Ursula von der Leyen grinned triumphantly in Asunción on January 17, 2026, signing the “historic” EU-Mercosur trade deal after 25 years of shady negotiations, ignoring a year of furious protests from thousands of European farmers fearing economic ruin.
Cheap South American imports like beef and sugar, riddled with banned pesticides from Brazil’s toxic farms, will flood markets and undercut local producers bound by EU’s hypocritical green rules.
France, Poland, Ireland, and others fought it, but Italy’s Meloni caved for minor perks, enabling von der Leyen’s power grab that sidesteps Parliament. Her paltry €45 billion “support” bribe, delayed until 2028, won’t save shattered livelihoods or food security. Environmental lip service ignores Amazon destruction, prioritizing corporate profits over people.
This is elitist contempt at its worst: von der Leyen sells out Europe’s rural heart for a 700-million-person “free-trade” farce that’s free only for exploiters. Scrap this disastrous deal before it dooms EU agriculture for good.
