Late last November, a seed company deposited an estimated 400 tons of expired, pesticide-treated cottonseed here in Ybycuí, a village 75 miles (120 km) from Asunción, in what company officials have described as a soil-fertilization project. Hired townspeople used shovels and their hands to mix the seed with soil on a 3.7-acre (1.5-hectare) lot near the village center. Residents have since complained of eye and throat irritation, vomiting and other problems. The result has been months of confusing charges and counter-charges. While the danger of the seeds and the circumstances of their disposal remain matters of debate, the case illustrates how some Latin nations making wide use of pesticides suffer from woefully inexpert and opaque regulation of the chemicals. Paraguay’s... [Log in to read more]