Monsanto Request Removal of Mexican Judge over GM Maize Ban

Posted on Apr 9 2014 - 11:23am by Sustainable Pulse

Monsanto have requested the removal of an Appeals Court Judge in Mexico, who ruled against them in the ongoing legal battle on the prohibition of GM Maize in the country.

On February 28th, Monsanto made an official request for the removal of Judge Jaime Manuel Marroquin Zaleta from the court case that has already made 2 rulings to ban GM Maize cultivation in Mexico.

For Full Overview of the GMO situation in Mexico view here

Monsanto have accused Judge Marroquin Zaleta of stating his opinion on the case before sentencing.

In December, Judge Marroqun Zaleta threw out the appeals of Mexico’s SEMARNAT (Environment and Natural Resources Ministry), and Monsanto, who were attempting to overturn a September court ruling that banned the planting of GM maize in Mexico.

Rene Sanchez Galindo, the attorney for the group Acción Colectiva, stated Wednesday that, “the accusation against a Federal Judge by a multinational company, which has been questioned for lying to the world’s population with misleading information about the damage their products cause , and whose employees occupy high positions in governments around the globe; is tantamount to granting a merit badge to the Judge.”

Acción Colectiva is a group of 53 scientists and 22 organizations, which successfully brought the case to ban GM maize in Mexico. It is led by Father Miguel Concha of the Human Rights Center Fray Francisco de Vittoria; Victor Suarez of ANEC (National Association of Rural Commercialization Entertprises); Dr. Mercedes Lopéz of Vía Organica; and Adelita San Vicente, a teacher and member of Semillas de Vida, a national organization that has been involved in broad-based social action projects to protect Mexico’s important status as a major world center of food crop biodiversity.

The Appeals Court decision in December went further in securing the first judgement by stating that even if a new court case is filed on this subject by Monsanto and its government supporters, the suspension shall remain in effect until the appeals court has made a final ruling.

The Mexican federal government had allowed trial crops of GM maize to be planted in Mexico since 2009 before the shock decision in September made by the Twelfth Federal District Court for Civil Matters of Mexico City. Judge Jaime Eduardo Verdugo J. cited “the risk of imminent harm to the environment” as the basis for the decision.

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10 Comments so far. Feel free to join this conversation.

  1. GMOsRnotNice April 9, 2014 at 19:34 - Reply

    If the judge is upholding the rule of law and protecting the People of Mexico, the judge should stay no matter what Monsanto wishes to control.

    • Glenda April 10, 2014 at 03:13 - Reply

      So now they’re going to try to have Judges removed because the decision went against them? SHAME on them. They are trying to kill us all and they’re fighting in court to do it. That Judge should stay and they should not be able to get him off that bench.

      Monsanto, et. al., are out to poison the world’s population we need to fight back strongly.

  2. Violet S. April 9, 2014 at 21:45 - Reply

    Mexico’s maize is the people’s heritage. Compromising its traits is unthinkable, worse than burning Bibles.s

  3. Athena Emmanouilidis April 10, 2014 at 10:25 - Reply

    If the U.S. government wants us all poisoned then we should all collectively file a suit against Monsanto and the U.S government

  4. Barbara April 11, 2014 at 00:36 - Reply

    Oh my goodness!!! SHAME, SHAME on Monsanto!!! 226952

  5. Joan Russow April 11, 2014 at 19:37 - Reply

    In January 8, 2008, I filmed the rally against Transgenic maiz where the citizens were calling out “no hay pais sin Maiz”

    Given the evidence of harm,of GMOs to human health and the environment, the precautionary principle must be invoked and a global ban on genetically engineered food and crops instituted; the charters of Monsanto et Al revoked and charges of gross/criminal negligence levied against these companies; the corporate/government collusion must end and the rule of international law respected.

    Perhaps Mexico could propose, at the United Nations General Assembly, a Declaration calling for a global ban on genetically engineered food and crops.

    http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/the-un-general-assembly-institute-a-global-ban-on-genetically-engineered-food-and-crops

    Mexico is not alone in calling for ban; there must be a global call so that Monsanto et Al cannot continue to destroy global food security.

  6. Shanen April 12, 2014 at 16:44 - Reply

    1969 World Health Organization and United Nations Agricultural Division ‘report’ about BHC “666” also known as Lindane; Monsanto’s pesticide…former chemical weapon of war: http://www.inchem.org/documents/jmpr/jmpmono/v068pr03.htm made by Monsanto (and Mallinckrodt and others) Ironically, “Agent Orange” is comprised of two “pesticides”; 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T….and VX (the nerve agent) was formerly known as the pesticide “Amiton”. Perhaps this is just an excuse to make Nerve Agents and chemicals of war COVERTLY. All I am sure of is that they left their ‘trash’ in our ‘backyard’ here in the Midwest. MO, ARK, KS and OK have been dealing with the long term health effects of their experiments in bioengineering, bioweapons, biogenetics of seeds etc for decades since we’re a “STUDY UNIT” for those toxic harms. Here is the report: http://pubs.usgs.gov/wri/wri96-4003/WRIR96-4003.pdf The judge should and has protected his people…I only wish our “Supreme Court Justices” and politicians weren’t bought and paid for, or we might not have millions of American’s on Disability. They named it “666”…don’t take the “mark of the beast”, Mexico. We were even warned about this in the bible.

  7. Rachel April 15, 2014 at 18:28 - Reply

    When studies show harm caused by Monsanto’s products, Monsanto removes the study (www.gmoseralini.org)…if they don’t like the court ruling they remove the Judge. Even just requesting the Judge’s removal is an insult on many fronts to, Truth, Justice and the Environment. If Monsanto could redefine Truth, Safe, Natural…it would. Stay strong Mexico…you don’t need Chemical company corn, Shareholder soybeans or Cover-up cassava etc no one would buy it even if you decide to destroy your environment to grow it.

    Many large chemical companies not just Monsanto actively hide the Truth and deny harm…

    http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/02/10/140210fa_fact_aviv?currentPage=all

    http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/21/silencing_the_scientist_tyrone_hayes_on

  8. Joah July 12, 2014 at 15:21 - Reply

    Its all about UN’s Agenda 21 “Structure and contents
    Agenda 21 is a 300-page document divided into 40 chapters that have been grouped into 4 sections:

    Section I: Social and Economic Dimensions is directed toward combating poverty, especially in developing countries, changing consumption patterns, promoting health, achieving a more sustainable population, and sustainable settlement in decision making”

    Achieving a more sustainable population… This is what Monsanto is about.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agenda_21

  9. Mark October 28, 2014 at 04:50 - Reply

    GMO is a dangerous poison. Eating genetically modified corn (GM corn) and consuming trace levels of Monsanto’s Roundup chemical fertilizer caused rats to develop horrifying tumors, widespread organ damage, and premature death. rats exposed to even the smallest amounts, “developed mammary tumors and severe liver and kidney damage as early as four months in males, and seven months for females.” The animals on the GM diet suffered mammary tumors, as well as severe liver and kidney damage. Everywhere GMO is being grown, food allergies, disorders such as autism, reproductive disorders, digestive problems, and others have been skyrocketing in the human populations.

    There has been a drastic decline of crop-pollinating insects all over the world, and what this means for the future of the world’s food supply. Wild pollinators like bumblebees, butterflies, and beetles are basically disappearing. GMO industrial agricultural practices are causing this insect genocide. Pollinating insects in general, which include a wide range of insects and other animals, are simply vanishing from their normal habitats and foraging areas. That lower diversity and lower abundance of wild insects means less fruits and destruction of the diversity of plants and their fruits worldwide.

    GMOs cross pollinate and their seeds can travel. It is impossible to fully clean up our contaminated gene pool. Self-propagating GMO pollution will outlast the effects of global warming and nuclear waste. The potential impact is huge, threatening the health of future generations. GMO contamination has also caused economic losses for organic and non-GMO farmers who often struggle to keep their crops pure.

    GMOs increase herbicide use. Most GM crops are engineered to be “herbicide tolerant”―surviving deadly weed killers. Monsanto, for example, sells Roundup Ready crops, designed to survive applications of their Roundup herbicide. Between 1996 and 2008, US farmers sprayed an extra 383 million pounds of herbicide on GMOs. Overuse of Roundup results in “superweeds,” resistant to the herbicide. This is causing farmers to use even more toxic herbicides every year. Not only does this create environmental harm, GM foods contain higher residues of toxic herbicides. Roundup, for example, is linked with sterility, hormone disruption, birth defects, and cancer.

    GM crops and their associated herbicides can harm birds, insects, amphibians, marine ecosystems, and soil organisms. They reduce bio-diversity, pollute water resources, and are unsustainable. For example, GM crops are eliminating habitat for monarch butterflies, whose populations are down 50% in the US. Roundup herbicide has been shown to cause birth defects in amphibians, embryonic deaths and endocrine disruptions, and organ damage in animals even at very low doses. GM canola has been found growing wild in North Dakota and California, threatening to pass on its herbicide tolerant genes on to weeds.

    By mixing genes from totally unrelated species, genetic engineering unleashes a host of unpredictable side effects. Moreover, irrespective of the type of genes that are inserted, the very process of creating a GM plant can result in massive collateral damage that produces new toxins, allergens, carcinogens, and nutritional deficiencies.

    GMOs do not increase yields, and work against feeding a hungry world.

    Whereas sustainable non-GMO agricultural methods used in developing countries have conclusively resulted in yield increases of 79% and higher, GMOs do not, on average, increase yields at all. This was evident in the Union of Concerned Scientists’ 2009 report Failure to Yield―the definitive study to date on GM crops and yield.

    The toxins associated with GMO should never be tolerated. NEONICOTINOID PESTICIDE neurotoxins are absolutely the main factor causing the collapse of bee and pollinator populations along with other lethal chemicals, glysophate, etc. When these poisons are banned as they were in Europe the bee populations start to recover. GMO neonicotinoids, roundup etc. MUST BE BANNED OUTRIGHT and all the farmers along with USDA, Biotech and chemical companies told to cease and desist from what they are doing.

    An even scarier prospect: the “BT” version of GMO soybeans and corn, (basically pesticides engineered directly into the plant )

    The “BT toxin” gene is put into the DNA of the corn in order for it to manufacture its own toxins that kill pests. The BT gene originated from a soil bacteria that also infiltrates the microflora (friendly digestive bacteria) in your gut. The Bt gene converts the microflora in your intestine into toxin-manufacturing machines.

    So, to be clear, eating GMO corn products can cause your gut (which is primarily responsible for keeping you healthy) to turn into a breeding ground for tiny little pesticide factories inside your body, actively creating toxins which are designed to kill living things. These toxins are found in the blood and are readily transferred across the placenta to developing babies in the womb.

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