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Tracey Brieger, Californians for Pesticide Reform, 415-215-5473, tracey@pesticidereform.org
Kathleen Sutcliffe, Earthjustice, 202-384-7157, ksutcliffe@earthjustice.org
On Governor Brown's first day in office, a coalition of farmworkers,
community advocates and environmental health organizations are
announcing a lawsuit to challenge the state's approval of the
cancer-causing strawberry pesticide methyl iodide. Several of the
organizations also submitted comments from over 52,000 members of the
public urging him to act quickly to prevent the use of methyl iodide in
California's fields.
The lawsuit [https://earthjustice.org/documents/legal-document/pdf/mei-final-petition]
was filed late Thursday by Earthjustice and California Rural Legal
Assistance, Inc. on behalf of Pesticide Action Network North America,
United Farm Workers of America, Californians for Pesticide Reform,
Pesticide Watch Education Fund, Worksafe, Communities and Children,
Advocates Against Pesticide Poisoning and farmworkers Jose Hidalgo Ramon
and Zeferino Estrada.
The suit challenges the state Department of Pesticide Regulation's (DPR)
December 20 approval of methyl iodide for use in California on the
grounds that it violates the California Environmental Quality Act, the
California Birth Defects Prevention Act, and the Pesticide Contamination
Prevention Act that protects groundwater against pesticide pollution.
In addition, the suit contends that DPR violated the law requiring
involvement of the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment
(OEHHA) in the development of farmworker safety regulations and made an
unlawful finding of emergency with its request for Restricted Materials
status for methyl iodide.
"The public has been shocked, wondering how methyl iodide could be
approved under California law. The truth is that DPR played too fast and
loose with their decision," said Earthjustice attorney Greg Loarie.
"They exceeded their legal authority and have put the public and
farmworkers at great risk of harm."
In deciding to approve methyl iodide, DPR shunned the findings of top
scientists--including the state's own Scientific Review Committee--who
have consistently said that the chemical is too dangerous to be used in
agriculture. Upon hearing the decision, Dr. John Froines, chair of the
Committee, told press, "I honestly think that this chemical will cause
disease and illness. And so does everyone else on the committee."
Theodore Slotkin, another panel member and professor of pharmacology and
cancer biology at Duke University, wrote, "It is my personal opinion
that this decision will result in serious harm to California citizens,
and most especially to children."
"Farmworkers are on the front lines of methyl iodide use and will suffer
the most tragic consequences," observed Erik Nicholson, National
Vice-President of United Farm Workers. "If this decision is allowed to
stand, strawberries may very well become the new poster child for giving
farmworkers cancer and late term miscarriages."
Crumbling under pressure from an intensive pro-methyl-iodide lobbying
campaign run by Arysta LifeScience--methyl iodide's manufacturer and the
largest privately held pesticide company in the world--DPR fast-tracked
the registration process by declaring an "emergency." DPR's only stated
explanation for the "emergency" was that it wanted to register methyl
iodide on December 20.
"DPR created a political 'emergency' by insisting on locking-in its
decision before a new administration takes office - an administration
that would follow the science instead of catering to the largest private
agrochemical corporation in the world," said Mike Meuter, Attorney at
California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. "DPR's move has no legal basis:
political convenience does not constitute an emergency."
The 'emergency' registration blocked the otherwise necessary public
comment period on the decision, despite the public's strong desire for
input. Last summer, over 53,000 people urged California not to legalize
the pesticide. Today, an additional 52,000 comments were submitted by
Pesticide Action Network North America, Breast Cancer Action, CREDO,
Food and Water Watch and others urging Governor Brown to reverse the
decision to register methyl iodide.
"We expect Governor Brown to do much better than his predecessor, whose
environmental legacy is defined by hypocrisy," said Paul Towers, State
Director of Pesticide Watch Education Fund. "Schwarzenegger's move to
promote the elimination of plastic bags but approve--on the very same
day--the use of one of the most toxic chemicals on earth in California's
fields has permanently tarnished his environmental record."
Methyl iodide causes late term miscarriages, contaminates groundwater
and is so reliably carcinogenic that it's used to create cancer cells in
laboratories. It is included in California's Proposition 65 list of
"chemicals known to cause cancer." The pesticide poses the most direct
risks to farm workers and neighboring communities because of the volume
that would be applied to fields and its tendency to drift off site
through the air.
The chemical is approved to be applied to California's strawberry fields
at rates up to 100 pounds per acre on much of the state's 38,000 acres
in strawberry production, totaling millions of pounds of use. Though
methyl iodide will likely be used primarily on strawberries, it is also
registered for use on tomatoes, peppers, nurseries and on soils prior to
replanting orchards and vineyards.
"It's farmworkers like me who become sick," said plaintiff Jose Hidalgo.
"As a strawberry picker, I have worked near many pesticide
applications. First we smell the pesticides. Then our eyes burn, our
noses run and our throats hurt. I'm against using methyl iodide because
it's already too dangerous in the fields, we don't need new, even more
dangerous, toxins."
"Living near California's strawberry fields just became even more
deadly," commented Lynda Uvari, Founding Board Member of Community and
Children's Advocates Against Pesticide Poisoning, a community group in
Ventura County. "Will Arysta and DPR be there to help when people in our
communities get cancer or lose their babies?"
"Given the special susceptibility of adolescents to this developmental
toxicant, methyl iodide poses a special health risk to teenage children
working in the fields or exposed to drift," declared Lora Jo Foo, Legal
Director of Worksafe.
In the last days of the Bush Administration in 2007, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved methyl iodide at the
national level, ignoring concerns from over 50 eminent
scientists--including six Nobel Laureates in Chemistry--who expressed
astonishment in a letter to U.S. EPA that the agency was "working to
legalize broadcast releases of one of the more toxic chemicals used in
manufacturing into the environment."
Arysta LifeScience pushed to secure registration of the pesticide in
California because it is one of the most lucrative pesticide markets in
the nation. New York and Washington states refused to register methyl
iodide for agricultural purposes.
"What is the common vision to guide the Global South out of this crisis?" asked the Progressive International. "What is the plan to win it?"
Delegates to the Havana Congress on the New International Economic Order—a gathering organized by the Progressive International and attended by more than 50 scholars and policymakers from 26 countries across all six inhabited continents—agreed over the weekend on a declaration that outlines a "common vision" for building an egalitarian and sustainable society out of the wreckage of five decades of neoliberal capitalism.
"The crisis of the existing world system can either entrench inequalities," the declaration asserts, or it can "embolden" popular movements throughout the Global South to "reclaim" their role as protagonists "in the construction of a new world order based on justice, equity, and peace."
Delegates resolved to focus their initial efforts on strengthening the development and dissemination of lifesaving technologies in low-income nations.
"Delegates agreed that a key priority must be to secure science and technology sovereignty."
This decision comes one year after Cuban officials announced, at a press conference convened by the Progressive International (PI), their plan to deliver 200 million homegrown Covid-19 vaccine doses to impoverished countries abandoned by their wealthy counterparts and Big Pharma—along with tools to enable domestic production and expert support to improve distribution.
It also comes as Cuba assumes the presidency of the Group of 77 (G77), a bloc of 134 developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America where "the combined crises of food, energy, and environment" are escalating, PI noted.
"What is the common vision to guide the Global South out of this crisis?" the coalition asked. "What is the plan to win it? What is the New International Economic Order for the 21st century?"
"After two days of detailed discussions about how to transform our shared world, delegates agreed that a key priority must be to secure science and technology sovereignty," PI general coordinator David Adler said Sunday at the conclusion of the Havana Congress. "From pharmaceuticals to green tech, from digital currencies to microchips, too much of humanity is locked out of both benefiting from scientific advances and contributing to new ones. We will, as today's declaration calls for, work to build 'a planetary bloc led by the South and reinforced by the solidarities of the North' to liberate knowledge and peoples."
Speaking at the January 12 ceremony during which Cuba ascended to the G77 presidency, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno RodrÃguez Parrilla emphasized the need for coordinated action across the Global South on science and tech, arguing that "scientific-technical development is today monopolized by a club of countries that monopolize most of the patents, technologies, research centers, and promote the drain of talent from our countries."
The G77 Summit on Science, Technology, and Innovation, scheduled for September in Havana, seeks to "unite, complement each other, integrate our national capacities so as not to be relegated to future pandemics," said Parrilla.
During his speech on the first day of the Havana Congress, meanwhile, former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis called for a new non-aligned movement to "end the legalized robbery of people and Earth fueling climate catastrophe."
\u201cAt the Havana Congress on the New International Economic Order, @yanisvaroufakis calls for a New Non-Aligned Movement to "end the legalised robbery of people and Earth fuelling climate catastrophe."\n\nRead his full speech here: https://t.co/P8zdht8FD9\u201d— Progressive International (@Progressive International) 1674836693
Read the full Havana Declaration on the New International Economic Order:
The Havana Congress,
Recalling the role of the Cuban Revolution in the struggle to unite the Southern nations of the world, and the spirit of the 1966 Havana Tricontinental Conference that convened peoples from Asia, Africa, and Latin America to chart a path to collective liberation in the face of severe global crises and sustained imperial subjugation;
Hearing the echoes of that history today, as crises of hunger, disease, and war once again overwhelm the world, compounded by a rapidly changing climate and the droughts, floods, and hurricanes that not only threaten to inflame conflicts between peoples, but also risk the extinction of humanity at large;
Celebrating the legacy of the anti-colonial struggle, and the victories won by combining a program of sovereign development at home, solidarity for national liberation abroad, and a strong Southern bloc to force concessions to its interests, culminating in the adoption of the U.N. Declaration on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order (NIEO);
Acknowledging that the project of decolonization remains incomplete, disrupted by concerted attacks on the unity of the South in the form of wars, coups, sanctions, structural adjustment, and the false promise that sovereign development might be won through integration into a hierarchical world system;
Emphasizing that the result has been the sustained divergence between North and South, characterized by the same dynamics that defined the international economic order five decades prior: the extraction of natural resources, the enclosure of 'intellectual property,' the plunder of structural adjustment, and the exclusion of the multilateral system;
Recognizing that despite these setbacks, the flame of Southern resistance did not die; that the pursuit of sovereign development has yielded unprecedented achievements—from mass literacy and universal healthcare to poverty alleviation and medical innovation—that enable a renewed campaign of Southern cooperation today;
Stressing that this potential for Southern unity is perceived as a threat to Northern powers, which seek once again to preserve their position in the hierarchy of the world system through mechanisms of economic exclusion, political coercion, and military aggression;
Seizing the opportunity of the present historical juncture, when the crisis of the existing world system can either entrench inequalities or embolden the call to reclaim Southern protagonism in the construction of a new world order based on justice, equity, and peace;
The Havana Congress calls to:
"It is imperative that we demand an independent investigation into the police murder of Manuel 'Tortuguita' Paez Terán," said one group. "We join calls for the termination of the lease and for Mayor Dickens' resignation."
A coalition of more than 1,300 climate and racial justice groups from across the United States on Monday joined a call for an independent investigation into the police killing of forest defender Manuel Paez Terán earlier this month, and demanded the resignation of Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.
Nearly two weeks after the fatal shooting of the 26-year-old activist and medic—known as Tortuguita—Dickens "has still failed to condemn the killing," said the groups, and has instead opted "to condemn protestors and parrot the rhetoric of extreme right-wing governor Brian Kemp."
Tortuguita was shot and killed on January 18 when a joint task force including Atlanta police officers raided an encampment at Weelaunee forest. The forest is the site of a proposed $90 million police training facility known as Cop City.
"His championing of Cop City occurs against the backdrop of a continued investment in the gentrification of Atlanta and a continued disinvestment of affordable housing for a city identified as having the country's highest level of wealth inequality."
Over the weekend Dickens, a Democrat, condemned people who have protested Tortuguita's killing in Atlanta, accusing protesters of traveling to the city to "wreak havoc" at demonstrations that were overwhelmingly peaceful.
"Within a few hours of the shooting, Dickens tweeted support for [an] injured state trooper and completely ignored the death at the hands of a task force which included Atlanta police officers on his watch," wrote the groups, which include People vs. Fossil Fuels, Jewish Voice for Peace, Climate Justice Alliance, and Oil Change International. "As a growing number of Atlanta residents, national and global news outlets, and human rights and environmental organizations worldwide call for an investigation of the police narrative of Tortuguita's death, Dickens has dismissed their concerns. He has refused to bring any scrutiny to the one-sided and unsubstantiated recounting of events. Dickens has yet to offer condolences to the slain protestor's family."
The groups noted that Dickens and the Atlanta City Council have the authority to terminate the land lease for Cop City in the forest and called for the mayor to do so immediately, denouncing his strong support for the Atlanta Police Foundation's proposal.
"His championing of Cop City occurs against the backdrop of a continued investment in the gentrification of Atlanta and a continued disinvestment of affordable housing for a city identified as having the country's highest level of wealth inequality," said the groups. "Mayor Dickens can somehow find $90 million dollars for Cop City, one third of which will come from taxpayer money. Still, he can't find money to keep our already overwhelmed hospitals open or to finance much-needed affordable housing."
Ikiya Collective, a signatory of the letter, noted that the training slated to take place at Cop City "will impact organizing across the country" as police are trained to respond to popular uprisings.
"This is a national issue," said the collective. "Climate justice and police brutality are interconnected, which is why we are joining the Stop Cop City calls to action with the frontline communities in Atlanta."
"It is imperative that we demand an independent investigation into the police murder of Manuel 'Tortuguita' Paez Terán," said Ikiya Collective. "We join calls for the termination of the lease and for Mayor Dickens' resignation."
Brazil's far-right ex-president has applied for a visa to remain in the U.S. amid worsening legal troubles in his home country, where he is facing multiple investigations.
Brazil's far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro has applied for a six-month visitor visa to remain in the United States amid worsening legal troubles in his home country.
U.S. authorities received Bolsonaro's application on Friday, The Financial Timesreported Monday, citing "his lawyer, Felipe Alexandre, who has advised the former president not to leave the country while it is being processed—a period that could last several months."
Bolsonaro is facing multiple investigations in Brazil. That includes longstanding probes into alleged wrongdoing committed during his four-year presidential term as well as the Brazilian Supreme Court's recently launched inquiry aimed at determining whether his incessant lies about electoral fraud are to blame for the coup attempt that his supporters launched in BrasÃlia on January 8.
The close ally of former U.S. President Donald Trump—whose unceasing lies about his loss in the 2020 presidential election sparked a deadly right-wing insurrection in Washington two years ago—retreated to Florida on December 30, two days before the January 1 inauguration of his leftist successor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, commonly known as Lula.
"He has been staying at the Kissimmee home of a former mixed martial arts fighter, José Aldo, where he is often thronged by adoring members of Florida's right-leaning Brazilian expat community," the Times noted. "Bolsonaro had been traveling on an A-1 visa reserved for diplomats and heads of state. It expired the day he left office, with a 30-day grace period."
Earlier this month, several members of U.S. Congress urged the Biden administration to rescind Bolsonaro's visa.
"We must not allow Mr. Bolsonaro or any other former Brazilian officials to take refuge in the United States to escape justice for any crimes they may have committed when in office," stated a letter to the White House signed by 41 Democratic lawmakers.
Alexandre claimed that there is no evidence that Bolsonaro committed any crimes related to the anti-democratic assault in BrasÃlia, when his election-denying supporters ransacked Brazil's presidential palace, Congress, and Supreme Court.
Bolsonaro has tried to distance himself from the rioters, saying that they "crossed the line." In December, however, Bolsonaro broke his post-election silence to tell his backers—many of whom spent weeks after the October 30 runoff calling for a military coup to prevent Lula from taking office—that his political fate rested in their hands.
"Who decides where I go are you," Bolsonaro told a crowd outside the gates of the presidential residence on December 9. "Who decides which way the armed forces go are you."
Days later, hundreds of Bolsonaristas set fire to cars and buses and tried to breach federal police headquarters in BrasÃlia in a preview of the larger January 8 insurrection.
A bigger right-wing mob invaded Brazil's main government buildings earlier this month under the false pretense that Lula's victory in October's election was the result of widespread fraud—a mistaken belief fueled by years of Bolsonaro and his allies' baseless attacks on the integrity of the country's election infrastructure, disinformation that spread rapidly on social media.
The day after the attack, thousands of democracy defenders took to the streets of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo to demand jail time for those who carried out the violence as well as those who aided and abetted it.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Western Hemisphere panel, said earlier this month that the U.S. should comply if Lula's administration requests Bolsonaro's extradition.
Alexandre, meanwhile, told the Times that Bolsonaro "might eventually decide to petition for a more permanent U.S. visa than the six-month extension he is seeking."