Radio Mundo Real

A trial in the US against the flagship company of the global agrotoxic industry, Monsanto, has exposed information showing the company knew about the effects of the most widely used herbicide at world level, glyphosate, as a carcinogen, said Costa Rican researcher Jaime García, in an interview with Real World Radio.

The information was included by García, member of the Costa Rican Biodiversity Coordination, in an article that can be read online and is attached here (in Spanish). Titled “Criminal cover-up of the carcinogenic effects of glyphosate”, the article states that the so called “Monsanto Papers” requested by the Californian court and the book by Carey Gillam “Whitewash: the story of a weed killer, cancer and the corruption of science” reveal the cover-up of information by Monsanto on the carcinogenic effects of herbicide glyphosate “for over 35 years”.

The Cosa Rican researcher also compared the behavior of the government and corporations in the case of glyphosate with what happened also in Central America with “one of the most emblematic cases of lack of responsibility and corporate and governmental blame for the irresponsible release of a highly dangerous agrochemical and the failure of authorities to intervene; the case of nematicide Nemagon, which affected thousands of Costa Rican agricultural workers and farmers of other countries in the 60s and 70s, with sad and irreversible effects on sterility and death”.

The academic and environmentalist also said that for those who are investigating the effects of agrotoxics on the health of communities, it is a moral obligation to remember the contributions of Argentinian doctor Andres Carrasco, whom he quotes in his article as a form of tribute.