 |
FREE Natural Health Newsletter
Receive natural health product reviews, recommendations and alerts.
Instant download of 20+ free health reports and exclusive interviews.
Join over 1.2 million monthly readers.
|
 |
|
(NaturalNews) Brazil is having another banner year. It has reached energy equilibrium, exporting as much oil as it imports. Its production of domestic oil is at an all time high, as is the production of sugar based ethanol. At the service stations, ethanol is for sale right along side of the gas pumps. Brazil is also the destination of U.S. lawmakers and venture capitalists looking for America’s future. As the by products of Brazil’s quest for energy independence become known, it may be time to question the zeal with which some American’s seek to emulate this model.
Brazil’s military dictatorship launched the national ethanol program in 1975, but ethanol consumption fell sharply as oil prices plummeted in the 1980’s. It wasn’t until the convergence of two events that Brazil again got in gear behind ethanol. Those events were sharply rising oil prices and the full enslavement of the American consumers to the point where they were unable to take on another dollar's worth of debt. Since Americans were unable to further increase their debt burden, capital previously invested in the U.S. had to look elsewhere to provide the returns it had become used to. Over the past few years, nearly $330 billion has poured into Brazil.
Some of this capital was put to work through local banks in the usual ways, encouraging the purchase of real estate, household appliances, and cars on credit, with interest charges sometimes reaching an eye popping rate of 47%, a level unheard of in the U.S.
Another part of this capital was used to purchase more than 20 million hectares (1 hectare = 2.47 acres) of Brazilian land, particularly in the mid-west regions and the Brazilian agricultural frontier. The rest went to the Amazon. The result is exploitation of Brazil’s abundant natural resources and biodiversity.
This exploitation can be best characterized as agricultural monoculture. Eucalyptus, a plant extremely useful for electricity generation and ethanol, is to be cultured exclusively throughout a section of the country in the south all the way to the border with Uruguay. Thousands of hectares of industrial plantations will be destroyed to create what is in effect a green desert. Sugarcane monoculture for ethanol production and export will also be expanded, including 77 new ethanol processing plants that will be built along four major pipelines.
Also reflective of this monoculture is that of the 130 million tons of grain produced, 110 million tons are exclusively soybeans and corn. 300 million hectares are for the production of export cattle. And the big GMO agribusinesses have pressured the government to allow for the selling of their modified corn in Brazil.
Joao Pedro Stedile, leader of the Brazil Landless Workers Movement sees this form of monoculture depleting natural resources, soil and groundwater, and affecting the quality and location of food and water. “Monoculture destroys biodiversity and upsets the environmental balance of the region,” he said in a recent publication.
Agribusiness in Brazil unites big landowners with big business, as they share the profits. The Brazilian people are left with the environmental liability, unemployment, and poverty created by this unholy union.
Food prices have soared as a result of financial speculation and corporate control of the market. The cost of food in Brazil has doubled over the past year as supplies have dwindled with the production of biofuels. The food that is available is of very poor quality, being contaminated by the intensive use of pesticides and high tech mechanization. Little remains of the peasant family farm model that produced the food eaten by Brazilians for centuries.
But the greatest devastation of biofuels may even be beyond the environmental ravages of monoculture. Stedile sees the biggest tragedy as the transition to an individual form of transportation promoted by financial capital to push for increased sales of cars on credit. “They are transforming our cities into hell”, he says.
To many it appears that a new kind of imperialism is at work in Brazil with the goal of gaining control over the people by owning the means of their agriculture rather than by the use of guns. This is seen as a threat in many other parts of the world as well.
Peasant protests against the new model of farming and the operations of the transnational corporations are coalescing into a social movement serving as a warning to Brazilian society to wake up to the gravity of the situation.
The corporate response to their protests has been to launch PR campaigns in the press, to manipulate the judiciary and the public ministry, and criminalization of social movement activity. If these tactics don’t work, Stedile anticipates the use of military police to violently repress the protest movement.
About the authorBarbara is a school psychologist, a published author in the area of personal finance, a breast cancer survivor using "alternative" treatments, a born existentialist, and a student of nature and all things natural.
 Get articles like this delivered to you FREE in our popular email newsletter
|
 |
Beyond krill oil: New marine omega-3 more sustainable, ethicalWhy did the Health Ranger ditch fish oil and krill oil? He found something that's more potent and more sustainable.
Click here to find out more
This is the 'new' marine omega-3 oil everyone is talking about. Click above to find out why.
|
Learn how to protect your money, your family and your life in this Health Ranger audio seminarThe Health Ranger reveals the most powerful financial protection strategies that have ever been made public in this 8-CD audio seminar.
Click here to protect yourself now
"Guaranteed to deliver the most powerful financial protection advice you've ever seen or your money back!" - Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
|
Recommended Products Related to This Article*:Boku Superfood
High-potency superfood powder
for preventing numerous diseases
Living Fuel SuperBerry Ultimate
Delicious superfood meal powder
for disease prevention, antioxidant boost
Appetite for Profit (free download)
Free download summary of this top book
for discovering the truth about food companies
Vitamineral Green from Healthforce
Nutrient-dense superfood powder
for disease prevention, body alkalizing & more
Better Than Roasted - Macadamia Nuts☯
The most delicious raw nut spread ever
for heart health, circulatory health
Katadyn Exstream XR Water Purifier☯
#1 personal water purifier
for clean, pristine water in seconds
Katadyn MicroPur Water Purifier Tablets☯
The best water purification tablets
for purifying almost any water source
Nascent Iodine
Miraculous nascent iodine solution
for thyroid function, Alzheimer's, brain func.
Additional Products of Interest to AllBreville Juice Fountain Elite 800JEXL☯
Simply the best juicer in the world
for fast, easy juicing
Paraliminal Audio Courses☯
Powerful mind-enhancing audio therapy
for reprogramming your mind for a new future
How to Halt Diabetes in 25 Days☯
Health Ranger guide to reversing diabetes
for reversing type-2 diabetes
Preparedness Tools Natural News Bundle☯
For preparedness and safety: 60% off
for preparing for natural disasters
Healing Cancer From the Inside Out (DVD)
Amazing, eye-opening cancer documentary
for anyone wanting to know the truth on cancer
Zeitgeist: Addendum - Must-See Movie
A shocking documentary about money
for people who wan to know the real truth
The Genie In Your Genes by Dawson Church
A free, downloadable summary of this book
for learning about the biology of intention
Spirulina Pacifica
Pure, pristine spirulina superfood
for cancer prevention, alkalizing, immune func
The Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton
A free download of Biology of Belief
for learning about the mind-biology connection
The Weiss Method for Heart Disease☯
How to reverse heart disease naturally
for heart disease, high cholesterol
Hair Soap
A pure, simple and chemical-free shampoo
for washing hair without chemicals
Exposed! The Toxic Chemistry of Products
Free summary of this shocking book
for learning the truth about toxic products
Aloe Vera 100
Pure, dried 100% aloe vera gel flakes
for sludge blood, IBS, Crohn's disease
Free download: Selling Sickness (summary)
Read the best book on disease mongering
for learning the truth about Big Pharma
Revealed: Natural Health Solutions (free)
Free summary of book by Mike Adams
for learning censored natural health remedies
Fucoxanthin with PinnoThin
Natural appetite suppressant
for obesity, overweight, overeating
Zyflamend
Powerful anti-inflammatory herbal formula
for arthritis, joint pain, inflammation
Blood Support
Halts growth of cancer tumors
for breast cancer and all cancers
Amaz-a-Power
Amazing wild berry tincture from Peru
for eye & brain protection, cancer prevention
P-73 Oreganol
Potent source of wildcrafted oregano oil
for parasites, heart disease, immune func.
Ocean Minerals Pure Magnesium Oil
#1 product for magnesium therapy
for back pain, heart health, muscle health
MGC-5 Mushroom Extracts
Potent extracts of medicinal mushrooms
for reversing cancer, boosting immune function
* Products do NOT pay to be listed here. These are genuine, independent recommendations by the Health Ranger
☯ Products with this symbol are sold by NaturalNews or its affiliates and earn revenues for NaturalNews
|
|
Printable Version
Email this article to a friend
Share this article on: 
