MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Paraguay's Destructive Soy Boom
By Jeremy Hobbs - The following column was published in The New York Times Opinion page.
It gives another side of the current situation in Paraguay, and the role the landlocked country plays as a leading exporter of the oilseed. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rules“77% of Paraguay’s arable land is owned by just 2% of the population”
Jul 05th, 2012 - 10:06 am - Link - Report abuse 0A shameful situation. The reason for Paraguay's backwardness. And a situation the parliamentry coup wants to perpetuate. For which the anti-Cristinistas on here then call them “model democrats”. These right wing hypocrites make me sick
They soy tragedy extends to all countries in the “United Soy Republic”, small farmers in these countries cannot compete with large and multinational producers, Soy also represents some 25% of all Argentinian exports, and it also important for Brazil and Uruguay as well. This is a rather dangerous dependence on a single commodity, responsible leaders must steer their countries away from commodity dependence and into industrialization and manufacturing, where better jobs are created.
Jul 05th, 2012 - 12:51 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Ms. Kirchner depends totally on soy production in Argentina, she has pushed this as the wonder crop.
Jul 05th, 2012 - 03:59 pm - Link - Report abuse 0It has caused the displacement of thousands of indigenous people throughout the Northern provinces of Argentina, thankfully its too cold for soy in Patagonia until Cargill or Monsanto produce a GM that is cold resistent.
I think, sadly, that it may be too late for Paraguay to do much about this severe imbalance in the macro-agronomic sense.
Jul 05th, 2012 - 04:48 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Big business is even more of a threat than incompetent politicians but for a different reason: they are not afraid of small country governments. And the reason they are not afraid comes back to there immense wealth and power that simply cannot be resisted, even if governments want to.
Couple this with the military sitting in the background seemingly 'waiting to take over' and the whole country must be a bomb waiting to explode.
Meddling by neighbours in favour of another nutter (albeit almost time-expired) does them no favours.
I have no doubt that most of the figures quoted in the article are true. Nevertheless, the rest of Mercosur's meddling in Paraguay is worrying. It's Paraguay's problem (or opportunity), not outsiders'. And as for Venezuela sneaking in the back door ... have they no dignity?
Jul 05th, 2012 - 06:56 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“Elected president in 2008 as a “champion of the poor,” And he so much failed that 95,8% of the MPs voted him out on June, 21 -. 22nd (76 / 1 lower chamber, 39 / 4 Senate)
Jul 05th, 2012 - 10:41 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“Lugo’s election on a promise to redistribute land and carry out agrarian reform…” Not even able to carry out a land catastro during his “golden age”
“After decades of cronyism and corruption, 77% of Paraguay’s arable land is owned by just 2% of the population”. We actually don’t know for certain… it is probably the case. First we need URGENTLY land survey (catastro) so we will be able to assess where we are and start the land reform. The parasite of our former president put clowns in charge of the Land Office and meddled with criminals and kidnappers.
“Ironically, in a country where 40% of the population still lives in poverty…” actually 32.4% see http://www.abc.com.py/nacionales/pobreza-se-redujo-2-por-ciento-en-paraguay-421461.html
“But Paraguay has been unable to add significant value to its soy exports: In 2010, 5.7 million tons of its total harvest was exported as raw bean while only 1.5 million tons were processed”.Investments underway will make it possible to process 90% of our soybeans into oil from next year onwards see http://www.abc.com.py/nacionales/pobreza-se-redujo-2-por-ciento-en-paraguay-421461.html
Simon, remember she used to refer to soy-bean as a weed.
Jul 12th, 2012 - 04:11 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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