides, including glyphosate", which affects about 10 million people who live in areas where crops are sprayed.
The statement adds that since 2010, Brazil is the leading producer of glyphosate-resistant soybean in the region, and it ranks first worldwide in the use of pesticides:
"The toxic flood has caused an exponential increase in pesticide-related illnesses, such as birth defects, increase in leukemia, lymphomas, autoimmune diseases, and irreparable damage to the ecosystems."The statement points out that these problems would worsen with the adoption of new, stronger herbicide-resistant transgenic events like 2,4 D and Dicamba, glufosinate of ammonium, which have already been approved or are in the approval process in several countries. This is coupled with genetic pollution of agricultural biodiversity and the destruction of natural ecosystems that are the basis for local community livelihoods.
The statement observes that in seventeen years,
"GM crops have spread desolation and death in Latin America. They have achieved high levels of expansion, ranking second worldwide [United States is #1] for areas planted with GM crops."The statement considers that the producers of seeds, pesticides and marketers of GM food
"together with local elites and in collusion with governments, have made Latin America into the factory of GM crops in the world."