With Rights and in Democracy, we will continue building Social and Climate Justice! - Communique: La Via Campesina – COP 25
by La Via Campesina
WITH RIGHTS AND IN DEMOCRACY, WE WILL CONTINUE BUILDING SOCIAL AND
CLIMATE JUSTICE!
29 NOVEMBER 2019 AGROECOLOGY AND PEASANTS'SEEDS [1], CLIMATE AND
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE [2], INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY [3]
COMMUNIQUE: LA VIA CAMPESINA – COP 25
(Harare, November 29, 2019) Convinced that_ WITH RIGHTS AND IN
DEMOCRACY, WE WILL CONTINUE BUILDING SOCIAL AND CLIMATE JUSTICE_, La Via
Campesina calls for action in Madrid and Santiago in the context of the
United Nations Climate Change Conference or COP 25. We unite our voice
with that of the Chilean People in their mass mobilizations against
President Sebastián Piñera and his neoliberal extractivist policies,
demanding nothing less than a new Constitution. Moreover, we condemn the
State of Chile's brutal violence and its attempt to continue its
'presidency' of the COP 25 while unilaterally renouncing its
responsibilities under the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The fact that COP 25 was transferred from Santiago de Chile to Madrid
only serves to strengthen our firm belief that there is only one way to
ensure Food Sovereignty and Social and Climate Justice: full democracy
and an inviolable respect for human, peasant and indigenous peoples'
rights, and the rights of all those who fight and resist. This is why
the People's Summit [4] in Santiago is still on and why the Social
Summit on Climate [5] is now being organized for Madrid. La Via
Campesina will be mobilized in both of these spaces of solidarity and
exchange, working alongside peoples and youth from throughout the world
fighting the capitalist system.
For years now, La Via Campesina has denounced the co-option of the
UNFCCC by transnational corporations and the governments that represent
their interests. The numerous contradictions of the Paris Agreement (COP
21) - including its non-binding nature and inability to overcome the
logic of markets - are a direct result of this co-option. This is also
true of COP 25, where mechanisms of 'international cooperation' are set
to be defined so that 'Intended Nationally Determined Contributions' can
be met. In other words, market mechanisms will be sought that allow
certain countries - and their transnational corporations - to keep
polluting to the detriment of the climate and our rights.
In 2018 and 2019, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
confirmed what our peoples and organizations have been saying for some
time: the climate crisis has already hit Africa, Asia, Europe and the
Americas; agribusinesses has played a major part in creating the crisis;
and we must take urgent action to completely transform our societies!
We are already witnessing multiple examples of the climate crisis:
Cyclone Idai in Mozambique; the flooding of Karnataka and Maharastra in
India; heatwaves of over 45° C that have devastated Europe and North
America; and the burning of the Amazon in South America.
La Via Campesina believes firmly that the climate should not change.
Instead, action must be taken without delay for a complete turnaround,
changing the capitalist system that exploits, pollutes and uses up our
commons, which are the heritage of peoples throughout the world. This
urgent and much needed transformation must be implemented through a just
transition and will only be possible if the rights of peasants,
indigenous peoples and all those working in rural areas are fully
respected. This means ending all forms of violence against women and
diverse people; and democratically controlling land, water, territories
and other commons.
Peasant communities across the world already feed the majority of people
(70% of the world's population) with minimal access to agricultural
resources (25%). Meanwhile, monocrop agribusinesses exporters destroy
biodiversity, cause illness, displace communities, drive global warming
and massacre those who stand up against them. La Via Campesina
categorically rejects all false solutions to the climate crisis,
including carbon markets (especially on farmlands), REDD and REDD+,
agrofuels, GMOs and the so-called 'climate-smart agriculture', not to
speak of the extremely dangerous geoengineering. We want food
sovereignty based on peasant agroecology, social and climate justice
through a just transition and respect for the majorities. This is what
we work for in our respective countries, day in and day out.
History has taught us that solutions come from the peoples. At COP25, we
insist that our so-called "representatives" assume their
responsibilities instead of simply serving the interests of capital.
There is no better example of the relationship between rights, democracy
and climate justice than the current criminal coup d'état in Bolivia. In
the Plurinational State of Bolivia, an anti-democratic opposition party,
alongside the financial elite and transnational powers - with the
complicity of the Bolivian army and police - aim to impose total
privatization. They are doing this with guns, lies and censorship. The
indigenous and peasant majority population of Bolivia was an honourable
partner in the work that led to the Declaration on the Rights of
Peasants. Now, the doors of democracy and rights are being slammed in
their faces. La Via Campesina demands an End to the Coup d'état in
Bolivia!
>From Santiago to Madrid to La Paz, and every corner of the planet, we
will stand up to tell the world: _WITH RIGHTS AND IN DEMOCRACY, WE WILL
CONTINUE BUILDING SOCIAL AND CLIMATE JUSTICE!_
PRESS CONTACT DETAILS:
* Javier Sanchez +34 625 09 27 49 | jsanchez(a)agrazar.com
* Isabel Salcedo Quiroga +34 677 16 13 19 |
isabelsalcedoquiroga(a)gmail.com
Links:
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[1]
https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/biodiversity-and-gen...
[2]
https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/climate-change-and-a...
[3]
https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/international-solida...
[4] https://cumbredelospueblos2019.org/
[5] https://cumbresocialclima.net/
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La Via Campesina defends the Peace Agreement in Colombia
by La Via Campesina
LA VIA CAMPESINA DEFENDS THE PEACE AGREEMENT IN COLOMBIA
22 NOVEMBER 2019 INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY [1]
_Third anniversary of the signing of the Peace Agreement in Colombia -
La Via Campesina Press Release_
(Harare: November 22, 2019) On November 24, 2019, the Colombian people
and the entire world saw with hope the signing of the Final Agreement
for the End of the conflict between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia - People's Army (FARC-EP) and the Colombian State. This fact
constitutes a historic opportunity to building peace in a country that
for more than 50 years has suffered the wrath of violence materialized
in multiple economic, political and social dimensions, in addition to
seriously weakening the country's social structures.
Three years into the process of building peace, La Via Campesina -
organization that brings together millions of peasants in the world and
was designated by the Government of Colombia and the FARC-EP as an
international accompanying partner in the implementation process of the
agreements - observes with deep concern the meagre progress in the
materialization of the commitments for the termination of the conflict
and, worse still, what seems to be a misrepresentation of the spirit of
what was agreed in Havana.
This situation is evidenced by the lack of significant advances in the
implementation of the agreement which, as of February 28, 2019, had only
about 23% of its aspects implemented fully[1] [2]. It should be noted
that the legislative procedures necessary to continue with the
implementation have not been made and 57% of the required regulations
are still pending processing in Congress. Some examples are the Law for
the Creation of the Multipurpose Cadastral System, the law on
Differentiated Criminal Treatment for small farmers linked to crops used
for illicit purposed and the Land Adaptation Law, whose bills for
discussion in Congress are on file, although they constitute priority
implementation laws for the development of the first point of the
Agreement referring to Integral Rural Reform.
We are concerned with the fact that not even the first hectare of land
has been distributed through the Land Fund[2] [3]. According to the
National Development Plan of the current Government, progress in the
point of Access to Land will be registered in accordance with the titles
formalized and not in relation to the hectares to be distributed - an
approach that distorts what is established in the Framework Plan for the
implementation of the Agreement. During the first year of Ivan Duque´s
government, a total of 73,465 hectares of small- and medium-sized
holdings have been formalized. This represents only 8.7% of the
formalization that should be achieved annually to meet the goal
established in the Agreement (to provide and formalize 10 million
hectares through the Land Fund). Furthermore, the mentioned goal is
based on a total term of 12 years, contrary to what is established in
the agreement which is 10 years for formalization[3] [4].
The situation of crops used for illicit purposes is equally
disappointing. To address this issue, the Peace Agreement prioritizes
voluntary eradication, through consultation between the State and the
communities. However, the current Government has put forward the use of
coercive strategies to eradicate illicit crops, using aerial spraying
with glyphosate according to the terms recently established by the
Constitutional Court. The approach Duque´s government has adopted
results in the stigmatization, repression and prosecution of small
farmers and ignores the social and economic nature of this problem.
We note with concern that by prioritizing forced eradication, the
current Government approach does not consider the implementation of the
National Comprehensive Program for the Substitution of Illicit Crops
(PNIS) and the Integral Rural Reform (RRI), a situation that not only
violates the spirit of the Final Agreement, whose central axis is
voluntary and concerted substitution, but also aggravates the
vulnerability of smallholder farmers linked to illicit crops, who are
deprived of food and technical assistance to undertake productive
alternatives. Only 0.7% of the families that are complying with the
substitution agreements are linked to productive projects[4] [5], a
situation that affects the medium- and long-term sustainability of the
PNIS because small farmers might be forced to return again to crops used
for illicit purposes in the absence of productive alternatives.
It is necessary to refer to the alarming modifications that the Special
Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) has suffered. One of the modifications is
the Constitutional Court verdict whereby the third party's obligation to
go to the JEP is eliminated. This decision affects the process of
knowing the truth, which is the core of transitional justice, violating
the right of Colombian society to know what really happened in the
context of the armed conflict. In this way, the possibility of knowing
about the participation in financing and supporting paramilitary groups
and other structures involved in the war by multinational companies,
nationals linked to banking, cattle latifundios, agribusiness, public
officials and other civilians, is limited to the will of the third
parties involved.
We want to call attention to the danger that represents the creation of
a differentiated procedure for the military within the organic structure
of the JEP. The draft legislative act, promoted by the Government's
party, aims to create new sections within the Peace Tribunal, which will
have the exclusive role of gathering the facts committed by the military
in the conflict, a situation that puts in serious threat the Victims'
right to know the truth and receive justice, reparation and guarantee of
non-repetition, which allows the veil of impunity to be unravelled.
Moreover, this devastating draft legislative act violates the right of
Colombian society to know the truth about what happened in more than
half a century of war, obstructing not only the work of the JEP but also
of the Commission of truth, and the commission for the search of missing
persons.
The rights of the victims, whose protection has been one of the
essential characteristics of the Peace Agreement between the Colombian
State and the FARC-EP, are not only being violated in relation to the
component of the truth, but also in relation to their right to be an
active political subject in the process of implementing and building
peace. That is the impression left by the fact that Congress has filed
the bill that creates the Special Circumscriptions for Peace, a
situation that prevents the political representation of these
populations and their economic, political, social and cultural rights.
The limited advances in the process of reparations for victims are also
discouraging. In Colombia 7,155,469 subjects of reparation has been
identified; However, since the policy was launched, the country has only
made progress in reparations for 898,540 people - roughly 12% of the
total. In this regard, it seems that the current Government has no real
commitment to the implementation of victim reparation policies, an
impression reinforced by the fact that during the first year of the
Duque's Government the annual average of victims reparation has been
reduced to less than half.
We also want to express concerns referring to the reinstatement of
former FARC-EP combatants, now grouped in the political party called
"Common Revolutionary Alternative Force". There are several commitments
made by the State in terms of reinstatement, which include the subsidy
for productive initiatives and land titling of the ex-combatant
population. The figures indicate that the Government has approved 29
collective productive proposals of the ex-combatants, of which only 19
have received their respective disbursement. Likewise, the number of
beneficiaries is limited, since the approved projects cover only 14% of
the population in the process of reinstatement, and those disbursed only
cover 9% of this population[5] [6]. This reality leaves the
ex-combatants in a situation of uncertainty about the effectiveness of
the process of economic and social reintegration.
State actions to provide security guarantees to ex-combatants, as well
as social leaders and human rights defenders have also been
insufficient. We observe with concern the climate of violence unleashed
after the signing of the peace agreement, including a special concern
for the human rights violations resulting from the systematic murder of
the ex-FARC combatants and their families as well as of leftist leaders
and activists, human rights defenders, environmentalists, peasants,
students, indigenous and Afro-descendants, resembling the past
extermination of the Patriotic Union. In this context, it is impossible
to identify any government commitment at all to keep to the compromise
of fighting and dismantling paramilitarism.
Having handed in their weapons as part of the Peace Agreement, the FARC
turned Common Revolutionary Alternative Force Party - has denounced the
murder of 150 ex-combatants since. During the first year of Iván Duque's
government, 236 homicides of social leaders and human rights defenders
have also been registered[6] [7]. We perceive the absence of political
will to comply with the Security Guarantees contemplated in the
agreement due to the inefficiency of the State to face the situation of
human rights violations.
The peace agreement implementation process suffers from what appears to
be a lack of political will from the Government to comply with the
agreement. We sound an alarm about the lack of commitment in the
development of a peace pedagogy as well as the fact that Government
authorities - especially those of the Government's party - attacking
congressmen of the Common Revolutionary Alternative Force Party as well
as other members of opposition parties and social leaders. This
atmosphere appears to be an official state policy reluctant to move
forward in a process of reconciliation, while a stigmatization and
extermination process of opposition sectors is operating.
Given the current status of implementation of the Peace Agreement, LA
VIA CAMPESINA calls on the Colombian People, the international
community, the United Nations, FAO, the ILO, the European Union, the
Non-Aligned Countries, Governments, Organizations and international
solidarity in general, to surround the Peace Agreement in Colombia,
demand unfettered compliance with the commitments assumed and demand
that the dialogue not be replaced with the silence of violence.
LA VIA CAMPESINA , 24 NOVEMBER 2019
-------------------------
[1] [8] Kroc Institute for international peace studies. Tercer informe
sobre la implementación del Acuerdo de Paz: La implementación sigue
Progresando. 2019.
[2] [9] CSIVI-FARC. Centro de Pensamiento y Diálogo Político. La
implementación del Acuerdo de Paz durante el Gobierno de Iván Duque.
Tendencia a la Perfidia y la simulación. 2019.
[3] [10] ¿En qué va el Acuerdo de Paz a un año del Gobierno de Duque?
Retos y Recomendaciones. Seguimiento multi-partidista a la
implementación del Acuerdo de paz. 2019.
[4] [11] La implementación del Acuerdo de Paz durante el Gobierno de
Iván Duque. Tendencia a la Perfidia y la simulación. CSIVI-FARC. Centro
de Pensamiento y Diálogo Político.
[5] [12] CSIVI-FARC. Centro de Pensamiento y Diálogo Político. La
implementación del Acuerdo de Paz durante el Gobierno de Iván Duque.
Tendencia a la Perfidia y la simulación. 2019.
[6] [13] Subcomisión de DDHH Cumbre Agraria, Campesina Étnica y Popular,
informe para el período del 7 de agosto de 2018 al 4 de agosto de 2019.
Links:
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[1]
https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/international-solida...
[2]
https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-...
[3]
https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-...
[4]
https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-...
[5]
https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-...
[6]
https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-...
[7]
https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-...
[8]
https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-...
[9]
https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-...
[10]
https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-...
[11]
https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-...
[12]
https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-...
[13]
https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-...
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La Via Campesina’s Call to the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
by La Via Campesina
LA VIA CAMPESINA'S CALL TO THE INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
(Harare, November 19, 2019) From 25 to 30 November 2019, on the
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, La Via
Campesina is calling upon its members and allies to carry out
mobilizations and actions to strengthen our collective struggle for a
conscious and free society, which does not exploit humans and nature.
The global peasant movement denounces the capitalist, patriarchal,
racist and colonising system that exploits, oppresses and attacks the
lives of women and humanity in general.
We, as La Via Campesina, unite with all those women and people of
diverse identities who resist, organise and struggle to achieve a fair
and egalitarian society that works in solidarity, by keeping love and
respect at its core.
In an environment of structural violence, we see that fascism is gaining
strength and is particularly leading to the erosion of the rights of
working-class women. The current capitalist patriarchal system harasses
and kills poor people, women and those who fight to create a better
society.
It's alarming to see the growing statistics on a global scale of
physical and sexual violence against women, young girls and people of
diverse identities. These instances of violence occur against a backdrop
of impunity and injustice perpetrated by a sexist, misogynist and
patriarchal system. At the same time, it is disturbing to observe the
increase in the erosions of workers' rights and social rights, as well
as the growing numbers of women in temporary, precarious and
demoralising employment.
Today, migrant and displaced women and people of diverse identities,
including those living in conflict zones, are vulnerable and exposed to
all kinds of violence and violations of their rights. Many are used as
objects in wars and are tortured and forced to perform sexual services
in order to survive. This year we also denounce the disappearance of
community leaders who are persecuted, imprisoned and murdered for
struggling in defense of their territories and rights in countries such
as Brazil, Honduras and the Philippines, amongst others.
That is why La Via Campesina is using this International Day for the
Elimination of Violence Against Women to ratify its slogan, which
transmits the political message: "No More Violence Against Women!" It is
a rallying call to strengthen the commitment to carry out actions, to
struggle on a permanent and daily basis against all forms and
expressions of violence against women, in support of the International
Campaign "No More Violence Against Women", that has been a movement
since 2008.
To this end, as La Via Campesina, we call on our member organisations,
our friends and allies to unite on these Days of Struggle from 25 to 30
November 2019 by organising and carrying out, with our allied
organisations, marches and actions that fight and denounce violence, to
demand that our States grant us public policies that favour our rights.
We need to build mechanisms that punish our aggressors and protect
victims so we can finally break the cycle of violence against the lives
of women.
As a sign of unity, we are sharing our campaign's official poster
(download posters here [1]), translate it into your local language,
print it for your activities and share it with your friends and allies.
We share also other social networking materials: (click here to download
[2]).
LVC has developed a series of 6 postcards on several articles of the UN
Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural
Areas related all peasant women rights - download the postcards [3] in
ES, EN, FR and share.
We also want to give visibility to all the actions carried out in our
different territories, we ask you to send your posters, photos, videos
and statements to lvcweb(a)viacampesina.org.
#POPULARPEASANTFEMINISM #NOMOREVIOLENCEAGAINSTWOMEN #25NOV
GLOBALISE THE STRUGGLE! GLOBALISE HOPE!
Links:
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[1] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/tXe77PpxrC4fHJ4
[2] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/R9y2DrkDDDpq3R7
[3] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/SexGmCnkKmYREp7
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Bolivia: La Via Campesina denounces the Coup d’État
by La Via Campesina
LA VIA CAMPESINA DENOUNCES THE COUP D'ÉTAT IN BOLIVIA
HARARE, 10 NOVEMBER 2019: As an international peasant movement, La Via
Campesina expresses our deepest solidarity with the people of Bolivia
and condemn the racist, class-based and misogynist _COUP D'ÉTAT_
orchestrated by US imperialism and local conservative oligarchs.
Furthermore, we call for constant mobilisation and a democratic solution
that guarantees the human rights of social leaders. We denounce the role
played by the Bolivian Armed Forces and media who choose to reproduce
violence, disinformation and destabilisation, in a clear alliance with
local and international elites.
For the past two weeks we have been following with great concern the
increase in violence in Bolivia, as a result of the opposition´s failure
to win the elections of 20 October. And despite multiple efforts to
create dialogue, the coup plans went ahead to force President Evo
Morales and and other officials to the point that were pressured to
resign, in an attempt to safeguard peace and safety for the people and
their organisations.
In this time of crisis, we call on institutions such as the United
Nations (UN) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)
to be vigilant and safeguard both democracy and justice in Bolivia, as
these grave events are a threat not only to the exercise of democracy
but also to peace and stability across the continent. In this context,
it is imperative to preserve the physical and moral integrity of Evo
Morales and all other social activists.
We call on our member and allied organisations to mobilise and carry
out different actions in solidarity to demand an end to the violence,
that these events do not go unpunished and to find a solution that is
both just and democratic with the peasant, indigenous and popular
majorities who continue resisting in defense of the rights they've
recovered during the past decade.
> Solidarity is the warmth of the peoples!
> All our support to our comrades in Bolivia!
-------------------------
_ALSO READ: LA VIA CAMPESINA LETTER TO EVO MORALES AYMA , PRESIDENT OF
THE PLURINATIONAL STATE OF BOLIVIA, IN OCTOBER 2019, THANKING HIS
GOVERNMENT FOR THE SUPPORT TO PEASANTS' RIGHTS PROCESS [1]_
Links:
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[1]
https://viacampesina.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/10/2019-10-15...
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