Soy Monocultures Cause Death and are Unethical

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Dear President Lugo,
dear Madam and Sir and Paraguay

I am writing to request you please protect Paraguay's communities and environment against soya monocultures. It pleased me to hear of your election commitments to protect small farmers against soya plantations, including against pesticide spraying and to stop deforestation. However now, once elected, I understand you continue to support expanded soya export. I am deeply concerned to hear about the increasing violence against peasant organisations that are mobilising against pesticide spraying in the soya monocultures, while promoting a new agricultural policy that protects small farmers and food sovereignty as well as the environment.

Two peasant leaders - Sindulfo Martínez, of the organisation MCP, and Bienvenido Melgarejo, of the organisation ASAGRAPA - have recently been murdered. There are reports of a 'hit list' with the names of fifty peasant leaders who fear that they could be murdered next. In past weeks, the courts and the police have been involved in the eviction of peasant camps which have been lawfully set up on the margins of, not on, soya plantations, resorting to laws which exist to prevent criminal offences when none have occurred. People have been unlawfully evicted, detained, criminalised and tortured.

With this letter, I want to show my strong support to the main demands of peasant movements and civil society organisations in Paraguay: that pesticide spraying of soy monocultures must be banned and effectively stopped. And the lands illegaly sold to agribusiness companies must be returned to the landless Paraguayan peasants.

I urge you to stop the eviction orders and repression against peasant mobilisation. The two recent murders and all reports of police violence and torture must be fully investigated and those responsible must be held to account. The families of those who have been murdered must receive financial compensation.  

The government must take immediate action and investigate the death threats against peasant leaders. The first step for this is to dissolve the so called "Citizen Security Commissions", commonly called "Garrote Commissions". These groups are the main actors of the para-police violence against social organisations in the rural areas.

To address the urgent crisis situation of poverty and environmental devastation in Paraguay, your government must initiate a programme to support peasant farming and food sovereignty, rather than further sacrificing Paraguay's communities and environment to produce animal feed and agrofuels for export. It is unwise to seek to grow soya exports when your citizens are paying such a high price for their toxic and dangerous production.

Please let me know what your plans are for addressing this urgent situation, in order to avoid more violence and human rights violations, including more killings of peasants, and to protect communities and the environment from soya monocultures. Paraguay's reputation and future ecological
sustainability depends upon doing the right thing and ending soya's negative impacts upon its environment and people. The world is watching.

Yours faithfully,