I think mr Trump will have to seriously rethink the 50% tariff he put on our (Brazilian) meat imports then. Interesting.
Yeah, cause you guys don't have screw worms in Brazil? It's likely the screw worms in Mexico now came from Brazil.
Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread
191–200 of 219 posts
Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread
#192Earlier quoted context omitted.
Funding was recently cut but this infestation has been building for years. The key failure that caused this current outbreak was during COVID. The lockdowns shut down both the release flights by the US and the mosquito breeding facilities in Latina America, grinding the whole pest control program to a halt.
The funding was never cut. That was misinfo spread by morons because there was a typical Trump dispute of "mexico will pay for it". But the reality was that was in talks of a Mexico specific coverage program. The Panama program was never touched and is run by a third party agency with stakes holders consisting of the USDA and Panama government. But yes the current outbreak built up since COVID.
So funding was never cut, but actually some subset did experience cuts? Which is it?
We're taking about Mexico to US trade here so the Mexico specific subprogram seems directly relevant.
Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread
#193Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread
#194Earlier quoted context omitted.
Funding was recently cut but this infestation has been building for years. The key failure that caused this current outbreak was during COVID. The lockdowns shut down both the release flights by the US and the mosquito breeding facilities in Latina America, grinding the whole pest control program to a halt.
The funding was never cut. That was misinfo spread by morons because there was a typical Trump dispute of "mexico will pay for it". But the reality was that was in talks of a Mexico specific coverage program. The Panama program was never touched and is run by a third party agency with stakes holders consisting of the USDA and Panama government. But yes the current outbreak built up since COVID.
Question, are they morons? Is your disagreement with them really that simple? Was it necessary to call them that? I don't like posting this comment, because it will be distracting and tone policing. I was just going to downvote and flag your comment and move on, but I think you offered some valuable information about the policy and I'd like to hear more without the divisive parts that add less value.
Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread
#195Earlier quoted context omitted.
From the other link on the front page about this subject [1]: > Illegal cattle smuggling, long considered one of the most efficient money-laundering routes for the drug cartels which terrorised San Pedro Sula, is regarded as the main reason for the accelerating advance. Up to 800,000 cattle a year are illicitly raised in nature reserves, such as the UNESCO-protected Rio Platano Biosphere in Honduras, and then smuggle…
> So for those who keep trying to make the connection, it has little, if anything, to do with US politics. I follow your intended meaning (USAID & etc cuts). But taken literally it's US policies and propaganda that enable the drug cartels. Our dysfunctions are still ultimately the root of the problem.
The world is complex and interdependent. The US, being a powerful and influential country, has direct or indirect involvement in pretty much everything. That doesn't mean we are to blame for everything.
Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread
#196Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, the USDA-APHIS Screwworm Barrier Maintenance Program had its funding reduced by 30% in the 2024 budget, which significantly impacted sterile fly production capacity at the Panama facility.
citation? USDA approved an emergency funding of 165 million in 2024 for this issue https://www.aphis.usda.gov/news/agency-announcements/usda-ap...
The claims aren't exclusive.
Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, it got cut back in March. https://kbhbradio.com/usda-cuts-budget-staff-for-animal-dise... Part of it was restored a couple of months later.
The flies didn't JUST start moving north this year.
Which makes cutting funding for the program that much stupider, no?
Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread
#198Earlier quoted context omitted.
> So for those who keep trying to make the connection, it has little, if anything, to do with US politics. I follow your intended meaning (USAID & etc cuts). But taken literally it's US policies and propaganda that enable the drug cartels. Our dysfunctions are still ultimately the root of the problem.
The world is complex and interdependent. The US, being a powerful and influential country, has direct or indirect involvement in pretty much everything. That doesn't mean we are to blame for everything.
I agree. We certainly aren't at fault for the existence of organized crime in general. However our aggressively exported drug policy is very obviously the root that props up the Mexican and South American drug cartels (among others). There's decades of academic literature and economic analysis on this point.
When a parasite is spreading due to a large scale money laundering tactic by a large scale criminal enterprise whose scale is only enabled by our policy I class that as yet another own goal of the war on drugs.
These downstream effects are somewhat non obvious so I think it's worthwhile to point them out when they come up.
Re: Mexico to US livestock trade halted due to screwworm spread
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
From the other link on the front page about this subject [1]: > Illegal cattle smuggling, long considered one of the most efficient money-laundering routes for the drug cartels which terrorised San Pedro Sula, is regarded as the main reason for the accelerating advance. Up to 800,000 cattle a year are illicitly raised in nature reserves, such as the UNESCO-protected Rio Platano Biosphere in Honduras, and then smuggle…
> So for those who keep trying to make the connection, it has little, if anything, to do with US politics. I follow your intended meaning (USAID & etc cuts). But taken literally it's US policies and propaganda that enable the drug cartels. Our dysfunctions are still ultimately the root of the problem.
OK, so let me be even more explicit: for those who continue to want to connect this to recent changes in the US political system, the relationship is tenuous, at best.