{"id":18816,"date":"2017-03-30T16:14:38","date_gmt":"2017-03-30T14:14:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/activist-receives-death-threats-following-danwatch-avocado-investigation\/"},"modified":"2017-11-27T16:19:34","modified_gmt":"2017-11-27T15:19:34","slug":"activist-receives-death-threats-following-danwatch-avocado-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/en\/activist-receives-death-threats-following-danwatch-avocado-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Activist receives death threats following Danwatch avocado investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Monday, March 20, Rodrigo Mundaca received an anonymous call on his mobile phone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe voice on the phone just said that I should keep my mouth shut and then asked, \u2018What size are you? We have to find your\u00a0traje de madera<\/i>\u00a0(wooden suit,\u00a0ed.<\/i>).\u2019 In Spanish, that refers to a coffin,\u201d explains Mundaca.<\/p>\n

Mundaca is an activist that works with the organisation MODATIMA to promote water rights in Chile. \u00a0The water shortage in the Chilean province of Petorca has worsened in recent years, both because of drought and because of a massive increase in the water-intensive production of avocados.<\/p>\n

Privatization of water rights and illegal pipes that carry water from rivers to private wells have dried up Petorca\u2019s waterways to such an extent that local residents must receive water deliveries by truck, and avocado plantation owners have been assessed fines for violations of the water law. \u00a0This state of affairs was described by Danwatch in the investigation\u00a0Avocados and stolen water<\/i><\/a>, published the day before the anonymous phone call, in which Mundaca is quoted by name.<\/p>\n

Mundaca is receiving assistance from Ingrid Wehr from the Heinrich B\u00f6ll Foundation in Germany, which has partnered with MODATIMA for the last three years.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur office and lawyers in Chile say that this is the most serious threat against Rodrigo Mundaca\u2019s life in years,\u201d says Wehr, who has helped to secure legal representation and security consultants for Mundaca and MODATIMA in the wake of last week\u2019s threat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not regret it\u201d<\/b><\/h4>\n

Danwatch\u2019s investigation was covered in the media in Denmark and abroad, and both Dansk Supermarked and Aldi have made statements saying they will no longer do business with plantations that have been convicted of water theft. \u00a0Chilean television reported that Danish supermarkets are planning to stop buying avocados that are produced under illegal conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the days after publication, we were getting a lot of attention, and several trade organisations and plantation owners came out to criticise and attack us,\u201d says Mundaca.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey (the avocado industry,\u00a0ed.<\/i>) claim that my colleagues and I want to damage Chilean exports. \u00a0They say that we are irresponsible and that our actions will cost many Chileans their jobs. \u00a0They call us eco-terrorists, and allege that we are working against the best interests of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mundaca has an earlier conviction for slander, based on his 2015 claims in the Chilean press that plantation owners had been convicted of water theft. \u00a0The plantation owners themselves insisted that they had merely been assessed administrative fines for water law infractions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not regret our participation in Danwatch\u2019s investigation, and we will not retract our statements. \u00a0We have fought for Chileans\u2019 right to water, and we will continue to do so. Sadly, we are accustomed to the fact that threats, assaults and defamation are the price of human rights work in Chile, where it is unfortunately commonplace for the powerful to escape responsibility,\u201d declared Mundaca.<\/p>\n

Pointless to file a police report<\/b><\/h4>\n

Mundaca has no real evidence of the threats, and has therefore not reported them to the police.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey called my colleagues too, with the same threats. \u00a0We don\u2019t know who is doing the calling, and we have no proof. We have an idea of who may be behind them, but we have no concrete evidence, and in our experience, the police do not investigate these cases. \u00a0In 2015, I was assaulted in the street in broad daylight, and the police have done nothing to investigate that case,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Poul Hauch Fenger, a specialist in criminal law and legal advisor to Danwatch, believes that the threats should be reported to the police, however.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere can be no doubt that these are actual death threats. \u00a0I see lots of these cases. \u00a0Even if a more subtle word than \u2018wooden suit\u2019 had been used, I would construe it as a threat that should be reported to the police, who ought to take this case very seriously,\u201d says Fenger.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe person making the threat has a criminal purpose \u2013 that is, to use the threat to stop this case \u2013 and so there can be no doubt that there is a lot of money at stake here. \u00a0It is a huge industry, and you spare no expense when it is threatened. \u00a0So unless there are other controversial issues in his life, then in particular the timing would suggest that he has been threatened because of his involvement in Danwatch\u2019s investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The supermarkets\u2019 dilemma<\/b><\/h4>\n

Thomas Bang, director of communications at Aldi Danmark, says that the supermarket \u201cstrongly objects to those kinds of methods.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no desire to do business with suppliers that are involved in illegal activities of any kind,\u201d declares Bang.<\/p>\n

Aldi told Danwatch earlier that it only obtains a very small fraction of its avocados from Chile, and that in the future it would avoid buying avocados from the plantations in question.<\/p>\n

At Dansk Supermarked, director of communications Mads Hvitved Grand says that death threats are obviously \u201cabsolutely reprehensible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA case like this shows that there is even more reason to shine a spotlight on production conditions. \u00a0It is always a question of balance. \u00a0It is not without risk to call attention to situations like these, but that does not make it any less important \u2013 both the work of Danwatch and the responsibility taken on by NGOs,\u201d says Grand. \u00a0He goes on to explain the difficulty facing the supermarket chains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dilemma for us is that leaving the area altogether would be the simplest solution. \u00a0But in this situation, if we pull the plug entirely, it affects other people\u2019s livelihoods. \u00a0And now we see that some people\u2019s personal safety is threatened. \u00a0So that is not the right solution. \u00a0It is a predicament, but we will continue the work and stay in the area, which means that conditions will have to be documented first.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200b<\/strong>\u00a0\u200b<\/strong>Avocado \u200bindustry strongly condemns threats<\/strong><\/h4>\n

One of the avocado plantations in Chile, which is a part of Danwatchs\u2019 investigation and have been fined for water code violations, is represented by lawyer Juan Pablo Cerda L:<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all, we completely condemn the threats received by Mr. Rodrigo Mundaca\u2019s. We consider them absolutely unacceptable. Threats of any kind are illegal and we strongly believe that if there is a discussion, it must be resolved from a legal point of view\u201d, \u00a0Juan Pablo Cerda L, writes in an email to Danwatch.<\/p>\n

At the trade organisation for fresh fruit, ASOEX, chairman of the Board, Ronald Bown Fern\u00e1ndez writes in an email to Danwatch\u200b:\u200b<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201d\u200bAccording to our association\u2019s core values and principles, ASOEX acknowledges and respects the right of people to express their opinions publicly without interference or threat, as expressly stipulated in our national Constitution. Therefore, ASOEX utterly rejects all statement or action aimed at infringing the freedom of speech\u200b\u201d\u200b.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The life of a Chilean activist was threatened last week as a result of his involvement in a Danwatch investigation into avocado production and water theft in Chile. \u201cAbsolutely reprehensible,\u201d say supermarkets that have been buying avocados from Chile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":12672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_gspb_post_css":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","footnotes":"","_ppma_block_editor_authors":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"branche":[439],"serie":[],"genre":[432],"land":[440],"serie_fokus":[],"forside":[],"tema":[617],"virksomhed":[3210,3254],"ppma_author":[2957],"class_list":["post-18816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","branche-food","genre-news","land-chile-en","tema-corruption","virksomhed-aldi","virksomhed-dansk-supermarked","author-louise"],"acf":{"xtra_byline_text":"","evt_samarbejdspartner_logoer":null},"taxonomy_info":{"branche":[{"value":439,"label":"Food"}],"genre":[{"value":432,"label":"News"}],"land":[{"value":440,"label":"Chile"}],"tema":[{"value":617,"label":"Corruption"}],"virksomhed":[{"value":3210,"label":"Aldi"},{"value":3254,"label":"Dansk Supermarked"}],"author":[{"value":2957,"label":"Louise Voller"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/dw-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/avocado-coverbillede.jpg",2400,1906,false],"author_info":{"display_name":"Louise Voller","author_link":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/author\/louise\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[],"tag_info":false,"authors":[{"term_id":2957,"user_id":21,"is_guest":0,"slug":"louise","display_name":"Louise Voller","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/48c391f1f854684896578bc69bab99695e9de5fe0176c9eb84d10b575d2733b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","5_linjer_om_dig":"","first_name":"Louise","whatsapp":"","last_name":"Voller","signal":"","telefonnummer":"","job_title":"","user_url":"","description":"Journalist"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18816"},{"taxonomy":"branche","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/branche?post=18816"},{"taxonomy":"serie_el_forside","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/serie?post=18816"},{"taxonomy":"genre","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/genre?post=18816"},{"taxonomy":"land","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/land?post=18816"},{"taxonomy":"serie_fokus","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/serie_fokus?post=18816"},{"taxonomy":"forside","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/forside?post=18816"},{"taxonomy":"tema","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tema?post=18816"},{"taxonomy":"virksomhed","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/virksomhed?post=18816"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edu.danwatch.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=18816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}