Latin America and Rural Development

Wise has been working and writing on Latin America since the 1980s. The Globalization and Sustainable Development Program that he founded at Tufts University’s Global Development and Environment Institute two decades ago focused heavily on Mexico under the North American Free Trade Agreement and the fate of maize farmers under pressure from dumped U.S. exports. He deepened that work with research for two chapters of Eating Tomorrow, one on Mexico under NAFTA, the other on the resistance to efforts by Monsanto and other seed companies to grow genetically modified corn in Mexico.

Working Groups on Environment and Development in the Americas

The Promise and Perils of Agricultural Trade Liberalization: Lessons from the Americas, by Mamerto Pérez Luna, Sergio Schlesinger, and Timothy A. Wise, Policy Report published by GDAE, the Washington Office on Latin America, and the Working Group on Development and Environment in the Americas, July 2008. (Also published in Spanish and Portuguese.)
- Executive Summary
- “The Limited Promise of Agricultural Trade Liberalization,” by Timothy A. Wise, Working Group Discussion Paper DP19, July 2008
Globalization and the Environment: Lessons from the Americas, by the Working Group on Development and Environment in the Americas, July 2004, Heinrich Boll Foundation (report published in English, Spanish and Portuguese)
- “The Environmental Costs of Agricultural Trade Liberalization: Mexico-U.S. Maize Trade Under NAFTA,” Alejandro Nadal and Timothy A. Wise, Working Group Discussion Paper DP-04, June 2004

Revaluing Small-Scale Farms

Mexico’s quest for food sovereignty: An interview with Undersecretary of Agriculture Victor Suárez, IATP Blog, Sept. 28, 2023. (Interview available in English and Spanish.)
Resisting GMOs and Preserving Indigenous Culture in Rural Mexico, Excerpt from Eating Tomorrow, Yes! Magazine, October 25, 2019
Dear Democrats: We owe migrants more than “decriminalization,” Common Dreams, July 30, 2019.
Why Mexican Farmers Are Hopeful About López Obrador's Win, Timothy A. Wise, Food Tank, July 9, 2018
Making Rural Mexico Great Again: Leading candidate endorses farmers' reform program, Timothy A. Wise, Food Tank, April 30, 2018
Growing Out of the Food Crisis: Mexican Smallholders Key to Food Sovereignty, Timothy A. Wise, Triple Crisis Blog, October 10, 2012
Achieving Mexico’s Maize Potential, Antonio Turrent Fernández, Timothy A. Wise, and Elise Garvey, GDAE Working Paper 12-03, October 2012. (Also published in Spanish by Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.)
"Policy Space for Mexican Maize: Protecting Agro-biodiversity by Promoting Rural Livelihoods," by Timothy A. Wise, GDAE Working Paper No. 07-01, February, 2007. (Also appears in Spanish in the collected volume, Desde los Colores del Maíz, Colegio de Michoacán, 2008.)
"Revaluing Peasant Coffee Production: Organic and Fair Trade Markets in Mexico," by Muriel Calo and Timothy A. Wise, GDAE Policy Report, October 2005

GM Corn in Mexico

The US-Mexico Trade War Over GM Corn Heats Up, Truthdig, October 14, 2024. (In Spanish on Contralinea.)
U.S. Flails in GM Corn Dispute with Mexico, IPS News, August 19, 2024. (also available in Spanish)
Takeaways from Mexico’s final rebuttal in GM corn trade dispute, IATP Blog, June 20, 2024. (Also in Spanish on Contralinea)
Expert Panel to Mexico GM Corn Tribunal: Respect the Science, Common Dreams, April 25, 2024. (Also in Spanish on Pie de Pagina and PopLab.)
Mexico Defends GM Corn Restrictions with Science: An analysis of Mexico’s response in the USMCA dispute, IATP Blog, March 14, 2024. (Also available in Spanish.)
Hardline U.S. Stance Ignores Non-GM Corn Opportunity for U.S. Farmers, Ken Roseboro and Timothy A. Wise, Food Tank, February 27, 2024. (Also published in Spanish on Contralinea in Mexico.)
GM Corn Panel Raises Concerns with First Decisions, Food Tank, January 2, 2024. (A version in Spanish appeared in Pie de Pagina.)
U.S. Misuses Trade Agreements to Undermine Food Sovereignty, IPS News, Dec. 11, 2023. (A version appears in Spanish on Contralinea, “EU, con transgénicos y dumping agrícola, va por la soberanía alimentaria de México.”)
Mexico’s Corn Defenders Honored with Environmental Prize, Food Tank, October 16, 2023.
Mexico’s quest for food sovereignty: An interview with Undersecretary of Agriculture Victor Suárez, IATP Blog, Sept. 28, 2023. (Interview available in English and Spanish.)
False alarms over Mexico’s GM-corn restrictions, IATP, Sept. 6, 2023, translated from Spanish in La Jornada del Campo, Sept 5, 2023.
Can the United States Dictate the Mexican Diet? Interview, Mexico Solidarity Project, June 28, 2023.
Worlds Collide on Science of Public Health, IATP, June 20, 2023.
The U.S. Assault on Mexico’s Food Sovereignty, IPS News, June 6, 2023. (Also available in Spanish.)
Monsanto Invades Corn’s Garden of Eden in Mexico - Eating Tomorrow, Chapter 7.
Mexico Calls U.S. Bluff on Science of GMO Corn Restrictions, Food Tank, March 30, 2023.
“Science, Precaution, and Mexico’s GMO Corn Restrictions,” Food Tank, February 15, 2023.
“No Reason for Alarm over Mexico’s GM-Corn Ban,” Food Tank, January 3, 2023. (A version of this article appears in Spanish in La Jornada del Campo.)
“Distorting Markets in the Name of Free Trade: Overestimating the costs of Mexico’s proposed phaseout of GM corn imports,” IATP Policy Brief, December 20, 2022.
“Mexico’s Highest Court Rejects Appeal of GM Corn Ban,” Food Tank, October 15, 2021.
“Monsanto challenges Mexico glyphosate ban: IATP defends Mexico's right to regulate in the public interest,” IATP Blog, May 3, 2021.
“Stopping the Race to the Bottom in Trade Policy,” by Karen Hansen-Kuhn and Timothy A. Wise, American Prospect, March 15, 2021.
“Mexico to Ban Glyphosate, GM Corn: Presidential Decree Comes Despite Intense Pressure from Industry, U.S. Authorities,” IPS News, February 24, 2021.
“Monocultures Of The Genetically Modified Mind: My Surreal Encounter With Monsanto In Mexico,” Medium, June 6, 2019. (Three-part series with introduction.)
Commentary on 'Farming for a Small Planet: Agroecology Now', Timothy A. Wise, Great Transition Initiative, April 2016
High risks, few rewards for Mexico with Monsanto's maize, Timothy A. Wise, Al Jazeera, May 27, 2014 (Also in Spanish from Via Organica)

Mexico and Monsanto: Taking Precaution in the Face of Genetic Contamination, Timothy A. Wise, Food Tank, May 21, 2014 (Also in Spanish from Via Organica)
Monsanto Meets its Match in the Birthplace of Maize, Timothy A. Wise, Triple Crisis Blog, May 12, 2014 (Also in Spanish from Via Organica)

Latin America and Rural Development

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