Sofía Gatica

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Sofía Gatica (* 1967 ) is an Argentine environmental activist . In 2012 she was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for her work against the use of toxic pesticides in Argentine agriculture . Gatica mainly opposed sprays containing the active ingredients glyphosate and endosulfan .

Commitment to herbicide spraying

Gatica's commitment was triggered in the late 1990s when her daughter died of kidney failure three days after birth. Gatica couldn't come to terms with the death of her daughter. She researched the causes of the disease and, in conversations with neighbors, came across worrying and inexplicable health problems. Gatica attributed this to spraying campaigns with the herbicides Roundup and Endosulfan in the immediate vicinity of residential areas. The place where Gaticas lives is surrounded by genetically modified soy plantations that have been regularly sprayed with appropriate herbicides.

Gatica subsequently founded the group the Mothers of Ituzaingó , which set itself the goal of stopping the ruthless use of agrochemicals. They conducted a door-to-door survey, the first epidemiological survey in the region on the effects of pesticide spraying on human health. The results showed that cancer was 41 times higher than the national average, and the incidence of neurological diseases, respiratory diseases , birth defects and child mortality were also noticeable.

Based on these findings, the Mothers of Ituzaingó contacted Argentine environmental organizations and initiated a stop spraying campaign . Press conferences and demonstrations on the topic were organized, and brochures were issued to educate the population about the dangers posed by pesticides. Gatica contacted scientific institutions and asked for studies that supported her observations.

The activities of the group around Gatica were made more difficult by the fact that there was no direct way to demand accountability from Monsanto , DuPont and other global agrochemical groups. Pressure was also exerted on the group by police officers and local business people. Gatica was threatened by a person who broke into her house while using weapons and asked to drop her involvement.

Results

In 2008, then Argentine President Cristina Kirchner commissioned the Ministry of Health to conduct an investigation into the effects of pesticide use in Itzuingó. The Department of Medicine at the University of Buenos Aires was entrusted with a corresponding study. The results of these confirmed the theses of the Mothers of Ituzaingó regarding the connection between herbicide spraying and the health of the population. Gatica subsequently succeeded in getting a municipal ordinance banning spraying at a distance of less than 2500 meters from houses. In 2010, the Supreme Court reversed the burden of proof , according to which residents no longer have to prove the harmfulness of spraying, but rather the government and soybean growers have to prove the safety.

further activities

In September 2012 there was a meeting between the Rhineland-Palatinate Agriculture Minister Ulrike Höfken and Gatica. It was jointly advocated that the pesticide glyphosate should be re-examined worldwide and that a scientific re-evaluation of the substance should be requested by independent researchers.

In 2013 Gatica was involved in the central Argentine province of Córdoba against the construction of a large corn seed processing plant for the Monsanto Group. In September 2013, for example, she organized a blockade of the access road to the planned seed factory, whereupon construction work was stopped. Gatica subsequently reported assaults against her person, from which Monsanto distanced itself in an official statement. On February 10, 2014, this action, which lasted more than five months, resulted in the environmental impact study submitted by Monsanto for the new factory not being approved by the technical committee of the Ministry of the Environment. In August 2016, an employee of Monsanto told the newspaper iProfessional that the company was withdrawing from this project. As reasons, he cited economic developments and the effects of long-term protests by residents. Gatica commented: "If the resistance stirs from below, it will bring down those above".

supporting documents

  1. ↑ "Genetic soy makes you sick" . Interview with Sofia Gatica and Maria del Milagro Godoy. In: Schrot & Korn natural food magazine . No. 12 , 2012, section "Maria and Sofia ..." ( schrotundkorn.de [accessed on October 2, 2019]).
  2. ^ A b c d e Laudation for the Goldman Environmental Prize , accessed June 28, 2013.
  3. ↑ Argenpress: Argentina, Chaco, La Leonesa: Se triplicaron casos de cáncer en menores de 15 años , from May 4, 2010.
  4. ^ Rhineland-Palatinate, Ministry for Environment and Agriculture: Ulrike Höfken meets Goldman Prize winner Sofia Gatica
  5. ↑ Alleged attack on eco-activist, "Monsanto shouldn't hit me" in: taz.de from November 25, 2013.
  6. ↑ Argentina: Stage win against Monsanto corn factory on weltagrarbericht.de, accessed on March 20, 2014.
  7. ↑ World Agricultural Report of 23 August 2016 quoted from CBA24n.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Gatica, Sofía
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Argentine environmental activist
DATE OF BIRTH 1967