New & Improved

Nemagon is a pesticide that was used on banana plantations in Nicaragua and other countries in Central America, the Caribbean, and the Philippines. It is derived from debromochloropropane (DBCP) and kills a microscopic worm which inhibits the growth and damages the appearance of bananas. Though banned in the U.S. since 1979 because workers in the plants manufacturing the product were found to be sterile, Nemagon was exported throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s to unsuspecting banana producing nations. The pesticide was produced by Dow Chemical, Shell Oil, Occidental and others.

Male victims of Nemagon suffer from reduced or completely decimated sperm counts, with 67% of the male banana workers in Nicaragua rendered permanently sterile. Female victims suffer with menstrual disruptions, skin discoloration, repeated miscarriages, uterine and breast cancer. Both women and men live with migraines, bone pains, vision loss, fevers, hot flashes, loss of fingernails and hair, hematoma-covered skin, liver damage, kidney and stomach cancer.

In January 2001, the Nicaraguan National Assembly passed Law 364, which was specifically designed to assist banana workers in gaining compensation from companies that produced or used Nemagon.

May 2004. Dow acknowledges that it has put pressure on the U.S. and Nicaraguan governments to eliminate Law 364. "The last clause of [the First Amendment] protects every citizen's, including corporate citizens, right to 'petition the government for a redress of grievances,'" says spokesman Wheeler. "Dow attempted to make the U.S and Nicaraguan governments aware of the total lack of fair play that Dow has been subjected under Special Law 364 and in the Nicaraguan courts."

While the final version of CAFTA does not contain language that specifically targets Law 364, if ratified, the free trade agreement's investment rules may lead to the gutting of legislation such as Law 364. According to Stephen Porter, senior attorney with Center for International Environmental Law in Geneva, CAFTA's investment rules parallel NAFTA's infamous Chapter 11, which allows corporations to sue governments if they feel that domestic policies or laws create obstacles to profit-making.

Agreement for Nemagon Victims
On May 13 (2005) members of the cabinet of Nicaraguan president Enrique Bolaños signed an agreement with leaders of several thousand former banana and sugarcane workers whose health has been damaged by exposure to the pesticide Nemagon (dibromo chloropropane, DBCP), principally in the 1970s. The 19-point agreement includes free health care for the former workers and a housing project for some of the former workers who have nowhere to live.

The government also agreed to provide 300 coffins annually for the communities where the victims live.

CAFTA. The new, improved blessings of globalization.