In 1984 I came back to El Paso from Israel, but the tension did not go away. I brought the war home with me. Or maybe there had always been a war here and I just hadn’t seen it before. The concrete barricades at the Santa Fe Street bridge. The barbed wire. The Border Patrol checkpoints. The surveillance cameras and sensors along the river levee. The hovering helicopters. The floating bodies in the Rio Grande. Before, it had all seemed so normal to me that I hardly noticed. But I had come back with new eyes and now understood how abnormal everything was.

— David Romo, A River Runs Through It: Texas Monthly June 2010 [via]

In truth, there is no strong logic behind the decision to plant transgenic seed: it car- ries enormous risks without clear advantages. Studies show that transgenic crops yield less than conventional ones, require more chemi- cals, have created at least a dozen herbicide- resistant weeds, generated resistance from plague insects they were designed to combat, and cost far more than any other seed. Medi- cal associations worldwide have encouraged us to avoid consuming transgenics, due to evi- dence that they cause serious health problems. The negative effects of transgenic crops are established facts, but much more is at risk in Mexico. The inevitable contamination of seeds with transgenics that will occur sooner or later will seriously affect the corn’s genetic reser- voirs for the whole planet. Mexico originated corn and maintains astounding diversity in its crops. On a local level, corn is THE central element for Indigenous culture and economy. This decision is yet another direct, neocolo- nial attack on their heritage and wellbeing.

— BAAM Newsletter #28 - Mexico: Agricultural Genocide by Tlacuilotzin