June 11, 2008

Activists halt soy crushing in Bunge's Brazil plant

Bunge (BG) closed down a soy-crushing facility in Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, in south Brazil due to security risks associated with a break-in by activists, the company said Tuesday (June 11, 2008).

Activists from the anti-agribusiness group, Via Campesina, invaded a Bunge soy-crushing facility in Brazil's southern-most state Tuesday morning. The company chose to cease operations to avoid any security problems, a company spokeswoman said.

The local Estado newswire reported Via Campesina activists said that police fired rubber bullets at the group when they entered the property, saying five people were injured. Bunge did not provide the number of people involved in the break-in.

During a similar operation last year, a Via Campesina activist was shot dead by security guards contracted by multinational seed company Syngenta (SYT) in Brazil's Parana state.