Written by Arturo Peña, translated by April Howard: Pedro Silva is the active campesino leader from the Lima District, in the province of San Pedro, and member of the Provincial Coordinator in Defense of Sovereignty, a front that opposes the advance of soy monoculture in the area,. Silva was wounded last friday night in his house by two hit men of Brazilian nationality. Silva was hit with three bullets, two in the abdomen and one in the right arm. His recuperation, in the Emergency Medical Hospital in Asunción, was stable until today when a clot was discovered that could affect his lungs, due to which surgery will be needed. The family of Pedro Silva communicated that they will be needing blood donors in the next few hours.
To contact the Silvas to make a solidarity donation, please call Silva's son in law Benigno Acosta: 0981 636 932.

Community Ybype, San Pedro, Paraguay. Written by Arturo Peña: Don Pedro Silva is what they say, in Guarani, Iguenoiterei, which literally means "good hearted” person. But he is also a fighter and community leader for many years, surviving in the district of Lima, department of San Pedro, Paraguay.
Yesterday, two people attacked him in his home in the afternoon. They entered through the back of his property (which is next to a soya monoculture). Don Pedro was shot four times with bullets in the areas of the stomach, chest and arm. He arrived to a hospital in Asuncion and is conscious (Saturday 26, 12:30 pm). He is now being under surgery in the Hospital of Emergency. He had to be transported, in a car, first from his city to another close by, Santani, and from there to Asuncion, because they could not find the necessary medical infrastructure to treat him.

Wednesday April 23, 2008, Buenos Aires:During a plenary session of the 3rd conference of the Round Table on Responsible Soy, a group of representatives of organisations signing the declaration denouncing the RTRS, made an intervention expressing their rejection of the greenwash caused by the RTRS. "Responsible soy is an unresolvable contradiction and in no way a viable option". Watch video clip from protest below.

The Round Table on Responsible Soy is seeking to legitimise irresponsible, socially and environmentally damaging soy production, according to a new report published today (Tuesday 22 April) ahead of the Round Table on Responsible Soy’s third conference in Buenos Aires.

During this day several actions worldwide took place, a short selection:
Activists block Cargill in Belgium
view video at www.politube.org (search on Cargill)

Thursday April 17th, the international day of farmers struggles, the group Agrocrisis blocked a Cargill [1] company firm in the harbour of Ghent, Belgium. Some 30 activists began the action at around 6h30 in the morning and lasted until after 5 p.m. During all that time, not one truck with soy could enter or leave the firm. Some activists had locked themselves with pipes and bicycle chains at the gate, so it was impossible to open the entrance without brute force. The staff of the firm, scared of bad publicity, chose therefore to let the activists occupy the gate and didn't ask the police to intervene.

This reader you find in attachment focuses on the implications of the ever-growing production and consumption of meat. We follow a pig from the industrialized European farm all the way back to the soy fields in South America where the feed is produced. The journey examines the various problems in the agricultural sector, exposing the underlying structures and the role of international policies.

Campesinos marchan en frente de CargillAfiche y volante de la movilización en adjunto.
Compesinos de toda la región protestarán frente a Cargill contra los monocultivos de soja que causan desmontes, contaminación y fumigacion de la población.
El 26 de marzo se realizó una movilización en el Departamento de San Pedro, organizada por la Coordinadora Interdistrital en Defensa de la Soberanía y bajo el lema “Contra la Invasión Sojera”. Esta protesta ciudadana responde al avance masivo de monocultivos de soja y la entrada de agroempresarios extranjeros a San Pedro,que están causando la desaparición de comunidades campesinas e indígenas y la destrucción del medio ambiente.

[img_assist|nid=160|title=Cargill silo in Alto Paraná|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=150|height=113]Summary of the lecture of Andrea Samulon at the conference ‘The global fight against Cargill: the experience of the United States, Brasil and Paraguay’.

The criminalization of social movements in Paraguay has worsened with the recent order to detain political and social leader Tomás Zayas, a municipal councilor and three campesinos, charged for “Homicidal intent and criminal association.” These accusations are due to the conflict that has developed over the last three years over intense crop spraying with pesticides suffered by the Leopoldo Perrier community of San Cristóbal Municipality in the department of Alto Paraná, Paraguay.
Read also the response letter by Nobel price winner Martin Almada