Thursday, February 16, 2006

St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri), February 10, 2006, Friday

Please note that comments by Sean Sweeney in this and other papers appear to be vindicated by articles appearing in the Guardian (UK) -- see the last paragraph at --
http://www.guardian.co.uk/gmdebate/Story/0,,1708375,00.html
*****

Copyright 2006 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)

February 10, 2006 Friday
THIRD EDITION

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A3

HEADLINE: French critic of Monsanto biotech products is denied entry to U.S.

BYLINE: By Derek Poore POST-DISPATCH WASHINGTON BUREAU

DATELINE: WASHINGTON

BODY:
A French farmer arriving in New York to give a speech critical of Monsanto Co. was denied entry to the U.S. this week on the ground that he had lied on entry forms about committing "moral crimes," a farmers group said Thursday.
Jose Bove, a leader in the anti-globalization movement, was scheduled to speak at conferences in New York City and at Cornell University. But he was sent back to France after landing Wednesday at Kennedy International Airport, according to the farm group and Cornell.
Reuters news service reported that the French Foreign Ministry said Bove had been refused for a mistaken response to a question about his criminal record. Bove is the farmer who gained notoriety several years ago for leading an attack that damaged a McDonald's in southern France. He is a critic of genetically modified food and was scheduled to speak in New York about a campaign by European farmers against Monsanto, of Creve Coeur, Mo., the global leader in engineered food.
A French Foreign Ministry spokesman said Bove made a mistake in understanding when he responded to a question on an immigration form by saying he did not have a criminal record, Reuters reported. Bove thought the question referred only to the U.S. justice system, the spokesman said.
Via Campesina, an international farmers organization, said that Bove "was sent back to France after U.S. immigration officials maintained he had lied on his application about prior prosecutions for moral crimes."
Officials at the Customs and Border Protection agency could not be reached for comment.
Organizers of the Cornell conference were displeased about losing a main speaker. Sean Sweeney, director of Cornell's Global Labor Institute, said, "This is a huge conference here talking about focusing on the large multinational corporations. Monsanto is one. It has enormous influence on the politics of the world."
Part of Bove's speech was called, "Via Campesina takes on Monsanto." Via Campesina describes itself as an organization of farm workers and peasants from around the world.
Monsanto spokesman Chris Horner declined to comment other than to say, "There are a lot of activist groups out there that bash Monsanto to further their own agenda."
A national farm group denounced Bove's deportation, contending that he was being denied the opportunity to speak by a government that supports genetically modified food.
"He's a peaceful person, and no one would think of fearing him being in this country except for large companies like Monsanto," said George Naylor, an Iowa farmer and president of the National Farm Family Coalition.
Naylor said Bove had been briefly detained in December in Hong Kong after arriving for a World Trade Organization gathering.

NOTES: Nation

GRAPHIC: PHOTO
PHOTO - Bove