Este artículo de la revista estadounidense Dissent expone los devastadores efectos económicos, alimentarios y migratorios del Tratado Norteamericano de Libre Comercio (NAFTA) en lo que se refiere a la producción de maíz, así como el nacimiento de un movimiento de resistencia a estos efectos en México bajo el nombre: Sin Maíz No Hay País. He aquí el corazón del problema, como lo explica la autora: Julie Greene, del departmento de historia de University of Maryland.

<<These changes have meant the loss of at least 1.5 million agricultural jobs in Mexico. U.S. corn exports now constitute one-fifth of Mexican corn consumption, a tripling in volume since the passage of NAFTA, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that figure will double again in the next decade. The decline of peasant agriculture, the resulting rise in unemployment, the increase in food costs, and concerns about importation of genetically modified seed corn have led to massive protests across Mexico, much of it organized as part of the “Sin Maíz, No Hay País” campaign (“Without Corn, There Is No Country”). The campaign demands a renegotiation of NAFTA, recognition of the multifunctional value of peasant agriculture, a moratorium on genetically modified seeds, a ban on using corn to produce ethanol, and a return to sustainable agricultural practices. Meanwhile, as farmers and farm employees have been pushed off the land, they increasingly look to emigration to the United States—and to towns like Fremont—for work. As Harley Shaiken has observed, “The beginnings of immigration are in the displacement of farmers in Mexico.”>>

Lea el artículo completo en el sitio de Dissent, Otoño de 2010: Corn and Country: Nebraska, Mexico, and the Global Economy.

Enlace al sitio de la campaña Sin Maíz No Hay País.

Tags:  corn Dissent food justice Harley Shaiken Julie Greene justicia alimentaria Maíz Mexico migración migration NAFTA Nebraska Sin maíz no hay país TLC