Cargill Profile

Thursday, March 15, 2007

CARGILL MILL OCCUPIED BY BRAZIL LAND REFORM ACTIVISTS

SAO PAULO, Brazil, 7/3/07 --- Via Campesina activists invaded the Cevasa ethanol mill owned in part by Cargill on March 7, 2007. The Cevasa property is located in Patrocinio Paulista, roughly 300 kilometers north of Sao Paulo city. Cevasa is a joint venture with Cargill and other local partners. The invasion occurred on the day that US President George W. Bush was scheduled to arrive in Brazil to discuss ethanol with Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Cargill purchased 63% of Central Energetica Vale do Supucai Ltda, or Cevasa, last year. The mill, one of Brazil's largest, produces 1.4 million metric tons of sugar and 125 million liters of ethanol each year, according to Cargill. (Brazil is the world's No. 1 sugarcane producer and largest producer of sugarcane ethanol.)

The cane crop is still growing and no sugarcane is being crushed at this time. Sao Paulo sugar mills will go into production phase around April. "We're taking advantage of the fact that Bush is coming today to talk about ethanol and sugarcane to denounce the expansion of monoculture crops in Sao Paulo," said Soraia Soniano, a spokeswoman from the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST). "We took over Cargill because the company is a symbol of big transnational agribusiness," Soniana said.

Some 200 women from MST and Via Campesina invaded the Cevesa mill at 5:30 in the morning local time. Via Campesina put the total close to 900. "When the workers arrived three hours later, they saw us and turned around and went home," Soniano said.

At least four properties were occupied by Via Campesina and MST activists over the last 24 hours under the banner "Women Against Agribusiness". The movement is also part of the group's actions for International Woman's Day 2007, celebrated worldwide on March 8.
-- Dow Jones, 7/3/07