The Rape of the Rainforest and the Man Behind it

I just read this article on www.CommonDreams.org about the deforestation of the Amazon for soy production. The situation is similar in Argentina. I thought the article would give people a general idea of the agricultural crisis in Latin America. The article does a good job describing the environmental impact but doesn't really go into the social and economic impacts of the soy boom.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0520-06.htm



A stream winds through a strip of once virgin Amazon rainforest destroyed by loggers, in Mato Grosso State, one of the Brazilian states of greatest deforestation, May 18, 2005. The Brazilian government announced the latest data on deforestation of the Amazon Basin, with a total of 26,130 square km (10,089 square miles) of rainforest destroyed, equivalent to more than nine football fields every minute, during the 12-month period ending in August, 2004. The total is the highest recorded during the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in spite of his administration's announced efforts to contain the destruction. REUTERS/Rickey Rogers