América Latina Fumigada y Crisis de las Commodities. El Caso del Glifosato de Monsanto

The companies that profited from the so-called "commodities concession" in Latin America are now facing a crisis due to the fall in the international price of agricultural products, which has forced them to readjust. Among them is Monsanto, whose star product, the herbicide glyphosate (the sale of which is tied to herbicide-resistant transgenic crops) has been facing a series of challenges for some years: with the expiration of its patent, Chinese companies are massively producing a cheaper generic glyphosate; the International Agency for Research on Cancer has categorized it as a "probable carcinogen for humans", so that several countries have banned its use, and the commodities crisis has caused its consumption to fall. To face this problem, Monsanto has developed a series of initiatives to emerge stronger from this crisis: expanding its offer of pesticides, establishing business mega-mergers, pressuring governments to adopt policies that favor Monsanto, generating serious impacts in Latin America, the region where GM crops have expanded the most.