The Asian Age<\/a>
\nTradu\u00e7\u00e3o: Ag\u00eancia Imediata
\n<\/strong><\/p>\nA trag\u00e9dia do g\u00e1s de Bhopal foi o pior desastre industrial da hist\u00f3ria da humanidade. 25.000 pessoas morreram, 500.000 sofreram ferimentos e danos \u00e0 sa\u00fade, e a injusti\u00e7a feita \u00e0s v\u00edtimas de Bhopal nos \u00faltimos 25 anos passar\u00e1 para a hist\u00f3ria como o pior caso de jurisprud\u00eancia de todos os tempos. <\/p>\n
O vazamento de g\u00e1s em Bhopal em dezembro de 1984 ocoreu na f\u00e1brica principal da Union Carbide, a qual manufaturava o “carabaryl” (nome comercial: “sevin”) \u2013 um pesticida usado sobretudo em ind\u00fastrias de algod\u00e3o. Foi, de fato, por causa da trag\u00e9dia do g\u00e1s de Bhopal e da trag\u00e9dia da viol\u00eancia extremista na regi\u00e3o de Punjab que eu percebi que a agricultura tinha se tornado uma zona de guerra. Os pesticidas s\u00e3o subst\u00e2ncias qu\u00edmicas de guerra que matam \u2013 a cada ano, 220.000 pessoas morrem devido aos pesticidas, em todo o mundo.<\/p>\n
Depois de pesquisar o assunto, conclu\u00ed que n\u00e3o precisamos de pesticidas t\u00f3xicos que matam seres humanos e seres de outras esp\u00e9cies, os quais sustentam a teia da vida. Os pesticidas n\u00e3o controlam as pragas e pestes, eles criam as pragas e pestes, matando as esp\u00e9cies ben\u00e9ficas. Temos alternatives mais seguras e n\u00e3o violentas, tal como o nim (azadirachta indica). Por isso, na \u00e9poca do desastre de Bhopal, comecei a campanha \u201cChega de Bhopals, plante um nim.\u201d A campanha pelo nim levou-me a desafiar a biopirataria sobre o nim, em 1994, quando soube que a multinacional estadunidense W.R. Grace, tinha patenteado o nim para uso como pesticida e fungicida, e estava construindo uma f\u00e1brica de extra\u00e7\u00e3o de nim em Tumkur, Karnataka. Lutamos contra o caso de biopirataria por 11 anos e, no fim, fomos bem sucedidos, derrotanto essa patente biopirata. <\/p>\n
Nesse mesmo per\u00edodo, as ind\u00fastrias produtoras de pesticidas estavam passando por uma muta\u00e7\u00e3o, convertendo-se no setor de biotecnologia e engenharia gen\u00e9tica. Ao mesmo tempo em que a engenharia gen\u00e9tica era promovida como uma alternativa aos pesticidas, o algod\u00e3o Bt era introduzido para terminar com o uso de pesticidas. Mas o algod\u00e3o Bt falhou em controlar as pragas de algod\u00e3o, muito pelo contr\u00e1rio, acabou criando novas pragas, o que levou a um aumento no uso de pesticidas. <\/p>\n
O alto custo das sementes geneticamente modificadas (GM) e dos pesticidas est\u00e3o causando o endividamento dos agricultures e agricultures endividados est\u00e3o cometendo suic\u00eddio. Se adicionarmos os 200.000 suic\u00eddios de agricultures na \u00cdndia \u00e0s 25.000 pessoas mortas em Bhopal, a conclus\u00e3o \u00e9 de que estamos testemunhando um genoc\u00eddio corporativo maci\u00e7o \u2013 a matan\u00e7a de pessoas com o fim de se obter magalucros. Para manter esses megalucros, contam-se mentiras sobre como, sem pesticidas e organismos geneticamente modificados (OGMs), ficar\u00edamos sem alimentos. De fato, as conclus\u00f5es da International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (Avalia\u00e7\u00e3o Internacional das Ci\u00eancias e Tecnologias Agr\u00edcolas para o Desenvolvimento), empreendida pelas Na\u00e7\u00f5es Unidas, mostra que a agricultura ecologicamente org\u00e2nica produz mais alimentos a um custo mais baixo do que a agricultura qu\u00edmica ou os OGMs. <\/p>\n
O setor agroqu\u00edmico e o seu novo avatar, o setor biotecnol\u00f3gico, n\u00e3o distorcem e manipulam somente o conhecimento, a ci\u00eancia e a pol\u00edtica p\u00fablica. Ele tamb\u00e9m manipula a lei e o sistema jur\u00eddico. A raz\u00e3o pela qual se negou justi\u00e7a \u00e0s v\u00edtimas de Bhopal \u00e9 porque as corpora\u00e7\u00f5es querem fugir de suas responsabilidades. Fugir das responsabilidades \u00e9, efetivamente, o verdadeiro significado de \u201clivre com\u00e9rcio\u201d. A trag\u00e9dia de Bhopal \u00e9 dupla.<\/p>\n
\u00c9 interessante observar que o desastre de Bhopal ocorreu precisamente quando as corpora\u00e7\u00f5es buscavam a desregulamenta\u00e7\u00e3o e a imunidade relativas a qualquer obriga\u00e7\u00e3o, atrav\u00e9s dos instrumentos do \u201clivre com\u00e9rcio\u201d, da \u201cliberaliza\u00e7\u00e3o do com\u00e9rcio\u201d, da \u201cglobaliza\u00e7\u00e3o\u201d, tanto por meio da press\u00e3o bilateral quanto atrav\u00e9s da Rodada do Uruguai do Acordo Geral sobre Tarifas e Com\u00e9rcio (GATT, ou General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade), que levou \u00e0 cria\u00e7\u00e3o da Organiza\u00e7\u00e3o Mundial do Com\u00e9rcio. <\/p>\n
A injusti\u00e7a para com o povo de Bhopal tem sido usada para demonstrar \u00e0s corpora\u00e7\u00f5es que elas t\u00eam imunidade, em consequ\u00eancia de qualquer matan\u00e7a que provocam. \u00c9 isso que os politicos de n\u00edvel superior comunicaram \u00e0 Dow Chemical. \u00c9 isso que o f\u00f3rum da Comiss\u00e3o EUA-\u00cdndia para a Coopera\u00e7\u00e3o Ambiental afirmou em 11 de junho de 2010, no contexto das reivindica\u00e7\u00f5es, em toda a \u00cdndia, a favor de justi\u00e7a para com as v\u00edtimas de Bhopal. Conforme coment\u00e1rio de um jornal, Bhopal est\u00e1 sendo visto como um \u201cempecilho e impedimento ao com\u00e9rcio\u2026 as recomenda\u00e7\u00f5es incluem remover os empecilhos para o com\u00e9rcio (pela \u00cdndia), e a ado\u00e7\u00e3o de um tipo de regime de responsabilidade nuclear\u201d. <\/p>\n
Negar justi\u00e7a a Bhopal tem sido a base de todos os investimentos t\u00f3xicos desde o desastre de Bhopal, seja o algod\u00e3o BT, a f\u00e1brica de n\u00e1ilon da DuPont ou a Lei Civil de Responsabilidade Nuclear (Civil Nuclear Liability Bill). <\/p>\n
Assim como as v\u00edtimas de Bhopal foram resarcidas com apenas 12.000 r\u00fapias (aproximadamente US$ 250) cada uma, a Lei de Responsabilidade Nuclear tamb\u00e9m procura estipular um teto de responsabilidade monet\u00e1ria de somente US$ 100 milh\u00f5es quanto \u00e0s opera\u00e7\u00f5es privadas de uma ind\u00fastria nuclear no caso de um acidente nuclear. Uma vez mais, pessoas podem ser mortas, mas corpora\u00e7\u00f5es est\u00e3o desobrigadas de pagar. <\/p>\n
Tem havido tamb\u00e9m um intenso debate na \u00cdndia quanto aos OGMs. Foi feita uma tentativa pela Monsanto\/Mahyco de introduzir o Bt brinjal em 2009. Em consequ\u00eancia de audi\u00eancias p\u00fablicas realizadas em todo o pa\u00eds, foi colocada em pr\u00e1tica uma morat\u00f3ria para sua comercializa\u00e7\u00e3o. Imediatamente depois que a lei da morat\u00f3ria foi introduzida pelo \u00d3rg\u00e3o de Regulamenta\u00e7\u00e3o de Biotecnologia da \u00cdndia \u2013 a lei n\u00e3o somente desobriga o setor biotecnol\u00f3gico de qualquer responsabilidade, como tamb\u00e9m inclui uma cl\u00e1usula que capacita o governo a prender e a multar qualquer pessoa que questione a necessidade e a seguran\u00e7a dos OGMs. <\/p>\n
De Bhopal aos pesticidas, aos OGMs e \u00e0s ind\u00fastrias nucleares, h\u00e1 duas li\u00e7\u00f5es que podemos tirar. Uma, a de que corpora\u00e7\u00f5es introduzem tecnologias perigosas, como pesticidas e OGMs para fins de lucro, e lucro somente. A segunda li\u00e7\u00e3o, relacionada ao com\u00e9rcio, \u00e9 a de que corpora\u00e7\u00f5es procuram expandir seus mercados e relocar tecnologias perigosas e de alto custo ambiental para pa\u00edses como a \u00cdndia. <\/p>\n
As corpora\u00e7\u00f5es procuram globalizar a produ\u00e7\u00e3o, mas n\u00e3o querem globalizar a justi\u00e7a e os direitos. A diferen\u00e7a no tratamento da Union Carbide e da Dow Chemical no contexto de Bhopal, e o da BP no contexto do derramamento de petr\u00f3leo no Golfo do M\u00e9xico mosta como est\u00e1 sendo criado um verdadeiro apartheid. A desvaloriza\u00e7\u00e3o da vida das pessoas do Terceiro Mundo e dos ecossistemas \u00e9 intr\u00ednseco ao projeto de globaliza\u00e7\u00e3o. A globaliza\u00e7\u00e3o est\u00e1 levando \u00e0 terceiriza\u00e7\u00e3o da polui\u00e7\u00e3o \u2013 subst\u00e2ncias e tecnologias perigosas \u2013 para o Terceiro Mundo. Esse \u00e9 o cora\u00e7\u00e3o da globaliza\u00e7\u00e3o \u2013 as economias de genoc\u00eddio. <\/p>\n
Lawrence Summers, que era o economista-chefe do Banco Mundial e \u00e9 agora o economista-chefe do governo Obama, num memorando de 12 de dezembro de 1991 escreveu para um funcion\u00e1rio do Banco: \u201cEntre voc\u00ea e eu, o Banco Mundial n\u00e3o deveria encorajar uma maior migra\u00e7\u00e3o das ind\u00fastrias sujas para os pa\u00edses menos desenvolvidos?\u201d <\/p>\n
Como os sal\u00e1rios s\u00e3o baixos no Terceiro Mundo, os custos econ\u00f4micos da polui\u00e7\u00e3o decorrentes de mais doen\u00e7as e mortes s\u00e3o menores nos pa\u00edses mais pobres. Segundo o Sr. Summers, a l\u00f3gica da \u201creloca\u00e7\u00e3o de poluentes nos pa\u00edses com sal\u00e1rios mais baixos \u00e9 impec\u00e1vel e dever\u00edamos encar\u00e1-la\u201d. <\/p>\n
Tudo isso e Bhopal nos deve ensinar a reivindicar por nossa humanidade universal e comum, e construir uma Democracia Planet\u00e1ria, na qual todos sejamos iguais, e onde as corpora\u00e7\u00f5es n\u00e3o tenham imunidade por seus crimes contra o povo e o planeta. <\/p>\n
\u00a9 2010 Asian Age <\/p>\nVandana Shiva \u00e9 uma feminista e ativista ambiental da \u00cdndia. Ela \u00e9 a fundadora e diretora do Navdanya Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecology.<\/strong><\/p>\n
English original<\/p>\nPublished on Monday, July 19, 2010 by The Asian Age <\/p>\n
The Killing Fields of Multi-National Corporations <\/p>\n
Pesticides, Pollution and the Economies of Genocide <\/p>\n
by Vandana Shiva
\n<\/strong>
\nThe Bhopal gas tragedy was the worst industrial disaster in human history. Twenty-five thousand people died, 500,000 were injured, and the injustice done to the victims of Bhopal over the past 25 years will go down as the worst case of jurisprudence ever. <\/p>\n
The gas leak in Bhopal in December 1984 was from the Union Carbide pesticide plant which manufactured “carabaryl” (trade name “sevin”) – a pesticide used mostly in cotton plants. It was, in fact, because of the Bhopal gas tragedy and the tragedy of extremist violence in Punjab that I woke up to the fact that agriculture had become a war zone. Pesticides are war chemicals that kill – every year 220,000 people are killed by pesticides worldwide. <\/p>\n
After research I realised that we do not need toxic pesticides that kill humans and other species which maintain the web of life. Pesticides do not control pests, they create pests by killing beneficial species. We have safer, non-violent alternatives such as neem. That is why at the time of the Bhopal disaster I started the campaign “No more Bhopals, plant a neem”. The neem campaign led to challenging the biopiracy of neem in 1994 when I found that a US multinational, W.R. Grace, had patented neem for use as pesticide and fungicide and was setting up a neem oil extraction plant in Tumkur, Karnataka. We fought the biopiracy case for 11 years and were eventually successful in striking down the biopiracy patent. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the old pesticide industry was mutating into the biotechnology and genetic engineering industry. While genetic engineering was promoted as an alternative to pesticides, Bt cotton was introduced to end pesticide use. But Bt cotton has failed to control the bollworm and has instead created major new pests, leading to an increase in pesticide use. <\/p>\n
The high costs of genetically-modified (GM) seeds and pesticides are pushing farmers into debt, and indebted farmers are committing suicide. If one adds the 200,000 farmer suicides in India to the 25,000 killed in Bhopal, we are witnessing a massive corporate genocide – the killing of people for super profits. To maintain these super profits, lies are told about how, without pesticides and genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), there will be no food. In fact, the conclusions of International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development, undertaken by the United Nations, shows that ecologically organic agriculture produces more food and better food at lower cost than either chemical agriculture or GMOs. <\/p>\n
The agrochemical industry and its new avatar, the biotechnology industry, do not merely distort and manipulate knowledge, science and public policy. They also manipulate the law and the justice system. The reason justice has been denied to the victims of Bhopal is because corporations want to escape liability. Freedom from liability is, in fact, the real meaning of “free trade”. The tragedy of Bhopal is dual.
\nInterestingly, the Bhopal disaster happened precisely when corporations were seeking deregulation and freedom from liability through the instruments of “free trade”, “trade liberalisation” and “globalisation”, both through bilateral pressure and through the Uruguay Round of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which led to the creation of the World Trade Organisation. <\/p>\n
Injustice for Bhopal has been used to tell corporations that they can get away with murder. This is what senior politicians communicated to Dow Chemical. This is what the US-India Commission for Environmental Cooperation forum stated on June 11, 2010, in the context of the call from across India for justice for Bhopal victims. As one newspaper commented, Bhopal is being seen as a “road block and impediment to trade… the recommendations include removing road blocks to commercial trade by (India), and adoption of a nuclear liability regime”. <\/p>\n
Denial of justice to Bhopal has been the basis of all toxic investments since Bhopal, be it Bt cotton, DuPont’s nylon plant or the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill. <\/p>\n
Just as Bhopal victims were paid a mere Rs 12,000 (approximately $250) each, the proposed Nuclear Liability Bill also seeks to put a ceiling on liability of a mere $100 million on private operations of a nuclear power plant in case of a nuclear accident. Once again, people can be killed but corporations should not have to pay. <\/p>\n
There has also been an intense debate in India on GMOs. An attempt was made by Monsanto\/Mahyco to introduce Bt brinjal in 2009. As a result of public hearings across the country, a moratorium has been put on its commercialisation. Immediately after the moratorium a bill was introduced for a Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India -the bill does not only leave the biotechnology industry free of liability, but it also has a clause which empowers the government to arrest and fine those of us who question the need and safety of GMOs. <\/p>\n
From Bhopal to pesticides to GMOs to nuclear plants, there are two lessons we can draw. One is that corporations introd\u00adu\u00adce hazardous technologies like pe\u00adsticides and GMOs for profits, and profits alone. And second le\u00adsson, related to trade, is that corporations are seeking to ex\u00adp\u00ada\u00adnd markets and relocate haza\u00adr\u00add\u00ado\u00adus and environmentally costly te\u00adc\u00adhnologies to countries like India. <\/p>\n
Corporates seek to globalise production but they do not want to globalise justice and rights. The difference in the treatment of Union Carbide and Dow Chemical in the context of Bhopal, and of BP in the context of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico shows how an apartheid is being created. The devaluation of the life of people of the Third World and ecosystems is built into the project of globalisation. Globalisation is leading to the outsourcing of pollution – hazardous substances and technologies – to the Third World. This is at the heart of globalisation – the economies of genocide. <\/p>\n
Lawrence Summers, who was the World Bank’s chief economist and is now chief economic adviser to the Obama government, in a memo dated December 12, 1991, to senior World Bank staff, wrote, “Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging more migration of the dirty industries to the less developed countries?” <\/p>\n
Since wages are low in the Third World, economic costs of pollution arising from increased illness and death are least in the poorest countries. According to Mr Summers, the logic “of relocation of pollutants in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that”. <\/p>\n
All this and Bhopal must teach us to reclaim our universal and common humanity and build an Earth Democracy in which all are equal, and corporations are not allowed to get away with crimes against people and the planet. <\/p>\n
\u00a9 2010 Asian Age <\/p>\nVandana Shiva is an Indian feminist and environmental activist. She is the founder\/director of Navdanya Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecology.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Publicado em 19 de julho de 2010 por The Asian Age Tradu\u00e7\u00e3o: Ag\u00eancia Imediata A trag\u00e9dia do g\u00e1s de Bhopal foi o pior desastre industrial da hist\u00f3ria da humanidade. 25.000 pessoas morreram, 500.000 sofreram ferimentos e danos \u00e0 sa\u00fade, e a injusti\u00e7a feita \u00e0s v\u00edtimas de Bhopal nos \u00faltimos 25 anos passar\u00e1 para a hist\u00f3ria […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biodiversidade-imediata"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imediata.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imediata.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imediata.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imediata.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imediata.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=356"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/imediata.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":359,"href":"https:\/\/imediata.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356\/revisions\/359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imediata.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imediata.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imediata.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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