-------------------------
_The 10__th__ of September is marked as the International Day of
Solidarity Action against WTO and Free Trade Agreements by La Via
Campesina, to commemorate the sacrifice of Korean farmer Lee Kyung Hae,
who stabbed himself to death, outside the venue of the WTO Ministerial
at Cancun Mexico, 2003. His act was a desperate and angry reaction to
WTO-led free trade deals that led to a total marginalisation of
small-scale food producers in his country and the world._
-------------------------
_Press Release: International Day of Solidarity Action against WTO and
Free Trade Agreements_
-------------------------
HARARE, THE 09TH OF SEPTEMBER 2021:
'Zero Hunger by 2030' and 'Ending Poverty in all its forms everywhere'
lists among the Sustainable Developments Goals that the United Nations
aims to achieve by the end of this decade.
Yet, as of September 2021, two trends stand in complete contrast to this
goal.
* Hunger has been rising since 2015, and the latest estimate of hungry
people stands at 820 million. The majority of the world's malnourished -
381 million [1] - are still found in Asia. More than 250 million live in
Africa, where the number of undernourished is growing faster than
anywhere in the world. Despite being the sites of aggressive
corporate-led agricultural operations, Latin American and Caribbean
nations are also home to nearly 84 million [2] people living in extreme
poverty, facing hunger and malnutrition.
* In May 2021, global food prices rose at their fastest monthly rate
in more than a decade [FAO]. A surge in the international prices of
vegetable oils, sugar and cereals has led to this increase.
All this is even though each year, an estimated one-third of all food
produced - equivalent to 1.3 billion tonnes worth around $1 trillion -
ends up rotting in the bins of consumers and retailers or spoiling due
to poor transportation and harvesting practices.
Clearly, the global food system is broken.
A host of multilateral and bilateral free trade agreements between
countries and continents form the central pillar of this broken system.
These instruments have enabled a host of mega-corporations - that are
engaged in seeds, farm inputs, meat, dairy, palm oil, cotton and
processed food businesses - to gain market entry into economically
developing and under-developed nations around the world. It has had
devastating consequences for local trade, peasant markets and peoples'
food sovereignty.
Almost all of these free trade negotiations on agriculture and fisheries
are inspired by the WTO's highly problematic Agreement on Agriculture
(AoA). This global framework essentially bats for lower import tariffs,
withdrawal of domestic subsidies, and abolishing public stock-holding
for food security purposes. It is an outdated 20th century model of
trade that serves corporate interests at the expense of planetary
boundaries and animal welfare and drives us towards untenable social
inequalities. The fact that industrial agriculture and its associated
practices contribute nearly half of the global greenhouse gas emissions
is not deterring its expansion through these trade deals.
At this point, at least 350 regional free trade agreements and more than
3000 bilateral investment treaties (BITs) are in force worldwide. BITs
usually include the controversial investor-state dispute settlement
(ISDS) mechanism. ISDS enables companies to sue the governments, if they
deem that new laws or regulations negatively affect their business. This
controversial settlement dispute mechanism relies on arbitration rather
than public courts, and nearly 1000 [3] investor-state disputes have
been brought against governments by corporations worldwide.
Free Trade Agreements and Investment treaties aim to exploit cheap
labour and relaxed environmental and labour regulations in economically
less-developed nations. Major powers such as the US and the European
Union push other countries to adopt their intellectual property
standards. Under pressure, and under the guise of
ease-of-doing-business, most national governments end up dismantling
national regulatory mechanisms that offer protection to local trade,
local labour and natural resources.
In June 2021, at the 100th session of the Committee on Regional Trade
Agreements. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Director-General of the WTO,
reminded the participants that the objective of the WTO is to raise
living standards, create jobs, and promote sustainable development and
human well-being across the world.
Yet, over the last five decades of its existence, global free trade
agreements have only delivered hunger, food riots, farmer suicides,
climate crises, extreme poverty and distress migration. These trade
agreements, laid the pathway for privatisation, deregulation and
withdrawal of the State's obligation in delivering essential public
services to its people. It has had a devastating impact on rural areas
in particular. Women and children face the extreme brunt of it, as
distress migration forces them to flee their villages and work under
sub-human conditions in the cities. Across countries, the availability
and quality of public healthcare and public education have suffered
immensely over the last five decades, especially in rural areas, thereby
denying a right to decent life to women, children and youth. South
Korean farmer Lee Kyung Hae's desperate act of sacrificing his life,
right outside the venue of a WTO ministerial in Cancun eighteen years
ago, tragically expressed these crises in rural areas worldwide.
Tragically, instead of heeding to the voices of the peasants, indigenous
people, fishers and migrant farmworkers, the World Trade Organisation
and wealthy governments continue with their business as usual and pursue
these policies as if none of these crises ever existed.
PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD ARE PUSHING BACK MORE THAN EVER.
India's protesting farmers, who have been on the streets for the last
nine months, have cited how the new farm laws aim to corporatise Indian
Agriculture and can jeopardise the country's public procurement system.
They also point to further trade negotiations on the horizon (with the
US and EU) that threaten their food sovereignty, autonomy and biosafety
norms around GM foods. In Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, the Philippines
and South Korea, peasant farmers resist CP-TPP, RCEP, FTAAP-21 and a
host of other regional trade agreements being pushed through by global
economic powerhouses like the US and China.
In Argentina,Ecuador, Kenya and Zambia, citizens protest against the
IMF-induced debt crisis. The EU-Mercosur deal is finding resistance from
peasants and civil society organisations on both sides of the spectrum.
They point out that in the Mercosur countries, soya, sugar and meat
production, for example, is becoming increasingly industrialised, mainly
in connection with the aggressive export-orientated model. The Amazonia
basin of South America, central to climate and biodiversity worldwide,is
forced to give way to this model.
Even as the global health pandemic demands worldwide solidarity and
empathy, Europe and the United States are at the forefront of blocking
the effort spearheaded by South Africa and India within the World Trade
Organization to waive intellectual property protections COVID-19
vaccines and other tools.
Those who resist these unjust trade agreements are oppressed and
criminalised. Most of the agrarian conflicts worldwide today arise from
the corporate grabbing of natural resources, often in connivance with
local governments and authorities. These forced acquisitions of our
territories are usually carried out to honour these negotiated trade and
investment deals, signed and executed without the approval or
participation of peasant and indigenous communities.
What use are WTO and a host of these Free Trade Agreements if they are
merely extending a colonial habit of subjugating a majority of the
people? These free trade agreements, often negotiated behind closed
doors through opaque processes, are the enduring symbols of imperialism
and neocolonialism of the 21st century.
Hunger is real. Rural poverty and starvation are real. Pandemic is real.
Vaccine inequity is real. Distress migration is real. Climate crises are
real. Do we know what else is real? In a time of a global health and
food crisis, Nestlé's shareholders and executives awarded themselves a
record dividend payout [4] of US$8 billion, more than the entire annual
budget for the UN's World Food Programme!
These agribusinesses have been repeatedly exposed and called out by
communities around the world. Pushed to the back foot by widespread
protests and adverse court judgements, these giant corporations are now
entering global governance spaces and co-opting the human rights
language with a renewed aggression, all in the hope of green-washing
their criminal conduct. The latest example of this image-building effort
is the UN Food Systems Summit - a facade behind which agribusinesses can
hide their countless human rights violations and unfair trade practices.
In the face of extreme human distress, hunger and poverty, we must fight
against this vulgarity of capitalism and neoliberalism. Under Article
16, the _UNITED NATIONS DECLARATION ON RIGHTS OF PEASANTS AND OTHER
PEOPLE WORKING IN RURAL AREAS (UNDROP) _affirms that States shall take
appropriate measures to strengthen and support local, national and
regional markets. They must do it in ways that facilitate and ensure our
full and equitable access and participation in these markets, to sell
our products at prices that allow them and their families to attain an
adequate standard of living. Our struggles in our territories must draw
their strength from the Peasants' Rights Declaration and demand public
policies that are in line with UNDROP.
AS WE MARK THIS INTERNATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY ACTION AGAINST WTO AND
FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS, LA VIA CAMPESINA ECHOES THE LAST WORDS OF FARMER
LEE FROM CANCUN IN 2003.
He said, "My warning goes out to all citizens that human beings are in
an endangered situation. That uncontrolled multinational corporations
and a small number of big WTO Members are leading undesirable
globalisation that is inhumane, environmentally degrading,
farmer-killing, and undemocratic."
As La Via Campesina, we pledge to struggle until victory. We will stay
alert to the 12th Ministerial Meeting of the WTO to be held in Geneva
from the 30th of November. We will press on with our demands to push WTO
and FTAs out of agriculture! We will insist on a global trade system
that respects the dignity of the people and bases itself on solidarity
and reciprocity beyond borders.
RESIST FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS!
END THE WTO!
SOLIDARITY TRADE, NOW!
Links:
------
[1] https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/hunger/
[2] http://www.fao.org/americas/noticias/ver/en/c/1293339/
[3] https://www.bilaterals.org/?what-s-wrong-with-free-trade
[4] https://www.cadtm.org/Agro-imperialism-in-the-time-of-Covid-19
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|*
"ARTISTS FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY"
-------------------------
"_Art must show the world as changeable. And help to change it". _Ernst
Fischer
-------------------------
This year, La Via Campesina is celebrating 25 years of peasant-led
efforts and campaign in our communities to bring food sovereignty to
reality - healthy diets, healthy soils, healthy seeds, agroecology etc -
and continue to resist the capitalist model.
This vision, of relating to nature and with one another harmoniously,
practiced for thousands of years was put into words by La Via Campesina
and allies at the 1996 World Food Summit [1] in Rome. We defined "Food
Sovereignty" as the right of people to autonomously produce healthy,
nutritious, climatically, and culturally appropriate food, using local
resources and through agroecological means, primarily to address the
local food needs of their communities. Throughout the past 25 years, the
formation of Food Sovereignty has contributed to strengthening a model
of society that prioritizes life.
Food sovereignty, among the multitude of ideas that it encompasses, is
also about defending the billion diversities that exist on this planet,
and is a celebration of our many unique practices, tastes, cultures and
customs. An important pillar in this struggle for food sovereignty is
the role played by popular rural cultures, of peasants, fisher-folk,
family farmers and Indigenous Peoples. Art and popular communication [2]
are vital tools of expression, exchange and resistance in peasant and
indigenous cultures worldwide.
It is in this context that La Via Campesina launches its international
call to action, "ARTISTS FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY", as we build up our
efforts towards _OCTOBER 16, 2021 – THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION FOR
PEOPLES' FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND AGAINST TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS_.
"ARTISTS FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY" attempts to gather audio-visual
expressions of the historical struggles and resistance led by peasants,
food artisans, indigenous peoples, fishers, shepherds, the landless,
women, agricultural wage earners, migrants, and youth worldwide, to
defend our way of life and livelihoods.
-------------------------
> THROUGH THIS INTERNATIONAL CALL FOR SOLIDARITY ACTION, LA VIA CAMPESINA IS ENCOURAGING PROGRESSIVE ARTISTS AROUND THE WORLD TO SEND US DIVERSE MATERIALS IN THE FORM OF MUSIC, VIDEO CLIPS, POETRY, PAINTINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS, ILLUSTRATIONS, DOCUMENTARIES AND PODCASTS.
-------------------------
ARTISTS AND MULTIMEDIA PRODUCERS COULD TAKE INSPIRATION FROM ANY OF THE
THEMES LISTED BELOW:
1. Specific experiences of Food Sovereignty- Peasant Cooperatives, Rural
fairs, Seeds, Agroecological Schools, Community Radio, etc.
2. Challenges and Threats posed by Industrial Agricultural politics and
its impact on agrarian reform, land grabbing, climate change and
criminalisation of social movements.
3. The dispute between the peasant agroecological model of production
and the industrial model of agribusinesses.
4. The urgency of a new society that is built on the principles of
global solidarity, internationalism and social justice
-------------------------
[3]
In 2016, the musical group Che Sudaka dedicated the song "Cuando será"
(When it will be) to La Vía Campesina in their fight for Food
Sovereignty.
> "_You that cultivate fields_, _You that cultivate dreams_ _You with your friends_, _Collect the food_ _For you, I present this song_, _So that you feel inspiration_ _That you know you are not alone_, _There are many fighting against time_."
[4]
Additionally, several supporters, activists, friends and allies of LVC
have been inspired by our fight. They have captured this art in
paintings, poems and murals, songs and various other forms of
expression. Last year, during the COVID 19 pandemic, Francisco Daniel, a
friend of Movement Without Land, painted the main image of our campaign
#TimetoTransform.
We want to unite these beautiful artistic expressions in favour of Food
Sovereignty and share them with you all in a VIRTUAL GALLERY DURING
OCTOBER 2021 AS PART OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE ACTION – FOR FOOD
SOVEREIGNTY, AGAINST MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES. We have set out to gather
all the materials from August until September of 2021.
-------------------------
These materials also will contribute to the spread, communication and
political formation of La Via Campesina, uniting collective forces for a
transformation and liberation project. It is an attempt to break away
from the alienation caused by a mass-media culture. These art forms are
symbolic of our resistance against the corporate-political nexus and
their economic, cultural, and political oppression of the rural areas.
This call for artistic expression centres around the theme of Food
Sovereignty. The text below serves as a close guide to how we understand
Food Sovereignty within the movement. Artists are free to interpret this
vision of Food Sovereignty and base it in their socio-cultural and
political context.
_WHAT IS FOOD SOVEREIGNTY? _
_Food Sovereignty "is the people's right to healthy food and culturally
suitable products through sustainable and environmentally friendly
methods. It is also the right of the people to define their agricultural
food systems. Food sovereignty is intrinsically linked to the debate
over what we envision for rural areas and what type of development
should be applied. It is about defining what kind of food to produce and
why? To prioritise production for local markets, in line with a culture
of local and regional consumption. It defends the interests and the
inclusion of future generations. It offers a strategy to resist and
dismantle the current regime of corporate food trade and points at the
nutritional, rural, pastoralist and fishing systems determined by local
producers. Food Sovereignty prioritises the local and national economies
and markets, empowers rural and family agriculture, traditional
fisheries and shepherding and the production, distribution and
consumption of food based on environmental, social and economic
sustainability. Food Sovereignty promotes transparent trade that
guarantees a fair income to everyone and the rights for the consumers to
food and nutrition. It assures that the rights to collectively own and
manage our lands, water, seeds, livestock and biodiversity so that these
means of production remain in the hands of those who produce the food.
Food Sovereignty involves new social relationships free from oppression
and inequality between men and women, differences, peoples, racial
groups, social classes and generations. "_
Let this be a moment to transform our resistance through music, poems,
documentaries and inspiring images that expose the urgency of Food
Sovereignty as a solution against hunger, climate change and
authoritarianism.
-------------------------
* INFORMATION: title of the work, full name, country, organisation
(optional), social media profiles (optional)
* LANGUAGE: mainly in Spanish, English, French but local languages are
welcome with the respective translation (Reduce the text for best
accessibility)
* FORMATS: Video, audio, Word, Jpg or PDFs, without borders,
backgrounds or watermarks.
* DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: 16 September 2021
* EMAIL: Email all the materials with the subject _"Llamado Artistas
por la Soberanía Alimentaria"_ to lvcweb(a)viacampesina.org with a copy
(CC) to Viviana.rojas(a)viacampesina.org.
-------------------------
La Via Campesina will select and curate from the compiled material and
exhibit them in a virtual gallery that will be available on the website
of LVC. The curated work will also be distributed as a digital
catalogue, acknowledging the contribution of each artist.
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
Links:
------
[1]
https://viacampesina.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/1996-Rom-en.…
[2]
https://viacampesina.org/en/nyeleni-newsletter-communicating-for-food-sover…
[3] https://youtu.be/JwB0PXM8NMg
[4] https://vimeo.com/440624449
[5] http://www.facebook.com/ViaCampesinaOfficial
[6] http://www.twitter.com/via_campesina
[7] http://www.instagram.com/la_via_campesina_official
[8] http://viacampesina.org/en
As stated by National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP) "the losses
that the blockade has caused to Cuban agriculture in these 62 years are
enormous. But it has also demonstrated the capacity of farmers in the
search for alternatives and solutions to the problems caused by the
blockade imposed on Cuba".
CUBA HAS WORKED NON-STOP TO IMPLEMENT POLICIES TOWARDS FOOD SOVEREIGNTY
AND FOOD SECURITY WHICH HAVE EVEN BEEN DESCRIBED AS ADVANCED PROGRAMS BY
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS THE FAO. In the midst of the complex
epidemiological situation that the country is going through, the call
for sabotage, vandalism and violence is nothing more than a vile act of
opportunism and intervention.
As La Via Campesina we join the international community in demanding an
end to the immoral blockade against Cuba, and we call on our member
organizations, friends and allies to mobilize in solidarity and to
remain alert to any kind of interference and attack against the
sovereignty of Cuba.
Solidarity is the tenderness of the peoples!
Read the Full Statement [1]
Links:
------
[1]
https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-demands-an-end-to-the-blockade…
LA VIA CAMPESINA DENOUNCES ISRAELI MILITARY RAID ON UAWC HEADQUARTERS
11 JULY 2021 INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY [1]
(Harare, 10 July 2021) La Via Campesina condemns the Israeli military
raid, the damage done to the headquarters of its member organisation,
Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) on Wednesday 7 July. The
Israeli military ordered the office to be closed for six months. We
denounce the continued persecution and harassment of UAWC in attempt to
disrupt their work. The raid and closure order represents a provocative
assault on Palestinian sovereignty, considering the fact that UAWC
headquarters are located in Area A of the West Bank, which is under the
jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority.
The Israeli military raid and closure order is part of a well planned
aggressive defamation and defunding campaign against not only UAWC but
the Palestinian civil society at large. It is aimed at neutralizing any
form of peaceful organization of the Palestinian people. UAWC is not
only one of the most active organizations in Palestine, but also
spearheads the struggle for food sovereignty and peasant rights in the
Arab region and North Africa (ArNa). It also coordinates La Via
Campesina's regional articulation process of peasant movements the
region. Through its work in and across rural Palestine, UAWC has made
extremely valuable and life-changing contributions to the lives of
thousands of smallholder peasants, fishers, herders and agricultural
workers. Following the recent military attacks against Gaza in May which
damaged many infrastructures, UAWC is actively involved in rebuilding
the livelihoods of the affected communities.
In response to UAWC success, Israeli entities continuously engage in
sustained and brutal incitement campaign against the organisation as it
provides peaceful and rightful agricultural support to Palestinian
peasants, especially those in area "C"- an area facing accelerated
Israeli occupation through land grabbing and annexation.
We call on our members, as well as allied organizations, to raise
awareness on the Palestinian situation, and increase their voices in
denouncing Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and call for an end in
violence against the Palestinian people.
We also call on the international community and human rights
organisations to demand that the necessary measures be taken to stop the
violence and advance in the construction of peace.
In solidarity with the Palestinian people, we increase our call to
strengthen the BDS movement to undermine the terrible policy of
apartheid that our Palestinian sisters and brothers suffer today. This
is urgent, it cannot wait any longer! Lets join and commit to the
Boycott Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign [2] in order to end Israeli
Apartheid and its war crimes. First and foremost, join BDS now [3]! The
boycott is economic, academic and cultural [4]!
La Via Campesina stands in solidarity with Palestinian people and their
legitimate organizations as they resist the oppressor!
GLOBALIZE THE STRUGGLE!
GLOBALIZE HOPE!
Links:
------
[1]
https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/international-solidari…
[2] https://bdsmovement.net/
[3] https://bdsmovement.net/get-involved
[4] https://bdsmovement.net/get-involved/join-a-bds-campaign
UAWC STATEMENT AFTER ISRAELI MILITARY RAID ON HEADQUARTERS
9 JULY 2021 INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY [1]
9 July 2021 (Download PDF UAWC statement [2])
On Wednesday 7 July 2021 at around 3:00 am, Israeli occupation forces
raided the headquarters of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees
(UAWC) in Ramallah/Al-Bireh, leaving behind a standard military order
dictating the closure of our main office for 6 months.
When invading, the Israeli occupation forces demolished our entrance
door, caused a mess in the office and damaged part of our furniture (see
photos and this video [3]posted on twitter). In addition, they stole
five hard drives, one laptop, a digital video recorder, as well as
several books and documents.
UAWC condemns the Israeli raid, the damage done to our office and the
military closure order in the strongest terms. This order is
illegitimate and clearly politically-motivated. It targets our
headquarters in order to disrupt our organization as a whole.
The raid and closure order represents a particularly provocative assault
on Palestinian sovereignty, considering the fact that our headquarters
are located in Area A of the West Bank, which is under full control of
the Palestinian Authority, to which we respond.
We have moved to another office, where we are continuing our work with
high determination to fulfil our obligations and commitments towards
thousands of vulnerable Palestinian farmers and their families in Area
C.
The Israeli raid and closure order cannot be seen detached from the
aggressive defamation and defunding campaign by the Israeli government
and organizations affiliated with it, directed at UAWC and Palestinian
civil society at large. These campaigns have been documented [4]by
international NGOs and been recognized [5]and condemned [6]by the UN.
More specifically, the Israeli raid on our headquarters cannot be seen
in isolation from the 'review' the Dutch government has launched last
year into UAWC, in response to pressure from the Israeli government and
organizations affiliated with it. This investigation has had a
catalysing effect on the defamation and defunding campaign UAWC has been
exposed [7]to for years, to disrupt our work in Area C.
While UAWC has cooperated with the Dutch review, we cannot ignore it has
already done tremendous damage to our organization, partners and and
beneficiaries - without any wrongdoing or neglect on UAWC's part having
been established so far.
We call on our partners and donors, and the Dutch government in
particular, to condemn the Israeli raid and closure order against UAWC
and to pressure the Israeli authorities to retract that order, so we can
restore our organizational capacity.
Doing so is also relevant to protecting Palestinian civil society at
large against the escalating Israeli campaigns and measures, aimed at
entrenching the Israeli occupation and annexation of Palestine and at
defeating the Palestinians in their struggle for freedom, human rights
and dignity.
Following the Israeli raid on and closure of our headquarters, we have
received countless solidarity calls and e-mails from local and
international civil society organizations and diplomatic missions.
We are most grateful for these heartening expressions of support for
UAWC.
In addition, we warmly welcome all international solidarity and
fundraising campaigns (see La Via Campesina Fundraising Campaign [8]) in
support of UAWC - they are essential at this critical hour.
_UAWC headquarters in Ramallah/Al-Bireh, after Israeli military raid on
7 July 2021 around 3:00am:_
--
Links:
------
[1]
https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/international-solidari…
[2]
https://viacampesina.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/2021-07-09_S…
[3] https://twitter.com/RZabaneh/status/1412678967467913217?s=20
[4]
https://target-locked-obs-defenders.org/IMG/pdf/obs_palestine2021ang-1.pdf
[5]
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21279&…
[6]
https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-operations-undermined-delegiti…
[7] https://www.972mag.com/palestinian-funding-uawc-israel-lobby/
[8]
https://viacampesina.org/en/act-now-to-support-gazas-farmers-farmworkers-an…
Umut Vedat, La Via Campesina
LGBTQIA+ PEASANTS IN STRUGGLE: FREE OUR LAND, FREE OUR BODIES
BUILDING PRACTICES FOR LIBERATION AND TACKLING LGBTQIA-PHOBIA IN RURAL
AREAS ARE ONGOING PROCESSES IN LA VIA CAMPESINA.
By Capire
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, asexual. June 28th is
International LGBTQIA+ Pride Day. The LGBTQIA+ struggle is diverse and
faces different challenges in different parts of the world. The LGBTQIA+
grassroots feminist peasant struggle encompasses and transcends the
sense of pride one feels in their own existence--it's about the action
of a collective will to promote change toward a world without the fences
that control the land and without those that control bodies and
sexualities. But this peasant struggle is usually hidden behind
hegemonic discourses about who LGBTQIA+ subjects are, as if this were an
urban or individual issue. CAPIRE spoke with Paula Gioia, Yeva Swart,
Cony Oviedo, and Alessandro Mariano, members of La Via Campesina in
Europe and South America, about the participation and the contributions
of LGBTQIA+ people to the collective political knowledge of the peasant
movement.
Paula Gioia is a Brazilian migrant apiarist in Germany, a member of the
Association for Peasant Agriculture (_Arbeitsgemeinschaft bäuerliche
Landwirtschaft--_AbL), and a representative for Europe in the
International Coordination Committee of La Via Campesina. Yeva Swart is
a Dutch sheepherder in France and a member of Farmers for the Future
_(T__oekomstboeren)_. Cony Oviedo is an educator, communicator, poet,
and member of the National Coordination of Indigenous and Rural Women
Workers' Organization (_Coordinadora Nacional de Organización __de
Mujeres __Trabajadoras Rurales __e Indígenas_--CONAMURI) in Paraguay.
Alessandro Mariano is an educator and a member of the National LGBT
Collective of the Landless Workers' Movement (_Movimento dos
Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra--_MST) in Brazil.
THE REAL LIVES OF LGBTQIA+ PEASANTS
In the world we live, coming out as gender nonconforming often means
feeling lonely. Gender binarism and heteronormative family standards
often become obstacles to experiencing diversity, a control that can
lead to silence, violence, depression, and alienation. The media and
religious sectors promote prejudicial stereotypes that dictate what an
LGBTQIA+ person "looks like" or "doesn't look like." "There is an
association with an image of someone who likes to have fun, and not
someone who can be disciplined or have a life project," Cony Oviedo
says.
> When people find out you are a lesbian, they say, "you don't look like it"
In several parts of the world, people leave rural territories to escape
precarious wage work and conflicts with destructive megaprojects imposed
by big corporations, pursuing promises of a "better life" in the city.
Additionally, family traditions and moral standards in the countryside
are also reasons that lead LGBTQIA+ peasants to leave rural areas.
"Although in Europe there is not the same level of violence that LGBT
people face in other countries, rural areas are often still not a
welcoming place for gender diverse people," Paula Gioia says. "It's
important to understand and highlight that, when you don't need to worry
about hiding yourself, your sexuality, and gender identity, you can
contribute much more to our common struggle towards food sovereignty
[1]." Especially after the hardships that emerged during the pandemic,
many young people are willing to return to the countryside. Organizing
communities is a possible strategy to come back stronger and promote
mutual support. "Building and living as communities is already such a
queer way of living and working together."
> For fear of the stigma, many sisters and comrades hide themselves and will only say "I'm lesbian," "I'm bisexual," when they are in spaces they trust... In the communities, there is a culture that passes on from generation to generation. We must promote a cultural change in our behaviors and roles and formulate ways to stop seeing these commands that seem right as if they were natural. Cony Oviedo
_Laís Alann, MST, Brasil_
Rural areas are diverse and vast [2], although this is often
invisibilized. Indigenous communities, people from traditional Black
communities, peoples from forests and waters, small farmers, herders,
fishers, beekeepers, migrants, and seasonal workers, who have such
diverse ways of living and forms of experiencing their sexuality. In the
global South, these multiple possibilities have been and continue to be
obstructed by colonial, slave-like, imperialist interventions. "How does
the violence imposed against our ancestors' bodies continue to this day
against our bodies as well?" Alessandro Mariano asks.
FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND FREEDOM TO BE AND LOVE THE WAY WE WANT
LGBTQIA+ people are struggling to continue to live in rural areas,
resisting agribusiness [3] and producing healthy food and healthy
relationships. "Between capitalism and patriarchy, they want to tell us
it's all divided, that we are not one," Cony says. For La Via Campesina,
these are not different fronts, and separating them into different
"boxes" leads to fragmentation that blocks change. The peasant,
feminist, Black, Indigenous, migrant, and LGBTQIA+ struggle is a
comprehensive struggle for the liberation and self-determination of
_body-territories_ and _land-territories._
There is a direct relationship of solidarity between those who produce
food and struggle for food sovereignty and the people who need food the
most. Yeva Swart says, "often the rhetoric around LGBTQ people is about
love, and I think it is much more than that. LGBT struggles and food
sovereignty is also about questioning certain powers." Paula adds, "the
problems that we have are based on patriarchy and power relations, not
on what nature actually offers."
MST Brasil
THE LGBTQIA+ STRUGGLE IS FEMINIST AND ANTI-PATRIARCHAL
For many years, La Via Campesina has been building grassroots peasant
feminism [4] as a tool for women's struggle and organizing [5]. In
Europe, the movement is also working on the concept of queer feminism,
fighting the binary model of patriarchy. By promoting a feminist
conversation and practices that are rooted in their territories, the
women in the movement face violence and the sexual division of labor,
while playing a key role in food sovereignty, producing food, protecting
seeds, and sustaining life.
According to Cony Oviedo, "La Via Campesina's grassroots peasant
feminism is built from the needs of our sisters. It's feminism from
everyday life, struggling against agribusiness, mining, and extractivist
companies, and it carries the flag for agroecology [6] and food
sovereignty." "We live in a binary world where genders overlap.
Transsexuality disrupts that, including nonbinary," Alessandro Mariano
adds. Sexual and gender diversity is not just about being able to love
whoever you want, but also about being able to exist as you are: trans,
homosexual, bisexual, intersexual, or asexual.
The struggles waged by women and LGBTQIA+ people come together as they
challenge the control and violence perpetrated by racist and
heteropatriarchal capitalism against bodies and territories. They also
come together in the desire to promote change toward an equal and free
society.
> Peasant feminism is actively fighting against intersectional prejudices faced in today's society. The core of it is that LGBT people and women are questioning gender roles, and the imposed division of work Yeva Swart
Grassroots organizations are tasked to radically change society, and
this includes building relationships of camaraderie, respect, and
parity. This way, organizing spaces can be territories that are free
from inequality, exploitation, and discrimination. "In the
long-established tradition of the peasant struggle, which is deep-rooted
in the idea of male leaders, there is a process of expanding this
struggle to include women and all this diversity. More women, more
trans, lesbian, and bisexual people," Alessandro says about the
challenges facing La Via Campesina.
The experience in Europe also points to the need to change the bases of
patriarchal relationships. "The roles for male and female on the farms
are often very strict. There are a lot of similarities in the different
European countries and the discussion that we launched in the European
Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC) was important to realize and
understand that each of us is not alone and, secondly, to start
developing strategies to strengthen ourselves and our contributions to
the movement as well," Paula says.
European Coordination Via Campesina [7] (ECVC), 2018
GRASSROOTS PRACTICES IN EVERYDAY LIFE TO FACE LGBTQIA-PHOBIA
Around 2015, different organizations with La Via Campesina started to
discuss an LGBTQIA agenda and organization [8]. It took courage and
sensitivity to conduct this process, considering the cultural, age, and
regional diversity of La Via Campesina across the 81 countries where it
is present.
In Europe, the conversations about these topics started during the 2015
Women's Assembly in the framework of the ECVC General Assembly, where
the debate really started to get traction. "One of our member
organizations, _Sindicato Labrego Galego _[Galician Peasants' Union],
immediately adopted this agenda to their work and, as they usually say,
'they came out as an organization,'" Paula says. In 2017, the Basque
Country hosted the 7th International Conference of La Via Campesina,
which became a milestone as the starting point for building the LGBTQIA+
struggle on an international level within the organization [9].
Paula explains that "gender diversity was not part of the official
agenda of the conference. We managed to prepare, previously to the
conference, some actions for the conference. We organized an exhibition
with pictures, articles, and materials from different regions. People
were walking around the conference with stickers and pins with the
rainbow flag. Our strategy was to start bringing this agenda in
'homeopathic doses' to the movement."
This process eventually led to the 1stLGBTIQ Meeting of the European
Coordination Via Campesina [10], in 2018, dedicated to building spaces
for sexual and gender diversity within peasant organizing. On June 28th,
La Via Campesina Europe takes the opportunity on International LGBTQIA+
Pride Day to launch the publication _Embracing Rural Diversity: Genders
and Sexualities in the Peasant Movement_ [11],in Spanish, English, and
French, featuring militants' political stories about their personal and
collective experiences and reflections.
The seed of the LGBT collective of La Via Campesina Brazil [12] was
planted in 2015, when it started to organize seminars and meetings. The
collective was effectively established in 2020, with the participation
of ten organizations, holding monthly meetings and formulating a
synthesis that was organized in a publication [13].
In Paraguay, the CONAMURI started to collectively build a process in
2016 to tackle LGBTQIA-phobia, inspired by the Brazilian experience.
That same year, the _Aireana_collective, an organization of lesbian
peasant women, proposed that the CONAMURI should organize a landless
LGBTI meeting in Paraguay. Later, in 2017, the CONAMURI also became
closer to the Panamby collective of trans women who create art
interventions. The exchanges and activities were fundamental for the
national coordination of the CONAMURI to take on the topic as part of
its agenda.
Today, the militants of the two countries are organizing to build a
regional effort of LGBTQIA+ people with La Via Campesina in South
America. This way, LGBTQIA+ peasants feel more welcomed by the
organization, because their existence is no longer defended just
individually, but by the entire movement. In May this year, in Brazil,
the MST lost Lindolfo Kosmaski, a militant, peasant, teacher, and gay
man who was killed in his own community. For militants, the murder of
Lindolfo is a consequence of the hate resulting from the rise of
conservatism.
> Patriarchy destroys, capitalism wages war, LGBT blood is landless blood too! MST
According to Yeva, talking about gender diversity is the right thing to
do in face of the current political situation. "There is a growing
right-wing in Europe with a lot of anti-LGBT laws being adopted. People
are struggling against patriarchy and religious ideas as well about
gender and about sexuality. From the situation of women or LGBT people,
the same issues arise when it comes to peasants' rights, for example
regarding access to land and inheritance."
About this international movement building, Paula recalls that, "in some
countries where we have membership, being homosexual or transexual is
still reason for you to go to jail. In some places it's so prohibited
that people are killed." This is why the struggle is not homogeneous.
Paying attention to specific aspects that are different in every place
is a powerful way to build a multiple and diverse organization of
LGBTQIA+ peasants, who are political actors fighting for food
sovereignty. "That's why it is so important for us to build very strong
regional processes of discussion. Once we have different strong regional
processes we can build it at the international level. We are working in
that direction and the work from some regions can serve as inspiration
to other regions."
_Manon Roland illustration on "Embracing Rural Diversity," 2021_
Words by Helena Zelic and Bianca Pessoa
Translated from Portuguese by Aline Scátola
Original languages: Portuguese, Spanish, and English
Links:
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[1] https://capiremov.org/en/tag/food-sovereignty/
[2]
https://capiremov.org/en/multimedia/gallery/peasant-struggles-and-food-sove…
[3]
https://capiremov.org/en/analysis/the-struggle-for-food-sovereignty-is-the-…
[4]
https://capiremov.org/en/interview/pancha-rodriguez-food-sovereignty-is-abo…
[5] https://capiremov.org/en/analysis/popular-peasant-feminism/
[6]
https://capiremov.org/en/experience/peasant-women-nurturing-feminism-and-ag…
[7] https://www.facebook.com/ECVC1/?__tn__=-UC*F
[8]
https://viacampesina.org/en/gender-diversity-in-the-peasant-movement/
[9]
https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-peasants-initiate-debate-gende…
[10]
https://viacampesina.org/en/peasants-and-farm-workers-in-europe-call-it-tim…
[11]
https://www.eurovia.org/embracing-rural-diversity-genders-and-sexualities-i…
[12]
https://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL/videos/543765863171822
[13]
https://www.cptnacional.org.br/attachments/article/5462/PDF_CARTILHA_LGBTI_…
ACT NOW TO SUPPORT GAZA'S FARMERS, FARMWORKERS AND FISHERFOLK! HELP GAZA
FEED ITSELF!
22 JUNE 2021 INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY [1]
The recent spate of bombings by Israeli forces in Gaza has killed over
260 people, including 60 children and 40 women and forcibly displaced
more than 120,000 people from their homes. Missiles pounded the region
for 11 consecutive days inflicting catastrophic damages to the lives and
livelihood of the people of the area.
Gaza's Ministry of Agriculture estimated around $27 million in damages,
including greenhouses, agricultural lands and poultry farms. Union of
Agricultural Workers Committee (UAWC), a member of La Via Campesina,
informs that thousands of peasant workers, farmers and fisherfolk in
Gaza have suffered crop losses and damages to farm and fishing
infrastructure.
Agricultural facilities such as animal farms, wells and irrigation
networks have been severely damaged. A full closure of the sea and
destruction of fishing boats have disrupted fishing activities and
threaten the food security of over 3600 fisher families.
A rapid assessment by UAWC in Gaza estimates crop loss in over 50
hectares. Missile attacks have impacted the soil heath and inflicted
severe damages on irrigation and transmission networks. Hundreds of
greenhouses have been destroyed. The assessment team also informs that
scores of agricultural ponds are polluted or covered under rubble.
Extensive damage to sewage stations, sewage networks, water wells pose a
humungous challenge and leading to health risks due to unsanitary
conditions. The United Nations said approximately 800,000 people in Gaza
do not have regular access to clean piped water, as nearly 50 per cent
of the water network was damaged in the bombing.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
Gaza's food system is in ruins. Palestinians now seek to restore their
water wells, greenhouses, animal barns and fishing boats, among other
needs, and La Via Campesina wants to help by contributing USD $250,000
by August 31st, 2021.
By contributing funds through THIS LINK [2], you can directly help the
people of Gaza, particularly the family farms and fisherfolk, to rebuild
and reclaim their dignity and livelihood. Every amount counts. As
compassionate citizens of this planet, let us stand with the people of
Gaza in their struggle to rebuild their lives and access justice.
GLOBALIZE THE STRUGGLE, GLOBALIZE HOPE!
LA VIA CAMPESINA
Links:
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[1]
https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/international-solidari…
[2]
https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/gaza-appeal-farmers-fishers-2021
NYÉLÉNI NEWSLETTER: COMMUNICATING FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY
The new edition of the Nyéléni Newsletter is now online!
Food sovereignty, among the multitude of ideas that it encompasses, is
also about defending the billion diversities that exist on this planet,
and is a celebration of our many unique practices, tastes, cultures and
customs. An important pillar in this struggle for food sovereignty is
the role played by popular rural cultures, of peasants, fisher-folk,
family farmers and Indigenous Peoples. These communities are inheritors
of a rich and diverse tradition of oral and visual forms of
communication, whether in the form of folklore, legends, tales,
proverbs, songs, murals and more. These varied forms of communication
are also the recorded histories of human struggles and survival.
However, this diversity is, today, under threat. Just as the
agro-industrial complex pushes for a homogeneous, singular view of a
global agrifood system, the international-corporate-media complex has
also resulted in a singular, centralized form of mainstream
communication. A handful of corporations today control much of what we
read or watch and how people access information.
Despite the challenges, organized peoples and communities around the
world are countering this marginalization of peoples' culture. The
current edition of the Nyéléni newsletter focuses on the wide variety of
popular, community-driven communication approaches, drawing inspiration
from local symbols, context and culture. It explores how these
approaches are integral to pedagogy among peasants, family farmers,
Indigenous Peoples and fisher-folk, crucial for political formation and
popular education, and an essential element of our struggle for food
sovereignty.
_Click here to download the English edition_ [1] or read it directly on
the website at www.nyeleni.org [2] !
Links:
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[1] http://www.nyeleni.org/ccount/click.php?id=158
[2] http://www.nyeleni.org
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|*
This newsletter is the result of La Via Campesina's collective effort
to make visible and accompany the implementation of the Peace Accords in
Colombia.
To subscribe click here [1]
COLOMBIA: DESPITE STATE VIOLENCE, THE STRIKE CONTINUES
Protests unleashed by President Duque's tributary reform have turned
into a nationwide protest for historic injustices and the deepening
economic crisis behind the pandemic. read the full press release [2] of
La Vía Campesina.
COLOMBIA: IS ACCESS TO LAND DEMOCRATIZED?
Sub-point 1.1 of the Peace Agreement establishes mechanisms for access
to land for the benefit of peasants without land or with insufficient
land, mainly through land allocation processes and formalization of
rights. READ MORE... [3]
COLOMBIA: IMPACTS OF COVID-19 ON PEACE
The crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic has had various impacts,
amongst them, the increase in poverty numbers, the deepening of food
insecurity, the deterioration of the security crisis and the limitations
in the implementation of the Peace Agreement. READ MORE... [4]
COLOMBIA: GLYPHOSATE AERIAL SPRAYING FORCES COMMUNITIES TO SEEK LEGAL
ACTION
The processes of voluntary eradication of illicit crops are supported,
but marginally, compared to the force eradication operations prioritized
by the government. READ MORE... [5]
SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS DENOUNCE LIMITATIONS ON PARTICIPATION IN
TERRITORIAL FOCUSED DEVELOPMENT PLANS (PDET) IN COLOMBIA
Territorial Focused Development Plans - PDET, in Spanish, are designed
by the Agreement as participatory territorial planning instrument to
implement as a priority the components of Integral Rural Reform - RRI.
READ MORE... [6]
COLOMBIA: ARMED CONFLICT REACTIVATED IN 2021
During the year 2020 acts of violence with great intensity are recorded,
there has been an increase in the assassination of social leaders,
massacres, and confrontations among armed groups. READ MORE... [7]
RURAL INTEGRAL REFORM IS EXCRUCIATINGLY SLOW IN COLOMBIA
The assessments of the implementation of the Peace Agreement made by
different institutions and social organizations highlight the lack of
political will for the materialization of what has been agreed and the
constant failings on the part of the government regarding principally
the Rural Integral Reform - RRI, in Spanish. READ MORE... [8]
COLOMBIA: CALL FOR LIFE, DEMOCRACY AND PEACE!
La Via Campesina stands in solidarity with the struggles and protests of
the Colombian people in the NATIONAL STRIKE that began on April 28th and
remains active even now. READ MORE... [9]
COLOMBIA: END THE STATE-SANCTIONED VIOLENCE, INVESTIGATE THE CRIMES OF
THE COLOMBIAN STATE!
A month into the National Strike against the neoliberal reforms that
seek to undermine rights, promote privatization and labor
flexibilization. READ MORE... [10]
SOLIDARITY WITH THE WORKING CLASS OF COLOMBIA
We, the undersigned popular organisations of the peoples of the
countryside, of the waters and of the forests, and other organisations
of the whole world, lend our solidarity to the peasant, indigenous and
Afro-descendant people who, allied to the working class of the cities,
are demonstrating in Colombia to defend human rights as basic as the
right to live in peace and dignity. READ MORE... [11]
[12]
Omar Moreno, life and peasant struggle
[13]
HYMN OF THE INDIGENOUS GUARD
YOU ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE AUTONOMY OF OUR MOVEMENT
-------------------------
As a supporter who has contributed financial resources to La Via
Campesina, and as an activist who joins us on the streets and in the
fields, your support is always welcome and put to good use.
YOU CAN RENEW YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO LA VIA CAMPESINA BY CLICKING HERE
[14]. [15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
To unsubscribe from the distribution list click here [1]
For questions or comments, email LVCWEB(a)VIACAMPESINA.ORG
WEBSITE: www.viacampesina.org
TV: www.tv.viacampesina.org
To subscribe to this newsletter - Click Here [1]
Links:
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[1] https://mail.viacampesina.org/lists/listinfo/Via-info-en
[2]
https://viacampesina.org/en/colombia-despite-state-violence-the-strike-cont…
[3] https://viacampesina.org/en/colombia-is-access-to-land-democratized/
[4] https://viacampesina.org/en/colombia-impacts-of-covid-19-on-peace/
[5]
https://viacampesina.org/en/colombia-glyphosate-aerial-spraying-forces-comm…
[6]
https://viacampesina.org/en/socia-l-organizations-denounce-limitations-on-p…
[7]
https://viacampesina.org/en/colombia-armed-conflict-reactivated-2021/
[8]
https://viacampesina.org/en/rural-integral-reform-is-excruciatingly-slow-in…
[9]
https://viacampesina.org/en/colombia-call-for-life-democracy-and-peace/
[10]
https://viacampesina.org/en/colombia-end-the-state-sanctioned-violence-inve…
[11]
https://viacampesina.org/en/solidarity-with-the-working-class-of-colombia/
[12] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhOgyaHgiJc
[13] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwR6VgQ1mOE
[14] https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/viacampesina
[15] https://viacampesina.org/en/donations/
[16] https://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL
[17] http://www.twitter.com/via_campesina
[18] https://www.instagram.com/la_via_campesina_official/
[19] https://viacampesina.org/