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SEEDS OF DESTRUCTION
Monsanto Conquers with Deception Taking the example of the old 16 th Century Spanish Conquistadores, Monsanto's warriors conquered the land with a campaign oflies and deception. Because Argentina's national Seed Law did not protect Monsanto's patent on its glyphosate-resistant genetically modified soybean seed, the company could not legally demand a patent royalty when Argentine farmers reused their soybean seeds in the next harvest season. Indeed, not only was it traditional, but also legal, for Argentine farmers to re-plant seeds for their own use. Collection of such a royalty or "technology license fee" was at the heart of the Monsanto marketing scheme. Farmers in the USA and elsewhere had to sign a binding contract with Monsanto agreeing to not re-use saved seeds and to pay new royalties to Monsanto each year-a system which can be seen as a new form of serfdom. To get around the refusal by the nationalist Argentine Congress to pass a new law granting Monsanto the right to impose royalty payments against severe court-imposed fines, Monsanto adopted another ploy. Farmers were sold the initial seeds needed to expand the soybean revolution in Argentina. In this early stage, Monsato deliberately waived its "technology license fee:' favoring the widest possible proliferation of its GM seeds across the land, and in particular, of the patented glyphosate Roundup herbicide that went along with it. The insidious marketing strategy behind selling glyphosate-resistant seeds was that farmers were forced to purchase the specially matched Monsanto herbicides. GMO soybean planted land increased 14-fold, while the smuggling of Monsanto Roundup soybean seeds spread across the Pampas and into Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and Uruguay. Monsanto did nothing to stop what it saw as the illegal spread of its seeds. 18 Monsanto partner Cargill was itself accused of illegally smuggling GMO soybean seeds secretly mixed with non-GMO seeds, into BrazQ from Argentina. Amusingly, in Brazil, the smuggled Argentine GMO soybean seeds were called "Maradona" seeds in reference to the famous Argentine football player later treated for cocaine addiction.
