Via-info-en March 2016

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April 17th, 2016: International Day of Peasants’ and Farmers’ Struggle
by La Vía Campesina 28 Mar '16

28 Mar '16

April 17th, 2016: International Day of Peasants' and Farmers' Struggle [1] Published on Monday, 28 March 2016 12:31 LA VIA CAMPESINA CALL FOR MOBILISATION-FOR LIFE, LAND, AND HEALTHY FOOD: 20 YEARS OF RESISTANCE [2]_20 years after the Eldorado dos Carajás massacre, the bloodshed continues. But our resistance as peasants and farmers is stronger than ever_ (Harare, March 24th, 2016) This 20th anniversary of the International Day of Peasants' and Farmers' Struggle is taking place in the midst of a truly alarming situation with regard to the human rights of peasants and farmers. [3][1] Recently, there has been an increase in the repression suffered by peasants and farmers, both women and men, in their daily struggle for their rights. At the beginning of March, Berta Caceres, the coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organisations of Honduras (COPINH) was assassinated in her home. One week later, in Colombia, a member of the Peasant Association of Arauca (a member organisation of FENSUAGRO) was killed and three other peasant farmers, also members of an Association affiliated to FENSUAGRO, were taken prisoner. These four peasant farmers are part of a long list of Colombian human rights defenders and members of farmers' and indigenous peoples' organisations who have been threatened, imprisoned, or assassinated since the beginning of 2016. Tragically, every day and in every part of the world, very many farmers and defenders of peasant and small-scale agriculture are victims of such murderous attacks. The capitalist model of production based on the domination of nature is in crisis. We see a confrontation between two productive models, two social models, and two ways of living with nature. It is a question of two different ways of envisioning the future. On the one hand, there is the agrobusiness model, which subjects everything to its insatiable appetite for profit, a model that imposes the practice of monoculture, destroys biodiversity, uses more and more toxic inputs, drives peasants off their land, and forces governments and nation states to bow to its will. On the other hand, there is La Via Campesina's model, built on food sovereignty, in which agriculture produces healthy foods for everyone while respecting the balance of nature and the well-being of the rural population. Violence and repression on the part of large landowners and government inertia are symptoms of this perpetual and daily confrontation between two ways of viewing nature, agriculture, life, and food. In addition, incidents of violence against peasant families are likely to become even more prevalent with the expected increases in landgrabbing in Africa and Asia, for the supposed purpose of compensating for the carbon emissions of the most industrialised countries. Our international days of mobilisation are important symbolic dates. They have their origins in events that deeply affected our lives. Today, they inspire us to continue to develop our work of denunciation and resistance. They allow us to communicate with the whole of society in order to develop another agricultural model. This is the context in which La Via Campesina is calling upon all of its member organisations, its friends and allies, all those who believe in peasant agriculture and are striving for food sovereignty, to mobilise on April 17th, 2016, in order to demand access to land for those who cultivate it with respect, and to protest against the assassinations of leaders of peasant farmer movements - which constitute crimes against humanity. [4] More especially, in Brazil, twenty years after the Eldorado dos Carajás massacre - for which those responsible have still not been punished - La Via Campesina Brazil and La Via Campesina International are organising a youth camp, which will be followed, from April 13th-17th, by a conference on agrarian reform where the two production models described above will be debated and discussed. Finally, an international political event calling for a transformation of society will be held on the spot where the massacre took place in the state of Pará. Let us join together to make this 20th anniversary a hymn to life, by organising demonstrations, public debates and discussions, film screenings, farmers markets, festivals, or solidarity actions. All of your ideas and plans are welcome! Tell us about them by writing to lvcweb(a)viacampesina.org so that we can circulate the information ahead of time. On April 17th, send in your photos and audio or video recordings to dramatise this special day. We are attaching 2 posters which you can use to publicise your events. Download high resolution poster for web [5] and A3 printing [6] Follow us on _Social media_: @via_campesina [7] and https://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL [8] ------------------------- [9][1] On April 17th, 1996, 19 peasants were killed when military police in the Amazonian State of Pará in Brazil attacked a large number of members of the Landless Workers Movement (MST) who were blockading a highway in order to demand agrarian reform. Two more people died from their injuries several days later, and hundreds of others were so seriously injured that they could not go on working in agriculture. La Via Campesina, which was then in the midst of holding its second international conference at Tlaxcala in Mexico, declared April 17th to be the International Day of Farmers' and Peasants' Struggle. Links: ------ [1] http://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/actions-and-events-mainmenu-26/17-apri… [2] http://viacampesina.org/en/images/2016-03-27-Internet-Affiche-Via-Campesina… [3] file:///C:/Users/nyoni/Downloads/llamado%2017%20de%20abril%20EN.doc#_ftn1 [4] http://viacampesina.org/en/images/2016-03-27-Afiche%2017%20de%20Abril%20EN%… [5] http://viacampesina.org/en/images/stories/pdf/2016-03-27-Internet-Affiche-V… [6] https://dl.poivron.org/wkf4mx5lzmj5neqvl2xk-3gjygj4sw6xcgbw7 [7] https://twitter.com/via_campesina [8] https://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL [9] file:///C:/Users/nyoni/Downloads/llamado%2017%20de%20abril%20EN.doc#_ftnref1

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Position of the La Via Campesina in Honduras against the increasing criminalisation of the peasant and indigenous social struggle
by La Vía Campesina 22 Mar '16

22 Mar '16

HUMAN RIGHTS POSITION OF THE LA VIA CAMPESINA IN HONDURAS AGAINST THE INCREASING CRIMINALISATION OF THE PEASANT AND INDIGENOUS SOCIAL STRUGGLE [1] Published on Tuesday, 22 March 2016 20:12 [2](Comayagua, March 16th, 2016) We, the organisations belonging to La Via Campesina Honduras - The National Office of Rural Workers (CNTC); The National Association of Honduran Peasants (ANACH); The Council for the Integral Development of Women Peasants (CODIMCA); The National Peasant, Indigenous, and Afro-descendant Youth Front (FRENAJUC); and the regional representatives of the Association for the Development of Honduras (ADROH) from Gracias, Lempira; Opatoro and Márcala, La Paz; Colomoncagua, and Intibucá, meeting together in the municipality of Siguatepeque, Comayagua - responding to the very serious social and political crisis affecting women and men peasants, indigenous people, the Garifuna people, and the popular movement throughout the country, strongly condemn: 1. The state policy of neglecting and fragmenting small-scale peasant production. 2. The extreme poverty in rural areas (more than 3 million peasants are suffering from hunger) with poverty levels as high as 70% of the population, of whom 54% are in extreme poverty. 3. The violent evictions taking place on orders of the Courts and the National Police and serving the interests of the power elite and landowners. 4. The imprisonment of more than 5,000 peasants, including 1,700 peasant women, and the assassination of over 140 women and men peasants in conflicts involving land tenure or the defence of territory. 5. The new Criminal Code bill, which we strongly oppose - both because the peasant movement was not consulted and it criminalises the peasant struggle for land as well as all social movement demands. 6. The negative effects of climate change on production, productivity and food sovereignty. These are so severe that, as has never happened before in the history of Honduras, we now have to import corn, beans, rice, vegetables, meat, eggs, and other foods. 7. The total lack of interest shown by the Executive and the Parliament in discussing or passing the proposed bill for a Comprehensive Agrarian Reform with Gender Equity for Food Sovereignty and Rural Development. The purpose of the bill is to create a new, equitable, and fair legal framework for the nonviolent resolution of the country's agrarian problems. 8. The very worrisome levels of breakdown of state institutions. The Executive, Judicial, and Legislative branches, the Supreme Court, and the Office of the Public Prosecutor have all been linked to acts of corruption. These government bodies have chosen a public policy of open repression against peasants, human rights defenders, and social commentators like the journalist David Romero Ellner, to whom the Honduran state has given a ten-year prison sentence for six defamation offenses. Similarly, the fire sale of our national sovereignty, with the creation of Economic Development Zones (ZEDE), has led to the large-scale displacement of rural families. 9. The persecution and assassination of persons engaged in struggles to defend land and territory. This includes the assassinations of Margarita Murillo, Berta Cáceres, and Nelson Noé García, among other sisters and brothers. The arrest without warrant of Juan Angel Flores, the president of the Unified Peasant Movement of the Aguan (MUCA), and that of human rights defender and member of the Permanent Human Rights Observatory of the Aguan, Orbelina Flores Hernández. 10. The political persecution of the General Coordinator of La Via Campesina Honduras, Rafael Alegría, and other peasant leaders at the national, regional, and local levels, as well as the stalking of and attacks against La Via Campesina offices - a total of 6 incidents since the 2009 coup. We are very concerned by the attack on our employee Cristian Mauricio Alegría, who was shot in his left hand in front of La Via Campesina premises in the Colonia Alameda in Tegucigalpa, on March 15th of this year. For these and other reasons, we, the progressive Honduran peasant movement belonging to La Via Campesina, are making the following demands: 1. That the Parliament immediately discuss and pass the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform with Gender Equity for Food Sovereignty and Rural Development Bill, which was presented to it on April 9th, 2014. 2. The immediate and unconditional release of the more than 5,000 peasants who are on trial for asserting their right to land and defending their territory. 3. As a Peasant Movement, we are joining the Popular Honduran Articulation "Berta Cáceres Lives On" (Articulación Popular Hondureña "Berta Cáceres Vive") in demanding that the political assassination of our sister Berta Cáceres be clarified. We are calling for the immediate withdrawal of DESA-Agua Zarca from the sacred waters of the Gualcarque River; this also applies to the international bodies that are supporting these death projects. 4. We are proposing a Peasant-Indigenous-Garifuna Alliance for the defence of land and territory, and we are calling for a National mobilisation. 5. We are in complete solidarity with the journalist David Romero, and we demand that the government provide a just and peaceful solution to this case. The Honduran people will not permit more attacks against freedom of expression and the reporting of corruption in our country. 6. We call upon the national and international community to speak out in defence of life and of Human Rights in our country, and to condemn the state policy of criminalizing and suppressing social struggles. HONDURAN PEASANT MOVEMENT BELONGING TO LA VIA CAMPESINA (MOVIMIENTO CAMPESINO HONDUREÑO ARTICULADO EN LA VÍA CAMPESINA). CENTRAL NACIONAL DE TRABAJADORES DEL CAMPO (CNTC) ASOCIACIÓN NACIONAL DE CAMPESINOS HONDUREÑOS (ANACH) CONSEJO PARA EL DESARROLLO INTEGRAL DE LA MUJER CAMPESINA (CODIMCA) FRENTE NACIONAL DE JUVENTUD CAMPESINOS, INDIGENAS Y AFRODESCENDIENTES (FRENAJUC) REPRESENTACION DE ASOCIACIÓN PARA EL DESARROLLO DE HONDURAS (ADROH) LA VIA CAMPESINA HONDURAS (LVC) Links: ------ [1] http://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/main-issues-mainmenu-27/human-rights-m… [2] http://viacampesina.org/en/images/Comunicado%20Honduras%202.jpg

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International Condemnation: Honduras - End the violence and death against the peasant-indigenous movement
by La Vía Campesina 16 Mar '16

16 Mar '16

HUMAN RIGHTS INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION: HONDURAS - END THE VIOLENCE AND DEATH AGAINST THE PEASANT-INDIGENOUS MOVEMENT [1] Published on Thursday, 17 March 2016 04:30 (Managua, 16 March 2016) La Vía Campesina denounces the grave criminalization taking place in Honduras today in the form of prisons, repression and the assassination of peasant and indigenous leaders. In the last few weeks the situation has worsened greatly with the proliferation of hired assassins aiming to take the lives of those who demand land to produce food, of those who struggle against extractivism, dams, and agribusiness. Yesterday, March 15th, several regrettable events took place which we summarize below. All require the urgent attention and action of our organizations, allies and human rights entities: 1. Assassination attempt on Cristian Alegría, cousin of Rafael Alegría, lawmaker for the Libre Party and Coordinator of La Vía Campesina Honduras. This attack ocurred in front of La Vía Campesina offices located at Colonia Alameda, Tegucigalpa. 2. Assassination of Nelson García, member of COPINH and community leader in Río Chiquito. This tragic event took place during the forced eviction of the Río Lindo community, in department of Cortés, when an estimated 100 police officers, 20 members of the military police, 10 members of the Army, and various members of DGIC invaded the territory previously recovered by 150 families, 75 of which had built homes in the area with materials and efforts they worked hard to obtain. 3. Capture of Muca President Juan Ángel Flores in the departament of Colón. Detained in the early morning and accussed of links to drug trafficking, the lack of evidence forced authorities to release him hours later. 4. Detention of public defender Orbelina Flores Hernández, member of the Permanent Human Rights Observatory of the Aguan, accusing her of involvement in land conflicts. 5. Sentencing of David Romero, journalist of Radio Globo, to 10 years in prison. David has been courageously denouncing the embezzlement of social security and other acts of corruption in Honduras, all of which indicate involvement of the ruling party. It is evident that these attacks are directed at combative social movements engaged in the struggle for land and in defense of territories such as La Vía Campesina, COPINH and Muca. As such, we of La Vía Campesina: 1. Denounce the Honduran government for executing a plan of repression against leaders and social movements. 2. Demand respect for the life of Honduran social activists. 3. Call for international human rights organizations to come to Honduras and accompany the grave humanitarian situation being faced in the country. It is important that the Honduran government be denounced at the international level for its direct attacks on, and criminalization of, social struggles. 4. Ask for all those concerned with human rights and justice to articulate public acts of solidarity at Honduran embassies around the world. To make these actions known write to viacampesina(a)viacampesina.org and, in Honduras, contact the offices of La Vía Campesina in Tegucigalpa by emailing viacampesinahonduras2015(a)gmail.com. Members of the press and allies should contact: Rafael Alegría, 00504 9969-5091, office 00504 2235-9915 and Wendy Cruz 00504 9983-8506. For La Vía Campesina, solidarity and internationalism are the key values of our movement. As such, we will continue monitoring the situation in Honduras closely, making public and denouncing internationally the persecution and criminalization faced by peasant, indigenous, and afro movements engaged in the frontline struggle to defend our territories against transnational capital and its attempt to take control of our natural resources. GLOBALIZE STRUGGLE! GLOBALIZE HOPE! FOR OUR DEAD, NOT ONE MINUTE OF SILENCE! AN ENTIRE LIFE OF STRUGGLE! Links: ------ [1] http://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/main-issues-mainmenu-27/human-rights-m…

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La Via Campesina e-Newsletter, February 2016
by La Vía Campesina 16 Mar '16

16 Mar '16

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March 8th: Organising and struggle to win our rights
by La Vía Campesina 07 Mar '16

07 Mar '16

March 8th: Organising and struggle to win our rights [1] Published on Monday, 07 March 2016 20:36 (Harare, March 8th, 2016) Today, International Women's Day, La Via Campesina is calling for action against capitalist violence all over the world. Capitalist violence is not only the violence that is directly inflicted upon women; it is also an integral part of a social context of exploitation and dispossession that is characterised by the historical oppression and violation of the basic rights of women peasants, farmers, and farmworkers, landless women, indigenous women and black women. La Via Campesina emphasises the importance of organising and struggle, leading to liberation and awareness and enabling women to participate in politics as historical subjects - with the goal of building a just society, regardless of ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. The international peasant and farmer movement is very troubled to see that, with the spread of conservative policies which constitute an attack on women's human rights and their very lives, there is growing oppression of women by capitalism and the patriarchy around the world. In Turkey, where we recently held the La Via Campesina Midterm Women's Assembly, we saw how the situation of women has worsened with the growing extension of neoliberal and conservative policies. Women continue to be deprived of their most basic freedom, of their elementary rights; they are exposed to violence and to feminicide. In recent years, in this region of the world, there has been a dramatic increase in murders of women. Girls are forced to marry when they are still very young. In the economic sphere, most of the precarious work is done by women. In the rural areas, women perform many jobs; they do not, however, have economic freedom or access to property, and still less do they have social rights. In south-eastern Turkey, women's problems are being exacerbated by the ongoing war, and their lives are under very real threat. The current political situation in Turkey does not offer any solution to the problems faced by women. In fact, current policies are compounding the problems and increasing the discrimination against women. For these reasons, women are organising, and they are now leading many environmental, social, and political struggles. In recent days, we have learned with great sadness of the assassination of Berta Cáceres, peasant leader of the Lenca indigenous people and member of COPINH (the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organisations of Honduras). Berta Cáceres had repeatedly expressed her opposition to the destructive plans and actions of the Honduran government, which is offering natural resource concessions to foreign transnational corporations for dam construction and is facilitating the takeover of the resources belonging to the indigenous peoples. It is for these reasons, that the women and men of La Via Campesina, confronted by this context of criminalisation, are calling for March 8th, 2016, to be a day of mobilising and organising against all forms of oppression, of taking to the streets and public areas of our cities, towns, and territories, in order to denounce the destructive capitalist and agribusiness model and to show how it harms the lives of women and jeopardises the food sovereignty of the world's peoples - directly affecting women peasants and small-scale farmers. We will continue to struggle for new gender relations within our movement, and we will continue to promote a societal model based on justice and equality. BERTA LIVES ON! THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES! GLOBALIZE THE STRUGGLE! GLOBALIZE HOPE! LONG LIVE OUR SOLIDARITY WITH TURKISH WOMEN! _See also:_ La Via Campesina Women's Manifesto [2] _Video:_ Women Planting Struggles and Hope! [3] _Postcards and audios:_ Campaign to Stop Violence Against Women [4] Links: ------ [1] http://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/main-issues-mainmenu-27/women-mainmenu… [2] http://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/our-conferences-mainmenu-28/6-jakarta-… [3] http://tv.viacampesina.org/Women-planting-struggles-and-hope?lang=en [4] http://tv.viacampesina.org/Post-cards-to-End-violence-againts?lang=en

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Assassination of Bertha Cáceres - Statement from La Via Campesina
by La Vía Campesina 03 Mar '16

03 Mar '16

STATEMENT AND CALL TO ACTION FROM LA VIA CAMPESINA IN RESPONSE TO THE ASSASSINATION OF OUR SISTER IN IN STRUGGLE: BERTHA CÁCERES The international peasant movement La Via Campesina denounces to the national and international public that on this day, 3 March 2016 in the early hours of dawn, our dear sister in struggle, BERTHA CÁCERES, General Coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) was assassinated. The assassination of BERTHA CÁCERES took place in her home, while she was resting, which drastically increases the risk to women and men defenders, to the indigenous peoples who resist in communities, and to members of popular and social movement organizations who have taken up our legitimate struggle. On numerous occasions, BERTHA CÁCERES had publicly denounced ill-intentioned actions and threats both by the current government regarding concessions of natural resources, and by the foreign transnational corporations involved in the construction of dams and the capture of resources that belong to indigenous peoples. BERTHA CÁCERES was assigned precautionary measures demanding that the State of Honduras protect her physical integrity. That same State of Honduras took measures to persecute BERTHA CÁCERES for her struggle against foreign companies that destroy natural resources. The whole world recognized the courage and contribution of BERTHA CÁCERES in her struggle for human rights, when she was honored with the prestigious international Goldman Prize for the defense of natural resources in the country. We recognize the historic struggle of BERTHA CÁCERES, side by side with our peoples, to claim the right to land, her struggle for the defense of our sovereignty, for comprehensive agrarian reform, for the food security of our peoples. It is fitting to highlight that on 9 April 2014, parliament member and General Coordinator of La Via Campesina Honduras, Rafael Alegría, introduced in National Congress a proposed law for Comprehensive Agrarian Reform with Gender Equity for Food Sovereignty and Rural Development, to seek solutions through the political channels to the problems that peasants and indigenous peoples face today in Honduras. To this day, this proposal has not been taken into account by the Board of Directors of the National Congress. For this reason, La Via Campesina Honduras denounces the government of Honduras and the transnational companies that extract and exploit our country's natural resources. As an international movement of peasants, we demand that the State of Honduras punish those responsible for this vile assassination, and we call to all international organizations that defend human rights to join this demand. La Via Campesina makes a call to organize protest actions in the embassies of Honduras around the world to demand clarity in this crime, and to protect defenders of land and territory, and of human rights in Honduras. We express our solidarity and extend our condolences to the family of Bertha Cáceres, to the Lenca people, and to the people of Honduras who suffer her irreparable loss. TEGUCIGALPA M.D.C. 3 MARCH 2016 GLOBALIZE STRUGGLE, GLOBALIZE HOPE BERTHA CÁCERES ¡VIVE! THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES --

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Via-info-en March 2016