Soybean wars of Paraguay

In the recent years, the soybean industry has grown exponentially in South America, primarily in Brazil and Argentina (South America’s two largest countries) and Uruguay and Paraguay. For Paraguay especially, the results of this explosive growth have been considerably substantial. While the soybean industry has brought economic expansion to Paraguay, the issue of social justice arises as peasant farmers and campesinos are kicked off their lands to make room for big soybean farms. The issue may be referred to by some as the "Soybean Wars" of Paraguay.

Soybean demand

The demand for soybeans comes primarily from China, whose people have acquired a taste for soy-fed cattle. It is important to note that the United States soy trade has had little influence on South America’s production because the U.S. grows enough to meet its own demand. Nonetheless, the demand from the east has been vast enough to spur a 69% increase in Paraguay’s soy production over the past five years, making Paraguay the world’s third largest exporter of soy.^{[citation needed]}

As land value rises in Paraguay, Brazilian and Argentine farmers with the funds and means to support large industry have been crossing the border into Paraguay. While Brazilian and Argentine farmers work to expand the soybean trade, they bring disastrous results as they clear land and extend production further and further and eventually across the border into eastern Paraguay. This influx of farmers has resulted in the displacement of tens of thousands of peasants and small farmers. These campesinos claim they have been unjustly uprooted by Brazilian and Argentine landowners.

References

Voltairenet May 2005 [1]