Résumé
Abstract: Increasing importance of intellectual property rights (IPR) over the area of seed production, is radically transforming agricultural production relations. One major effect of this transformation is the exclusive control of biotech companies on process of transaction of GM crops. This new status, that is the part of a trend that was set in national and international documents to protect inventors, may have adverse impact on the right to work of poor and vulnerable farmers in developing countries. In the framework of international human rights, the right to work is the fundamental right of every one to have sustainable access to decent work that meets the needs and welfare of his livelihood. Rural communities enjoy this right similar to the urban communities. But, the main question, which is our major concern, is the relationship between IPR and the right to work with attention to articles of International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural right and International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
Résumé
Nuestra cultura asocia progreso con desarrollo científico y, sobre todo, con desarrollo tecnológico. En el contexto latinoamericano, esta asociación no es tan definitiva como parece serlo para los países "desarrollados". Cuando se quiere integrar a la realidad latinoamericana la ecuación progreso-biotecnología aparecen conflictos de todo tipo, especialmente éticos, como el de transformar las tradiciones agrícolas con las semillas transgénicas y utilizar a nuestros pueblos como sujetos de experimentación. Aprovecharse de las desventajas que sufre la mayoría de la población mundial, entre ellos los latinoamericanos, en beneficio de unos pocos no tiene ningún justificativo ético. La propuesta es convertir a estos pueblos en protagonistas. Ellos no deben ser depositarios de una tradición cultural que muchas veces les es ajena.
Our culture associates progress with scientific development and particularly with technological development. In the Latin American context, this association is not as definitive as it seems to be for the "developed" countries. When attempting to integrate the biotechnological-progress equation into the reality of life in Latin America, all sorts of conflicts emerge, especially ethical ones, such as transforming agricultural traditions with genetically modified seeds and using our people as objects of experimentation. There is no ethical justification for taking advantage of the difficulties suffered by the majority of the world's population, including Latin Americans, for the benefit of only a few. The proposal is to turn these communities into protagonists. They should not be recipients of a cultural tradition that often is foreign to them.
Nossa cultura associa progresso com desenvolvimento científico e, sobretudo, com desenvolvimento tecnológico. No contexto latino-americano, essa associação não é tão definida como parece ser para os países "desenvolvidos". Quando se quer integrar à realidade latino-americana a equação progresso-biotecnologia, aparecem conflitos de todo tipo, especialmente éticos, como o de transformar as tradições agrícolas com as sementes transgênicas e utilizar nossos povos como sujeitos de experimentação. Aproveitar-se das desvantagens que sofre a maioria da população mundial, entre eles os latino-americanos, em benefício de poucos não tem nenhuma justificativa ética. A proposta é converter esses povos em protagonistas. Eles não devem ser depositários de uma tradição cultural que, muitas vezes, não lhes pertence.