In March 2001, the Liberation Army (EZLN) marched into Mexico City at he culi OTS TOU ney from the southem state This action was the latest in the long campaign of the Zapatista's for autonomy for the indigenous people of the region and it scemed that the goverment might at this point make some concesever, the San Andre accords had gain been gutted by the politicians and the EZLN broke off dialogue with Zapatistas wear masls: but capitalists carry our daylight robbery them. July in 6 cities in the area. A This contest has been tak- low intensity war is clearty ing place since the Zapatistas launched their Barred by the cease-fire first offensive on January 1 trom atockns te capaustas. 1994, as the Nort the troops in the virgin forest American Free Trade agrecment came into force. The ing against drug traffickers date was no accident - the struggle has always been But the area's Maya inhabone which contests both the itants are clear that Montes actions of the Mexican gov- Azules is not being "proemment but also the right of the multinationals to plunder for transnational biotech corthe natural resources of porations that hope to profit Chiapas.. from the region's genetic Threatened wealth.
In 1998 the Califomia firm The UN-recognized Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve "bio-prospecting" deal with heart of virgin forest in the Diversa, which has a similar deal with the US covernment essentially been under for Yellowstone National Park. is granted access to Mexico's biodiversity in Despite rresioert vicente Fox's piedges to withdraw train and equip personnel troops from Zapatista territory, in practice this has not Autonomous University of happened. While seven camps have been shut, they Mexico.
These people will collect the samoles and recene S50l number of new military per sample and then royal. ties or between 0.3 and were 104 military operations 0.5 percentlof net sales n thiapas between Mav and on products derived from them. In contrast, Yellowstone National Park got $15,000 of equipment, royalties of from 0.5 to 10 percent-and $100,000 Secret The terms of both deals had been secret. Environmental groups went to US federal court to try to get the Yellowstone terms released - but they were eventually reported in the Salt Lake Tribune. The terms of the Mexican deal were leaked to the Mexican daily La Jorada. which lambasted them as "bio-genetic plunder."
The University of Georgia, the British-based company Molecular Nature Ltd. and Ei Colegio de la Frontera Sur have launched a similar five-year project. This one, titled Drug Discovery and Biodiversity Among the Maya of Mexico, specifically targets Chiapas.
Tapping the vast reservoir or aal mrawcas abaal td rare plants found in the area ano tew potenuai Usts, uid programme will receive $2.5 million from the International Cooperative Bioliversity Groups (ICBG), a consortium of US goverment agencies.
The Chiapas Council of Traditional Indigenous Midwives and Healers (COM• PITCH) is urging non-cooperation with the research, charging that "the pact was developed without notifying munities and organizations."
The US program has developed its own partnership with local Indian communities, called ICBGMaya. Director Brent Berlin of the University of Georgia told the Associated Press that the project has received the consent of nearty fifty communities and forged profit-sharing deals with them.
Again the terms are kept hidden, but what is going on is cleariy not about raisins the lhing standards of impoverished people, but of making bigger and bigger profits for the big corporations. But in a situation the hope of the companies is that co-operation can be bought. Grants Since 1993 the ICBG has awarded eleven bioprospecting grants totaling $18.5 million woridwide. Commercial partners include GlaxoSmithKline, Dow Agroscience, American Cyanamid (recently acquired by BASF) and, until recently. Monsanto Searle.
A unique geyser-dwelling microbe collected from Yellowstone in 1966 was the source 1o r enzymes widely used in DNA research and sold to Hoffman-LaRoche for $300 million.
As well bring wealth to imporensnco visus, Ton likely to impose economic to pay royalties to foreign own indigenous maize. ment has expressed concem over DuPont's recent patenting of all com varieties with certain oleic acid levels. including many originating in Mexico. Impact study Beth Burrows of the Seattle-area-based Edmonds Institute. one of the litigants in the Yellow a court-ordered impact study on the bio-prospecting program there.
Says Burrows: "To privatize lving organisms, whether it Yellowstone microbes, may but it does not serve our social contract or our duties to steward the land and support farmers.
"Farmers all over the world with neighbors. But Monsanto has taken farmers to court for violating their property nghts. Farmers have to go to the corporacons like to masters on thie manor."
This is what lies behind and is backed up by the "trade-related intellectua property rights provisions -patents on life. In contrast, resists ratifying the Biodiversity Treaty, unveiled at the 1992 Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit. which would recognize indigenous peoHowever there is resistance in Chiapas as elsewhere. In April representa• tives from more than 100 Chiapas Indian communities held a meeting in the highlands city of San Cristobal de Las Casas, vowing not to plant bioIn mid-June COMPITCH hed an international anti bio-piracy Forum for Bxxoeical and Cultural Diversity, in San Cristobal. And on June 24, when the Biotechnology Industry Organization met in San Diego, Diversa's hometown. activists held their own "BioJustice" countercorivenAccords breached This is clearly part of the political context which led to Vincente Fox following in the footsteps of his prodecessors in breaching the San Andre accords.
The acceptance of real autonomy for the people's of Chiapas would be a blow to the rights of transnational corporations to plunder their resources. But Fox was elected after decades of rule by the corrupt PRi, precisely on the promise of speedink up Mexico's integration into the market. That is why any meaningful peace accords can only be one tr a rea defcat for the forces of neoliberalism.
Such an outcome would of course be a huge boost to the international fight against capitalist globalisation. This is why the question of solidarty with tie people of Mexico and Chiapas should be an important issue for all socialists.
Further information from http://www.chiapaslink.ukgat eway.net