{"id":188087,"date":"2019-05-10T05:17:36","date_gmt":"2019-05-10T05:17:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=188087"},"modified":"2019-05-12T08:05:34","modified_gmt":"2019-05-12T08:05:34","slug":"how-gmo-seeds-and-monsanto-bayers-roundup-are-driving-us-policy-in-venezuela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=188087","title":{"rendered":"How GMO Seeds and Monsanto\/Bayer\u2019s \u201cRoundUp\u201d are Driving US Policy in Venezuela"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whitney Webb \u2013 Mint Press News May 6, 2019<\/h1>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Luis Arrieta inspects a freshly planted coffee field that used to be a peach orchard in the coastal area of Carayaca on the outskirts of Caracas, Venezuela, Oct. 10, 2018 . Fernando Llano | AP. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

As the political crisis in Venezuela has unfolded, much has been said about the Trump administration\u2019s clear interest in the privatization and exploitation of Venezuela\u2019s oil reserves, the largest in the world, by American oil giants like Chevron and ExxonMobil.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet the influence of another notorious American company, Monsanto \u2014 now a subsidiary of Bayer \u2014 has gone largely unmentioned.<\/span><\/p>\n

While numerous other Latin American nations have become a \u201cfree for all\u201d for the biotech company and its affiliates, Venezuela has been one of the few countries to fight Monsanto and other international agrochemical giants and win. However, since that victory \u2014 which was won under Chavista rule \u2014 the U.S.-backed Venezuelan opposition has been working to undo it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, with Juan Guaid\u00f3\u2019s parallel government attempting to take power with the backing of the U.S., it is telling that the top political donors of those in the U.S. most fervently pushing regime change in Venezuela have close ties to Monsanto and major financial stakes in Bayer.<\/span><\/p>\n

In recent months, Monsanto\u2019s most controversial and notorious product \u2014 the pesticide glyphosate, branded as Roundup, and linked to cancer in recent U.S. court rulings \u2014 has threatened Bayer\u2019s financial future as never before, with a litany of new court cases barking at Bayer\u2019s door. It appears that many of the forces in the U.S. now seeking to overthrow the Venezuelan government <\/span>are hoping that a new Guaid\u00f3-led government will provide Bayer with a fresh, much-needed market for its agrochemicals and transgenic seeds, particularly those products that now face bans in countries all over the world, including once-defoliated and still-poisoned Vietnam<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

U.S.-Backed Venezuelan opposition seeks to reverse Chavista seed law and GMO ban<\/h2>\n

In 2004, then-president of Venezuela, Hugo Ch\u00e1vez, surprised many when he announced<\/a><\/strong><\/span> the cancellation of Monsanto\u2019s plans to plant 500,000 acres of Venezuelan agricultural land in genetically modified (GM) soybeans. The cancellation of Monsanto\u2019s Venezuela contract led to what became an ad hoc ban on all GM seeds in the entire country, a move that was praised by local farmer groups and environmental activists. In contrast to anti-GM movements that have sprung up in other countries, Venezuela\u2019s resistance to GM crops was based more on concerns about the country\u2019s food sovereignty and protecting the livelihoods of farmers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the ban has failed to keep GM products out of Venezuela \u2014 as Venezuela has long imported a majority of its food, much of it originating in countries that are among the world\u2019s largest producers of genetically modified foods \u2014 one clear effect has been preventing companies like Monsanto and other major agrochemical and seed companies from gaining any significant foothold in the Venezuelan market.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Hugo Chavez and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visit a soy farm in El Tigre in Venezuelas, Anzoategui state, Oct. 30 2009. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

In 2013, a new seed law<\/strong><\/span><\/a> was nearly passed that would have allowed GM seeds to be sold in Venezuela through a legal loophole. That law, which was authored by a member of the Chavista United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), was widely protested<\/a><\/strong><\/span> by farmers, indigenous activists, environmentalists, and eco-socialist groups, which led to the law\u2019s transformation into what has been nicknamed the \u201cPeople\u2019s Seed Law.\u201d That law, passed in 2015, went even farther<\/strong><\/span><\/a> than the original 2004 ban by banning not just GM seeds but several toxic agrochemicals, while also strengthening heirloom seed varieties through the creation of the National Seed Institute.<\/span><\/p>\n

Soon after the new seed law was passed in 2015, the U.S.-backed Venezuelan opposition led by the Roundtable of Democratic Unity (MUD) \u2014 a group comprised of numerous U.S.-funded political parties, including Guaid\u00f3\u2019s Popular Will \u2014 took control of the country\u2019s National Assembly. Until Venezuela\u2019s Supreme Court dissolved<\/a><\/strong><\/span> the assembly in 2017, the MUD-legislature attempted to repeal<\/a><\/strong><\/span> the seed law on several occasions. Those in favor of the repeal called the seed bill \u201canti-scientific\u201d and damaging to the economy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the 2017 Supreme Court decision, the National Assembly has continued to meet, but the body holds no real power in the current Venezuelan government. However, if the current government is overthrown and Guaid\u00f3 \u00a0\u2014 the \u201cinterim president\u201d who is also president of the dissolved National Assembly \u2014 comes to power, it seems almost certain that the \u201cPeople\u2019s Seed Law\u201d will be one of the first pieces of legislation on the chopping block.<\/span><\/p>\n

The AEI axis<\/h2>\n

Some of the key figures and loudest voices supporting the efforts of the Trump administration to overthrow the Venezuelan government in the United States are well-connected to one particular think-tank, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). For instance, John Bolton \u2014 now Trump\u2019s national security advisor and a major player in the administration\u2019s aggressive Venezuela policy \u2014 was a senior fellow<\/strong><\/span><\/a> at AEI until he became Trump\u2019s top national security official. As national security adviser, Bolton advises the president on foreign policy and issues of national security while also advising both the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense. As of late, he has been pushing for military action in Venezuela, according to media reports.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Another key figure in Trump\u2019s Venezuela policy \u2014 Elliott Abrams, the State Department\u2019s Special Representative for Venezuela \u2014 has been regularly featured at AEI summits<\/strong><\/span><\/a> and as a guest<\/strong><\/span><\/a> on its panels and podcasts. According to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Abrams\u2019 current role gives him the \u201cresponsibility for all things related to our efforts to restore democracy\u201d in Venezuela. Other top figures in the administration, including Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, were featured guests<\/a><\/strong><\/span> at the AEI\u2019s \u201csecretive\u201d gathering in early March. As MintPress<\/em> and other outlets have reported, Guaid\u00f3 declared himself \u201cinterim president\u201d of Venezuela at Pence\u2019s behest. Pompeo is also intimately involved in directing Trump\u2019s Venezuela policy as the president\u2019s main adviser on foreign affairs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other connections to the Trump administration include Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos who was previously on AEI\u2019s board of trustees<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

AEI has long been a key part of the \u201cneoconservative\u201d establishment and employs well-known neoconservatives such as Fred Kagan \u2014 the architect of the Iraq \u201ctroop surge\u201d \u2014 and Paul Wolfowitz, the architect of the Iraq War. Its connections to the George W. Bush administration were particularly notable and controversial, as more than 20 AEI employees were given top positions under Bush. Several of them, such as Bolton, have enjoyed new prominence in Trump\u2019s administration.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other key Bush officials joined the AEI soon after leaving their posts in the administration. One such was Roger Noriega, who was the U.S. representative to the Organization of American States (OAS) during the failed, U.S.-backed 2002 coup and went on to be assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs from 2003 to 2005, where he was extremely influential in the administration\u2019s policies towards Venezuela and Cuba.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since leaving the Bush administration and promptly joining the AEI, Noriega has been instrumental in pushing claims that lack evidence but aim to paint Venezuela\u2019s current President Nicolas Maduro-led government as a national security threat, such as claiming that Venezuela is helping Iran acquire nuclear weapons and hosts soldiers from Lebanon\u2019s Hezbollah. He also lobbied Congress to support Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo L\u00f3pez, Guaid\u00f3\u2019s political mentor and leader of his political party, Popular Will.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only that, but Noreiga teamed up with Martin Rodil<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, a Venezuelan exile formerly employed by the IMF, and Jos\u00e9 Cardenas, who served in the Bush administration, to found Visi\u00f3n Am\u00e9rica<\/span><\/strong>s<\/span><\/a>, a private risk-assessment and lobbying firm that was hired<\/strong><\/span><\/a> to \u201csupport the efforts of the Honduran private sector to help consolidate the democratic transition in their country\u201d after the U.S.-backed Honduran coup in 2009. In recent months, Noriega and his associates have been very focused on Venezuela, with Cardenas offering Trump public advice<\/a><\/strong><\/span> about how \u201cto hasten Maduro\u2019s exit,\u201d while Rodil has publicly offered<\/strong><\/span><\/a> \u201cto get you a deal\u201d if you have dirt on Venezuela\u2019s government.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the AEI is best known for its hawkishness, it is also a promoter of big agricultural interests. Since 2000, It has hosted several conferences<\/strong><\/span><\/a> on the promise of \u201cbiotechnology\u201d and genetically modified seeds and has heavily promoted the work<\/a><\/strong><\/span> of former Monsanto lobbyist Jon Entine, who was an AEI visiting fellow<\/a><\/strong><\/span> for several years. The AEI also has long-time connections<\/a><\/strong><\/span> to Dow Chemical.<\/span><\/p>\n

The most likely reason for the AEI\u2019s interest in promoting biotech, however, can be found in its links to Monsanto. In 2013, The Nation<\/strong><\/span><\/em> acquired<\/strong><\/span><\/a> a 2009 AEI document<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, obtained through a filing error and not intended for public disclosure, that revealed the think tank\u2019s top donors. The form, known as the \u201cschedule of contributors,\u201d revealed that the AEI\u2019s top two donors at the time were the Donors Capital Fund and billionaire Paul Singer.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Donors Capital Fund, which remains<\/a><\/strong><\/span> a major contributor to the AEI, is linked to Monsanto interests through the vice chairman<\/a><\/strong><\/span> of its board, Kimberly O. Dennis, who is also currently a member<\/a><\/strong><\/span> of the AEI\u2019s National Council. According to AEI, the National Council is composed of \u201cbusiness and community leaders from across the country who are committed to AEI\u2019s success and serve as ambassadors for AEI, providing us with advice, insight, and guidance.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Dennis is the long-time executive chairwoman<\/a><\/strong><\/span> of the Searle Freedom Trust, which was founded in 1988 by Daniel Searle after he oversaw the sale<\/a><\/strong><\/span> of his family pharmaceutical company \u2014 G.D. Searle and Company \u2014 to Monsanto in 1985 for $2.7 billion. The money Searle had made from that merger was used to fund the trust that now funds the AEI and other right-wing think tanks. Searle was also close to Donald Rumsfeld, who led<\/a><\/strong><\/span> G.D. Searle and Co. for years and was Secretary of Defense under Gerald Ford and George W. Bush. Searle was also a trustee of the Hudson Institute, which once employed Elliott Abrams<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

After the family company \u2014 which gained notoriety for faking research<\/a><\/strong><\/span> about the safety of its sweetener, aspartame or NutraSweet \u2014 was sold to Monsanto, G.D. Searle executives close to Daniel Searle rose to prominence within the company. Robert Shapiro, who was G.D. Searle\u2019s long-time attorney and head of its NutraSweet division, would go on to become Monsanto\u2019s vice president, president and later CEO. Notably, Daniel Searle\u2019s grandson, D. Gideon Searle, was an AEI trustee<\/a><\/strong><\/span> until relatively recently.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why is a top to Marco Rubio increasing his stake in Bayer while others flee?<\/h2>\n

Yet, it is AEI\u2019s top individual donor noted in the accidental \u201cschedule of contributors\u201d disclosure who is most telling about the private biotech interests guiding the Trump administration\u2019s Venezuela policy. Paul Singer, the controversial billionaire hedge fund manager, has long been a major donor to neoconservative and Zionist causes \u2014 helping fund the Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI), the successor to the Project for a New American Century (PNAC); and the neoconservative and islamophobic Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), in addition to the AEI.<\/span><\/p>\n

Singer is notably one of the top political donors<\/a> <\/strong><\/span>to Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and has been intimately involved in the recent chaos in Venezuela. He has been called one of the architects of the administration\u2019s current regime-change policy, and was the top donor to Rubio\u2019s presidential campaign, as well as a key figure behind the controversial \u201cdossier\u201d on Donald Trump that was compiled by Fusion GPS. Indeed, Singer had been the first person<\/a><\/strong><\/span> to hire Fusion GPS to do \u201copposition research\u201d on Trump. However, Singer has largely since evaded much scrutiny for his role in the dossier\u2019s creation, likely because he became a key donor to Trump following his election win in 2016, giving $1 million to Trump\u2019s inauguration fund.<\/span><\/p>\n

Singer has a storied history in South America, though he has been relatively quiet about Venezuela. However, a long-time manager of Singer\u2019s hedge fund, Jay Newman, recently told Bloomberg<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/a> that a Guaid\u00f3-led government would recognize that foreign creditors \u201caren\u2019t the enemy,\u201d and hinted that Newman himself was weighing whether to join a growing \u201clist of bond veterans [that have] already begun staking out positions, anticipating a $60 billion debt restructuring once the U.S.-backed Guaid\u00f3 manages to oust President Nicolas Maduro and take control.\u201d In addition, the Washington Free Beacon<\/em>, which is largely funded<\/a><\/strong><\/span> by Singer, has been a vocal advocate<\/a><\/strong><\/span> for the Trump administration\u2019s regime-change policy in Venezuela.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond that, Singer\u2019s Elliott Management Corporation gave Roger Noriega, the former assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs under Bush, $60,000<\/strong><\/span><\/a> in 2007 to lobby <\/a><\/strong><\/span>on the issue of sovereign debt and for \u201cfederal advocacy on behalf of U.S. investors in Latin America.\u201d During the time Noriega was on Singer\u2019s payroll, he wrote articles linking Argentina and Venezuela to Iran\u2019s nonexistent nuclear program. At the time, Singer was aggressively pursuing the government of Argentina in an effort to obtain more money from the country\u2019s prior default on its sovereign debt.<\/span><\/p>\n

While Singer has been mum himself on Venezuela, he has been making business decisions that have raised eyebrows, such as significantly increasing<\/strong><\/span><\/a> his stake in Bayer. This move seems at odds with Bayer\u2019s financial troubles, a direct result of the slew of court cases regarding the link between Monsanto\u2019s glyphosate and cancer. The first ruling that signaled trouble for Monsanto and its new parent company Bayer took place last August, but Singer increased <\/em>his stake in the company starting last December<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, even though it was already clear by then that Bayer\u2019s financial troubles in relation to the glyphosate court cases were only beginning.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since the year began, Bayer\u2019s problems with the Monsanto merger have only worsened, with Bayer\u2019s CEO recently stating<\/a><\/strong><\/span> that the lawsuits had \u201cmassively affected\u201d the company\u2019s stock prices and financial performance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Forcing open a new market for RoundUp<\/h2>\n

Part of Singer\u2019s interest in Bayer may relate to Venezuela, given that Juan Guaido\u2019s \u201cPlan Pa\u00eds\u201d to \u201crescue\u201d the Venezuelan economy includes a focus<\/strong><\/span><\/a> on the country\u2019s agricultural sector. Notably, prior to and under Chavismo, agricultural productivity and investment in the agricultural sector took a backseat to oil production, resulting in under 25 percent<\/a><\/strong><\/span> of Venezuelan land being used for agricultural purposes despite the fact that the nation has a wealth of arable land. The result has been that Venezuela needs to import<\/strong><\/span><\/a> much of its food from abroad, most of which originate in Colombia or the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under Ch\u00e1vez and his successor, Maduro, there has been a renewed focus<\/a><\/strong><\/span> on small-scale farming, food sovereignty and organic agriculture. However, if Maduro is ousted and Guaid\u00f3 moves to implement his \u201cPlan Pa\u00eds,\u201d the opposition\u2019s coziness with foreign corporations, the interests of U.S. coup architects in Bayer\/Monsanto, and the opposition\u2019s past efforts to overturn the GM seed ban all suggest that a new market for Bayer\/Monsanto products \u2014 particularly glyphosate \u2014 will open up.<\/span><\/p>\n

South America has long been a key market<\/a> <\/strong><\/span>for Monsanto and \u2014 as the company\u2019s problems began to mount prior to the merger with Bayer \u2014 it became a lifeline for the company due to less stringent environmental and consumer regulations that many Western countries. In recent years, when South American governments have opened their countries to more \u201cmarket-friendly\u201d policies in their agricultural sectors, Monsanto has made millions.<\/span><\/p>\n

For instance, when Brazil sought to expand biotechnology (i.e. GM seed) investment in 2012, Monsanto saw a 21% increase<\/a><\/strong><\/span> in its sales of GM corn seed alone, generating an additional $1 billion in profits for the company. A similar comeback scenario is needed more than every by Bayer\/Monsanto, as Monsanto\u2019s legal troubles saw the company\u2019s profits plunge<\/a><\/strong><\/span> late last year.<\/span><\/p>\n

With countries around the world now weighing glyphosate bans as a result of increased litigation over the chemical\u2019s links to cancer, Bayer needs a new market for the chemical to avoid financial ruin. As Singer now has a significant stake in the company, he \u2014 along with the politicians and think tanks he funds \u2014 may see promise in the end of the anti-GM seed ban that a Guaid\u00f3-led government would bring.<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, given that Guaid\u00f3\u2019s top adviser wants the Trump administration to have a direct role in governing Venezuela if Maduro is ousted, it seems likely that Singer would leverage his connections to keep Bayer\/Monsanto afloat amid the growing controversy surrounding glyphosate. Such behavior on the part of Singer would hardly be surprising in light of the fact that international financial media have characterized him<\/strong><\/span><\/a> as a \u201cruthless opportunist\u201d and \u201coverly aggressive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Such an outcome would be in keeping with the increased profit margins for Monsanto and related companies that have followed its expansion into countries following U.S.-backed coups. For instance, after the U.S.-backed coup in Ukraine in 2014, the loans given to Ukraine by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank forced<\/a> <\/strong><\/span>the country to open up and expand the use of \u201cbiotechnology\u201d and GM crops in its agricultural sector, and Monsanto, in particular, made millions as the prior government\u2019s ban on GM seeds and their associated agrochemicals was reversed. If Maduro is ousted, a similar scenario is likely to play out in Venezuela, given that the Guaid\u00f3-led government made known its intention to borrow heavily<\/a><\/strong><\/span> from these institutions just days after<\/a><\/strong><\/span> Guaid\u00f3 declared himself \u201cinterim president.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Whitney Webb<\/em><\/strong> is a MintPress News journalist based in Chile. She has contributed to several independent media outlets including Global Research, EcoWatch, the Ron Paul Institute and 21st Century Wire, among others. She has made several radio and television appearances and is the 2019 winner of the Serena Shim Award for Uncompromised Integrity in Journalism.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Kieran Barr<\/em><\/strong> contributed to the research used in this report<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is it a coincidence that many of those behind the push for regime change in Venezuela are tied to Monsanto? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-188087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-Behind_The_News"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=188087"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":188129,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188087\/revisions\/188129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=188087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=188087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=188087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}