The threats to Brazilian researcher Larissa Mies Bombardi, professor at the Department of Geography at the University of São Paulo (USP), intensified after the publication, in Europe, in 2019, of the atlas “A geography of the use of pesticides in Brazil and its relations with the European Union”, in the English version. The work exposed the presence of pesticide residues in Brazilian food. After having access to the information, one of the largest organic supermarket chains in Scandinavia began to boycott Brazilian products.
The researcher reveals that she has received intimidation, both professionally and personally, including disqualification from her research, death threats and a robbery at her home. Bombardi decided to leave Brazil with her two children in April 2021. She currently lives in Paris, where she carries out research at the Institut de Recherche pour le développement (IRD, its French acronym), under a national program for scientists in exile.
The scientist spent a few weeks in Brazil to launch the book “Pesticides and Chemical Colonialism” (Editora Elefante). Unicamp hosted the launch, which took place on August 2, 2024 at the Unicamp Faculty Association (Adunicamp). In addition to data on the use of herbicides, pesticides and fungicides by Brazilian agribusiness, the author discusses, in the work, the concept of chemical colonialism.
“The expression chemical colonialism helps to lay bare 'what' and 'in what' this movement of capital has unfolded, when industries based in central countries of the international economic system sell pesticides banned in their own territories to countries in the global south, particularly the Latin America”, says an excerpt from the work.
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Technical sheet
Production: Patrícia Lauretti
Reporting: Silvio Anunciação
Images: Marcos Botelho Jr.
Editing: Kleber Casablanca
Cover edition: Paulo Cavalheri
Coordination: Patrícia Lauretti