“The decision to introduce transgenic crops was reached at high levels of the national government, independently of whether it destroys the natural balance of the most important crop for humanity,” Alejandro Espinosa, a researcher at Mexico’s National Institute of Forestry, Agricultural and Livestock Research, complained to IPS. “It was a political decision,” said Espinosa, who has developed more than 30 hybrid species at INIFAP and more than 12 at the public National Autonomous University of Mexico, for production by small companies and distribution at the local level. Espinosa attended the “Let’s Talk about Corn” First National Symposium last week, where farmers and academics opposed to genetically modified organisms debated with representatives of the biotech industry.