Op-Ed: WikiLeaks exposes corruption as France bans Monsanto’s GMO maize

Article originally posted June 04, 2012

Coming soon after France bans GMO maize, WikiLeaks cables expose details of ‘military-style trade wars’ against countries who reject Monsanto GMOs.

France banned the Monsanto MON 810 “Yieldgard” maize due to environmental and health concerns. And now the European Union is stepping in to re-secure Monsanto’s presence in that country, against the will of the nation itself. Back in 2007, the U.S. ambassador to France, Craig Stapleton, who is a business partner of George W. Bush, stated that nationals who do not accept Monsanto’s GMO crops will be “penalized”. He stated that the nations should be threatened with “military-styled trade wars”. So it is no surprise that the move to maintain Monsanto’s grip on France is all about the fact that the U.S. and other nations are continually pushing Monsanto’s agenda. Monsanto has major (and most likely financial) connections with political heads that have actually threatened to use these trade wars. In January, WikiLeaks cables came to light revealing the information concerning the deep involvement of Monsanto in political circles. In this cable, is a statement made by Craig Stapleton:

“Country team Paris recommends that we calibrate a target retaliation list that causes some pain across the EU since this is a collective responsibility, but that also focuses in part on the worst culprits. The list should be measured rather than vicious and must be sustainable over the long term, since we should not expect an early victory. Moving to retaliation will make clear that the current path has real costs to EU interests and could help strengthen European pro-biotech voices.”