Thursday, January 06, 2011
(photo: greenprophet.com)
The State Department under President George W. Bush aggressively promoted genetically modified (GM) foods overseas, and discussed threats of economic retaliation against European countries that banned the importation of such crops.
Cables released by WikiLeaks reveal the U.S. ambassador to France, Craig Stapleton, a friend and business partner of Bush, asked Washington to retaliate against any European Union member for not playing ball on the GM issue.
Stapleton wrote in a communiqué that the embassy staff wanted a “retaliation list that causes some pain across the EU since this is a collective responsibility, but that also focuses in part on the worst culprits.”
Other cables showed American diplomats pushed GM crops, specifically those produced by Monsanto, in other parts of the world, and even pressured advisers to the Pope to convince His Holiness to endorse the controversial food. Many Catholic bishops in developing countries have strongly opposed the crops.
-David Wallechinsky
WikiLeaks: US Targets EU over GM Crops (by John Vidal, The Guardian)
Cable 07PARIS4723, France and the WTO AG Biotech Case (State Department, WikiLeaks)
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