Transgénicos en Colombia: Globalización Vs. Estado Social de Derecho (Atena Editora)

Abstract

In 1990 an economic phenomenon emerged that would change the rules of the game in the world market: globalization, that famous process that broke with the old concept of nation-state and gave way to effective and definitive global interconnection. It is no secret that today, borders play an increasingly less decisive role because the free market has relieved them of importance, today the inhabitants of each State are affected to a greater extent by decisions taken outside their borders and it is the Multinational companies (especially in the countries of Latin America and Asia) that have more weight when defining state policies, often over and above the needs of citizens, subsequently leaving social matters to the discretion of private agents, whose only purpose is profit. Thus, issues such as mega-mining and tourism have begun to affect rights such as a healthy environment and the participation of the community (Article 80 of the Constitution) under legal protection; others, such as biotechnological invention patents (transgenic seeds), have seriously undermined the promised protection of food production under Article 65, and even go against consumers' right to information (Article 78 of the Constitution). Therefore, the question “Are transgenics in Colombia a factor that undermines the budgets of the Social State of Law in favor of globalization?” is the call to answer in this research work with the main objective of elucidating whether transgenics in Colombia benefit globalization to the detriment of the Social State of Law, or if on the contrary the production and marketing of these organisms is indifferent, in guarantee terms, to the aforementioned budgets of the Social Rule of Law. This is achieved through an analytical methodology with a transversal approach that allows for a general picture of the problem to be obtained, in order to arrive at more accurate and functional conclusions in this regard. The relevance of this work lies in determining whether the constitutional guarantees, namely: sovereignty and food security, progressive access of agricultural workers to land, the right to information and free development of the personality of the final consumers as promised by the Social State of Colombian Law in its Political Letter, are being effectively violated in favor of multinational interests, or if, on the contrary, said guarantees remain intact, and the implementation of transgenic crops / products allow for greater food safety, being completely innocuous for final consumers. We speak then of facing two diametrically opposed positions, which are discussed with fervor both nationally and internationally.