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For Via Campesina, the Crisis Calls on Our Humanity – #NoToBlockade
by La Via Campesina 07 Apr '20

07 Apr '20

FOR VIA CAMPESINA, THE CRISIS CALLS ON OUR HUMANITY – #NOTOBLOCKADE INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY [1] (Harare, April 6, 2020) Via Campesina calls for the defense of humanist principles as an essential component to work in solidarity and unity during the COVID-19 crisis. In this context, the movement also denounces even more all imperialistic practices of interference from the United States. We believe it is urgent to put an end to the economic blockade, the political persecution, and the dirty campaign against Cuba and Venezuela. These nations need concrete conditions to respond, in sovereignty, to the needs of their peoples effectively and timely, safeguarding in every way life in dignified conditions. The blockade prevents them from having proper access to the resources and supplies needed to face the coronavirus crisis in the best possible way. * The current COVID-19 capitalist pandemic has revealed the ghost of a "system in crisis," a perverse, unequal, and unjust system that continues seeking profit and oppressing the working classes and most vulnerable populations in the world, further worsening living conditions and threatening the survival of human life. In stark contrast, the solidarity and humanist character of the Cuban government and the Cuban revolution has immediately deployed "Cuban Medical Brigades" to help other nations regardless of nationalities or borders. The Brigades also reached Italy, currently the country with the highest number of cases in Europe, to assist in solidarity during the global struggle against the pandemic. While States and organized sectors worldwide focus on the coronavirus crisis, we, as La Via Campesina, draw attention to the growing threat of this crisis being exploited for economic, political and even military purposes, by justifying the excessive use of violence, attacking democratic processes and even creating a climate of war and death and taking coercive and completely illegal measures against peoples. In that sense, we denounce as a crime against humanity the persecution by the United States of planes and ships that try to bring medicines and other medical supplies for Venezuela and Cuba during this crisis. Therefore, we call upon the world to denounce these perverse and genocidal practices, and upon the States to exert pressure to urgently put an end to the blockades and international attacks against these two nations. These nations need to be able to ensure the availability of food and medicine on time, and it would allow compliance with the protocols to detect and control possible cases of COVID-19 infections in the populations. Finally, as La Via Campesina, we reaffirm the importance of unity of the peoples, beyond the States, to emerge victorious from this crisis. We say #StayHomeButNotSilent, and in this way, we will build together the new society that we hope for and need, one that gives centrality to life and not to profit. Just as the Cuban people and the Bolivarian Revolution have taught us, not only these days but throughout history, we continue to resist with solidarity, internationalism, and respect for human dignity and life. GLOBALIZE THE STRUGGLE, GLOBALIZE HOPE! Photo 1: Peasants from Venezuela and Cuba and their Agroecological productions in the struggle for Food Sovereignty, guaranteeing healthy food for their peoples. 2. Cuban Medical Brigades. Links: ------ [1] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/international-solidari…

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La Via Campesina e-newsletter Jan- March 2020
by La Via Campesina 03 Apr '20

03 Apr '20

La Via Campesina | e-newsletter | Jan-March 2020 Donate [1] This edition of the newsletter is the result of a collective effort of organisations, which are part of_ La Via Campesina_ movement worldwide. To subscribe click here [2] #STAYHOMEBUTNOTSILENT – IN TIMES OF PANDEMIC, PEASANTS ARE UNITED TO FEED THE PEOPLE! MARCH 24, HARARE: On April 17, La Via Campesina will commemorate the International Day of Peasants' Strugglei [3] in a context that once again validates the historical role of the peasantry in societies and their fundamental task of feeding the people, even in times of war, fascism, authoritarianism and pandemics. COVID-19 has crippled the world. This deadly virus has exposed the vulnerability of the current globalised food system dominated by industrial agriculture, and the dangers it poses to all life forms. We should learn from this crisis and invest in building local, resilient and diverse food systems. States must begin by implementing 'food sovereignty' [4] through agroecological production and enabled by popular agrarian reforms. Again, the extraordinary circumstances facing humanity today must compel all countries to protect and guarantee the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, as articulated in the United Nations Declaration, approved in 2018 (UNDROP [5]). Read More... [6] FEATURED ARTICLES COVID-19: SEVERAL MEMBERS OF LA VIA CAMPESINA HIGHLIGHT THE VULNERABILITY OF PEASANTS AND WORKERS As Corona Virus spreads across countries and continents, several members of La Via Campesina have issued statements highlighting the precarious situation of peasants and migrant workers around the world. Here is a compilation of different Statements issued by the members: Read more ... [7] 08 MARCH 2020: LA VIA CAMPESINA RELEASES ILLUSTRATIONS AMPLIFYING THE VOICES AND DEMANDS OF RURAL WOMEN On the occasion of the International Day of Women, La Via Campesina has launched a series of illustrations under the banner Peasant and Rural Women with Rights. Ten visually powerful sketches explore the role played by peasant women in food production. Read more ... [8] VENEZUELA: FARMERS RESIST ECONOMIC BLOCKADE BY INCREASING FOOD PRODUCTION Due to the illegal sanctions imposed on the country by the United States (U.S.) and its allies, the import of food, seeds, fertilizers, machinery, and other basic necessities has been restricted in Venezuela. As a result, food production registered a 60 percent decrease at the national level, but small and medium-scale farmers in Venezuela are 'betting' on growing food ... Read more... [9] WHY PEASANT FARMERS ARE KEY TO THE SUCCESS OF FARM TO FORK Today European Coordination via Campesina presented its key demands regarding the Farm to Fork Strategy, during its meetings with the European Commission. Read more ... [10] RESISTING RCEP FROM GROUND UP: INDIAN MOVEMENTS SHOW THE WAY In the history of people's resistance against free trade agreements, 4 November 2019 is a day to remember. On this day, bowing to immense pressure from peasants, trade unions and rural communities, India's central government decided to pull the plug on its participation in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), intended to become the largest free trade area in the world. Read more ... [11] FIRST DECLARATION: LA VIA CAMPESINA INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MISSION IN VENEZUELA Caracas, January 31st, 2020 The delegation of La Via Campesina with representatives from Europe, North America, South America and Central America, together with popular journalists from Africa and South America, announce to the national and international public that we have concluded the 1st International Solidarity Mission with Venezuela, held between January 20th and 27th in several regions of the country, among them the states of Lara, Portuguesa, Barinas and Apure. Read more ... [12] FIGHTING VALE AND CORPORATE CAPTURE IN BRAZIL _This interview with Tchenna Maso, a member of the Movement of People Affected by Dams, first posted [13] by Transnational Institute._ WHAT EXPERIENCE DO YOU HAVE OF WORKING TO CHALLENGE CORPORATIONS? In Brazil, we have been deeply affected by corporations. Our communities were strongly impacted by the privatisation of the electric sector, the increased role of private water firms such as Suez, and the building of dams by corporations. Read more ... [14] NEGOTIATING THE VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES ON FOOD SYSTEMS AND NUTRITION: OUR CONCERNS AND PROPOSALS (Rome) On 29 January 2020, at the Global Council for Food Security (CFS) in Rome, an official meeting, to discuss and negotiate the _Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition, _was held. Read more ... [15] PROTECT THE MARKET ACCESS OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SCALE FARMERS AND PEASANTS IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES: ECVC In the midst of the huge crisis that Europe and the entire world is experiencing because of COVID-19, the question of rethinking our economic model and the importance of food sovereignty is once again a key issue. Read more ... [16] WOMEN OF MST OCCUPY THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE IN BRASILIA The action aims to denounce the policies of the Bolsonaro government in relation to the economy, land, and agriculture. On the morning of Monday March 9, the women of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) occupied the Ministry of Agriculture in the capital Brasilia. Read more ... [17] VIA CAMPESINA DENOUNCES UN SPECIAL ENVOY FOR THE UN FOOD SYSTEMS SUMMIT FOR DIMINISHING PEASANTS AND THEIR RIGHTS In December 2019, it was officially announced that the UN Headquarters in New York will host a Food Systems Summit in 2021. The Summit aims to maximize the benefits of a food systems approach across the entire 2030 Agenda, meet the challenges of climate change, make food systems inclusive, and support sustainable peace. Read more ... [18] MICRO-FINANCE FIRMS DROVE 200 POOR BORROWERS TO SUICIDE DURING LAST THREE YEARS: MONLAR, SRILANKA Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR) held a demonstration last week demanding that the government fulfil President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's election pledge to scrap micro-credit loans. _"About 200 people had committed suicide, during the last three years or so, as they were unable to pay back the micro-credit loans and many of those organisations had obtained the services of village thugs to recover money" ... _Read more ... [19] NATIONAL FARMERS UNION IN SOLIDARITY WITH WET'SUWE'TEN LAND DEFENDERS The National Farmers Union (NFU) stands in solidarity with Indigenous land protectors. We support initiatives by Indigenous People including the Unist'ot'en and Wet'suwe'ten to resist resource extraction and energy projects that disrupt their Indigenous food and governance systems and interfere with the health of their lands, territories, and communities. Read more ... [20] SRI LANKA HOSTS THE FIRST ASIAN YOUTH ASSEMBLY OF LA VIA CAMPESINA Ahngama, Srilanka: The First Asian Continental Youth Assembly of La Via Campesina took place in Ahngama Srilanka from 11 -14 January 2020, facilitated and hosted by the Movement for Land and Agricultural Reforms (MONLAR). (READ THE Declaration from the First Asian Continental Youth Assembly [21]) The assembly brought together more than 60 peasant youth, comprising people of different identities and ethnicities and coming from 13 grass-roots movements in 9 countries across the Asian continent. Read more ... [22] #8MARCH2020: PEASANT AND RURAL WOMEN, ORGANISED FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND A DIGNIFIED LIFE! HARARE: This 08th March, the International Day of Women, La Via Campesina joins in solidarity and struggle with millions of peasants, workers, migrants, indigenous people, fishers, pastoralists, waged agricultural workers, housekeepers and people of all diversity among the rural and the urban working class, as well as other organized sectors, to denounce the capitalist and patriarchal system and its constant oppression of women and of our peoples. Read more ... [23] FEATURED PUBLICATION FOOD SOVEREIGNTY IN AN ERA OF AUTHORITARIAN AND FASCIST RESURGENCE This Nyéléni newsletter examines the implications of these political-social configurations for the Food Sovereignty movement. It especially highlights how Food Sovereignty is itself a strategy of resistance against the dangerous wave of extreme authoritarianism sweeping the world. Download here [24] FEATURED VIDEO [25] GLOBALIZE HOPE (1H 13 MINS) New film on the history of La Via Campesina This film chronicles how La Via Campesina was born more than 28 years ago, as an alternative that brings together struggles, dreams and challenges to build solidarity and secure our collective human future. IMPORTANT NOTE: Select English, French or Spanish subtitles by clicking on the "CC" button on the Vimeo player. 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 [26]. [27] [28] Twitter [29] [30] Facebook [31] [32] Vimeo [33] To unsubscribe from the distribution list click here [34] For questions or comments, email LVCWEB(a)VIACAMPESINA.ORG WEBSITE: www.viacampesina.org [35] TV: www.tv.viacampesina.org [36] To subscribe to this newsletter - Click Here [37] Links: ------ [1] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [2] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [3] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [4] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [5] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [6] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [7] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [8] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [9] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [10] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [11] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [12] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [13] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [14] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [15] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [16] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [17] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [18] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [19] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [20] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [21] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [22] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [23] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [24] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [25] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [26] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [27] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [28] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [29] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [30] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [31] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [32] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [33] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [34] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448… [35] http://www.viacampesina.org [36] http://www.tv.viacampesina.org [37] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=89bbab017155e420448…

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#StayHomeButNotSilent - Call for Mobilsation April 17, 2020: Int'l Day of Peasant Struggle
by La Via Campesina 26 Mar '20

26 Mar '20

#STAYHOMEBUTNOTSILENT – IN TIMES OF PANDEMIC, PEASANTS ARE UNITED TO FEED THE PEOPLE! CALL FOR MOBILISATION – INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEASANTS' STRUGGLE MARCH 24, HARARE: On April 17, La Via Campesina will commemorate the International Day of Peasants' Strugglei [1] in a context that once again validates the historical role of the peasantry in societies and their fundamental task of feeding the people, even in times of war, fascism, authoritarianism and pandemics. COVID-19 has crippled the world. This deadly virus expose the vulnerability of the current globalised food system dominated by industrial agriculture, and the dangers it poses to all life forms. We should learn from this crisis and invest in building local, resilient and diverse food systems. States must begin by implementing 'food sovereignty' [2] through agroecological production and enabled by popular agrarian reforms. Again, the extraordinary circumstances facing humanity today must compel all countries to protect and guarantee the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, as articulated in the United Nations Declaration, approved in 2018 (UNDROP [3]). LET'S BUILD SOLIDARITY! During the week of April 17 - La Via Campesina - will continue to expose the perils of capitalism and its devastating consequences - the political, social, economic and health crises. The circumstances of the impoverished urban and rural working classes have become more precarious with the spread of COVID 19 and the subsequent economic fallout. Therefore, the world's people need to grab this moment and fight back and construct solidarity and class alliances, between rural and urban areas. Alliances between the vulnerable sectors of the society, the small-scale food producers and consumers are a must to promote fair trade, healthy food. During this crisis, we must expose and denounce the profit-driven expansionist policy of the transnational companies. AS WE DID 24 YEARS AGO IN ELDORADO DOS CARAJÁS, in a single voice of resistance and by keeping alive our long history of struggle - _we, the peasants, indigenous people, pastoralists, fishers, agricultural workers, migrants, racially oppressed people and the organised working class_ - denounce the erosion of our rights as workers, our right to health and education. We come together to condemn the systematic violence, militarisation and oppression unleashed on our people and the steady erosion of democratic principles. This pandemic reminds us of the need to have robust public health systems, which have over the years been systematically crippled by our Governments in favour of privatisation. It has also exposed the real face of the profit mongers - the agribusinesses, pharmaceutical companies and other transnational companies seeking business opportunities in these difficult times. Meanwhile, millions of us - the small-scale food producers - continue to produce food and feed the people, guaranteeing the national food supply and food sovereignty. We continue to do this even in the context of quarantine, closed borders and curfew, by respecting biodiversity and through agroecological production. We put the life of our soil and mother earth as our priority and engage with small peasant markets that are more just, based on solidarity and reciprocity and free from poison and speculation. [READ HERE THE EFFORTS AND STATEMENTS PUT OUT BY VARIOUS MEMBERS OF LA VIA CAMPESINA] [4] COVID 19: PEASANTS, MIGRANTS AND RURAL WORKERS AT RISK As La Via Campesina, we are concerned about the condition of agricultural and migrant workers, who operate under precarious working conditions and without adequate access to healthcare or relevant safety measures. Members of La Via Campesina in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas are demanding that their governments respond quickly and responsibly to the needs of the vast majority and not just 'provide a stimulus for the coronavirus capitalists'. We do not want economic measures that benefit the elites as they did in the past by bailing out banks and businesses to "save the economy". We demand justice for the peasantry and the oppressed sectors of the world. This April 17, 2020, we call upon our members and allies to be alert against all kinds of opportunism in this global crisis. #STAYHOMEBUTNOTSILENT - WE CALL FOR CREATIVE MOBILISATIONS! A moment of crisis like this reveals that our interrelationship with each other as humans is important. We are much more interconnected with each other than this brutal economic system leads us to believe. However, _to protect the health and integrity of our members, friends, and allies_, we are not issuing a call for land occupations, mass marches, public talks, public forums or film screenings this April 17, 2020. BUT: * STAY AT HOME, AND PLEDGE NOT TO REMAIN SILENT. Now is the time to carry out creative struggles from within the confines of our farms and houses. * LET US TRANSFORM the windows, the terraces, the gardens and fields into our demonstration squares, turn our pots and pans into drums of resistance. * LET US MAKE our banners of denunciation! Let our walls speak and show our strength and resistance amid this scenario of crisis and capitalist hegemony. * LET US BUILD SOLIDARITY and think about how to share with the community, neighbourhood or friends and how to help the most vulnerable people. * LET US PLEDGE TO CONSUME FOOD FROM LOCAL PEASANT COOPERATIVES and communities, and not from the transnationals! Go to the local markets, buy directly from the producer and your neighbourhood shops and promote humanist values. Be our communicator and take to social networks! Make videos, photos or audio reports to know that the same struggle and resistance unite us in all corners of the world! We are in this, together! Send them to lvcweb(a)viacampesina.org to be published in our media. Hashtags: #STAYHOMEBUTNOTSILENT | #17APRIL2020 | #PEASANTSRIGHTSNOW Links: ------ [1] https://viacampesina.org/en/stayhomebutnotsilent-in-times-of-pandemic-peasa… [2] https://viacampesina.org/en/food-sovereignty/ [3] https://viacampesina.org/en/united-nations-declaration-on-the-rights-of-pea… [4] https://viacampesina.org/en/covid-19-several-members-of-la-via-campesina-hi…

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#08March2020: La Via Campesina releases illustrations amplifying the voices and demands of rural women
by La Via Campesina 10 Mar '20

10 Mar '20

08 MARCH 2020: LA VIA CAMPESINA RELEASES ILLUSTRATIONS AMPLIFYING THE VOICES AND DEMANDS OF RURAL WOMEN 9 MARCH 2020 CAMPAIGN TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN [1], PEASANTS' RIGHTS [2], WOMEN [3] On the occasion of the International Day of Women, La Via Campesina has launched a series of illustrations under the banner Peasant and Rural Women with Rights. Ten visually powerful sketches illustrated by Artist Carlos Julio from Argentina explore the role played by peasant women in food production. They also amplify the voices of rural women and reasserts their demands for an equal, dignified life. This work takes its inspiration from the 'UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas' (UNDROP), which was officially adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2018. For over a decade, rural and indigenous communities had patiently negotiated for a global Declaration of this kind. The Declaration promotes the rights of millions of small-scale food producers, who feed nearly seventy per-cent of the world's population despite having access to barely a quarter of the world's arable land. These illustrations particularly seek to highlight the rights of rural peasant women as cited in the Declaration - by promoting equal ownership over territories and resources; calling for better healthcare systems in rural areas and better infrastructure and education facilities; echoing the demands for fair wages; highlighting the immense contribution made by women workers and peasants in peasant food production. These works of art are also an expression of resistance against patriarchy and all forms of violence against women and people of diverse gender. These illustrations also call for an end to the use of toxic agrochemicals in the fields, which poses huge health risks to food producers. Through these sketches, La Via Campesina once again calls for the promotion of the rights of people to produce and consume healthy and locally produced food. It also aims to promote training and mobilisation actions for our member organizations as well as for allied organizations and civil society on the issue. This provides necessary elements for the development of public policies with dignity and social justice. During the year, La Via Campesina will launch more such materials that would help popularise the contents of the Declaration among rural communities. To download the illustrations, please click here. [4] A PDF version of the illustrations are also available here [5] Links: ------ [1] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-against/patriachy/campaign… [2] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/human-rights/ [3] https://viacampesina.org/en/who-are-we/women/ [4] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/ywEi3zjnsoLZssz [5] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/ywEi3zjnsoLZssz#pdfviewer

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La Via Campesina denounces UN Special Envoy for the UN Food Systems Summit for diminishing peasants and their rights
by La Via Campesina 06 Mar '20

06 Mar '20

LA VIA CAMPESINA DENOUNCES UN SPECIAL ENVOY FOR THE UN FOOD SYSTEMS SUMMIT FOR DIMINISHING PEASANTS AND THEIR RIGHTS In December 2019, it was officially announced that the UN Headquarters in New York will host a Food Systems Summit in 2021. The Summit aims to maximize the benefits of a food systems approach across the entire 2030 Agenda, meet the challenges of climate change, make food systems inclusive, and support sustainable peace. Since the announcement, many peasant organizations, civil society organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have expressed concern on the lack of transparency in the process leading to the Summit, including the appointment of Ms. Agnes Kalibata, the current President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), as UN Special Envoy for the Summit. It is further apparent that the process is following through without the involvement of all concerned UN member states. After meeting Ms. Kalibata during the IFAD Farmers' Forum (FAFO 2020), we remain deeply concerned regarding the legitimacy and process of the 2021 Food Systems Summit and about the approach of the UN Special Envoy. Although we recognize and appreciate the UN Special Envoy's presence in the FAFO to hear the concerns of small-scale food producers, we regret to report that several red flags were raised in the session. First of all, we were shocked by her lack of awareness of the political mandate and significance of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) that was promoted by LVC and small-scale producers' organizations and negotiated by LVC and small-scale producers' organizations over the course of nearly two decades and adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2018. La Via Campesina delegate Jordan Treakle from the National Family Farm Coalition, representing North America, asked Ms. Kalibata "How will the World Food System Summit assure that UNDROP, and its political mandate promoting a rights-based approach, be integral to the Summit's focus and outcomes?" Ms. Kalibata's response was "it's an interesting question… Peasant? What is a peasant? What is peasant rights? Because I don't understand what that means to be honest with you." The UN Special Envoy doubled down on this statement later in the discussion, affirming that she does not recognize "peasants" as a constituency, despite the many decades of LVC and allies advocating for the rights of food producers (farmers, fisherfolks, pastoralists, and food workers) under this banner. "I completely appreciate what you do and I'm going to make sure that gets heard. I just wanted to underscore (…) what I said earlier: the word that was used is not how I look at farmers ( …) Farmers are farmers, it's a business for us, we don't want charity, we don't want to be pitied, we don't want anything like that. We see ourselves as business people. So I'm sorry if the word means something else to you, to me it means something that I grew up not appreciating (…)"- said she. Ms Kalibata also affirmed she "is not working for the UN", raising further our concerns about her impartiality, and willingness to separate her agribusiness background from this UN Special Envoy role. Several participants reacted to Ms Kalibata's discourse. Elizabeth Mpofu, General Coordinator of La Via Campesina, said "We are urgently requesting for a strong commitment to transparency by those involved in the Summit planning. And most critically, we call on Rome-based Agencies, member states, and the Special Envoy, to ensure that Civil Society Organizations and peasants have the possibility to be fully and equally involved in all stages of the organization of the Summit and have their voice heard." The role of the UN Special Envoy requires a neutral and unbiased approach to the United Nations system, and existing UN processes such as the Committee on World Food Security, that will work to build bridges and consensus across a range of food system constituencies to ensure that the voices of food producers are heard and respected. The UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and FAO should be leading the process towards the Food Systems Summit due to their mandate of ending hunger and malnutrition. Although the Special Envoy expressed several times during the meeting promises of inclusiveness and underlined that she has just started her mission, the process of organizing the Summit and the fact that right holders and constituencies will have a seat at the table, remains unclear. Therefore, we reiterate our call to ensure that the civil society and, in particular, the peasants have a clear, equal and influential role in shaping all phases of the Food Systems Summit. As Via Campesina, we urge a Food Systems Summit which is focused on peasants and other small-scale food producers and to their local and territorial markets that provide the 80% of the food production in the world. Instead of representing the interests of the corporate sector which is aggravating the food systems crisis. Given the fact that Mrs Kalibata is clearly representing corporate sector interests, we demand the UN to revoke Mrs. Kalibata's appointment and appoint a special envoy who indeed represents the needs and rights of peasants and other small scale food producers and those who are most affected by hunger. ------------------------- _For media enquiries, contact lvcweb(a)viacampesina.org_

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#8March2020: Call for Solidarity action!
by La Via Campesina 24 Feb '20

24 Feb '20

HARARE: This 08th March, the International Day of Women, La Via Campesina joins in solidarity and struggle with millions of peasants, workers, migrants, indigenous people, fishers, pastoralists, waged agricultural workers, housekeepers and people of all diversity among the rural and the urban working class, as well as other organized sectors, to denounce the capitalist and patriarchal system and its constant oppression of women and of our peoples. We condemn this perverse system that hides behind the malicious facade of conservative and authoritarian neoliberalism, exacerbating workers' precariousness, eroding our rights, eliminating public policy, and criminalizing and killing those who resist. Massive women's mobilizations on a global scale, such as the World Women Strike, #8M, Vivas nos queremos, as well as other actions and expressions of struggle confirm the urgency behind the demand to stop all forms of violence and oppression that women suffer throughout the world. AS LA VIA CAMPESINA, we raise our fist together with our landless sisters in their 1st National Women's Meeting to be held on March 5th to 8th in Brazil. We also salute our Zapatista comrades, with whom we shared the 2nd Meeting of Women in the Struggle in December 2019 and the comrades of Women's March Global who are organizing their 5th Action "We resist to live, we march to transform!" We stand with the Kurdish and Palestine women; with the women in the struggle in Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Spain, Turkey, Bolivia; with the women who survive under situations of structural violence, conservatism and authoritarianism, war, occupation, dispossession, extractivist policies and racist, xenophobic and homophobic narratives that threaten the lives of women of all ages. We also condemn "patriarchal States" that strengthen and naturalize violence against women. Instead of ensuring rights, in both rural and urban areas, they deny justice and reparations, fostering widespread impunity of the perpetrators. It is distressing to hear presidential declarations such as those of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil or Lenin Moreno in Ecuador trivializing rape and harassment; denying facts, such as the elevated rates of underage pregnancies from rape and feminicides when the numbers worldwide are alarming and alert to a pandemic. At the same time, they promote policies in favour of transnational companies creating more inequality, poverty and increasing the concentration of wealth in few hands. As peasant women, this 08th March, we also stand in rejection of the industrial farming model and its system of death that everyday poisons our land, and pose serious health risks to the women who work in the fields and to the people who consume such food. WE DEMAND the enforcement of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants, which guarantees the right to land, to fair prices, to a production free of toxic agrochemicals and which acknowledges the essential role of peasants in the production of healthy food and as guardians of the common goods by promoting agroecology as the path towards Food Sovereignty and cooling down the planet. On this day, we also reaffirm our commitment to promote Popular Peasant Feminism. It is the path we have taken as a movement, born of the heat of the struggles for the defense of common goods, against imperialism, colonialism and patriarchy as the pillars that uphold a capitalist system of death and destruction, through mining mega-projects and agribusiness, responsible of the violence and dispossession suffered by the women and peoples of the world. _PEASANT AND RURAL WOMEN AWAKE AND ORGANIZED FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND A DIGNIFIED LIFE! AGAINST VIOLENCE AND AGRIBUSINESS!_ ------------------------- MOBILIZE! During the week of 08th March, as La Via Campesina we are organizing decentralized actions in different countries and continents. Let's all speak out together for fairer societies and call for an end to all forms of violence and oppression against women! We are awake and in struggle, both in the countryside and in cities. It is imperative to give visibility to this struggle and raise awareness worldwide. Send your posters, photos, videos, event plans and press releases to LVCWEB(a)VIACAMPESINA.ORG. Click here to download [1] poster, comic and other social media content. Links: ------ [1] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/XQLfk9RSzirDAKt

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First Declaration: La Via Campesina International Solidarity Mission in Venezuela
by La Via Campesina 06 Feb '20

06 Feb '20

FIRST DECLARATION: LA VIA CAMPESINA INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MISSION IN VENEZUELA 6 FEBRUARY 2020 FOOD SOVEREIGNTY [1], INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY [2], PEASANTS' RIGHTS [3] Caracas, January 31st, 2020 The delegation of La Via Campesina with representatives from Europe, North America, South America and Central America, together with popular journalists from Africa and South America, announce to the national and international public that we have concluded the 1st International Solidarity Mission with Venezuela, held between January 20th and 27th in several regions of the country, among them the states of Lara, Portuguesa, Barinas and Apure. La Via Campesina is a movement that brings together peasant organizations of all five continents, active in the struggles for food sovereignty and defending the rights of the peoples in the face of unbridled capitalism and imperialism, predators of life on the planet. In this sense, the goal of the Solidarity Mission in Venezuela was to get to know in-depth, together with organized collectives, the consequences and impacts caused by the United States and European blockade against the Venezuelan people. The Mission, a milestone for La Via Campesina, has allowed us to see the high level of organization in the territories of the National Peasant Front Ezequiel Zamora (FNCEZ, by its acronym in Spanish), part of the Revolutionary Movement Bolivar y Zamora (CRBZ) and member of La Via Campesina. These organizations enabled meetings with different men and women responsible for driving and upholding the process of the Bolivarian Revolution in Defense of National Sovereignty. The Mission also had the opportunity to delve into a thorough exploration of the organizations of the people's Bolivarian resistance. This was possible thanks to exchanges with men and women comrades of the commune "El Maizal" (in the states of Lara and Portuguesa), with the Cooperative Association "Los Colonos" and the University Latin American Institute of Agroecology (IALA) "Paulo Freire", the socialist agro-touristic commune "Pie de Monte Andino", the Peasant Settlement "Victor Ojeda" (of the state of Barinas) and the Communal Peasant City "Simon Bolivar" (in the state of Apure). The above-mentioned experiences are part of the National Production Alliance (ANP), an FNCEZ-CRBZ initiative to promote food productivity and sovereignty in the communities. In each of the experiences visited we were able to verify the high level of awareness of the Venezuelan people, their sense of dignity, sovereignty and autonomy. These characteristics were also present in the National Bolivarian Militia, which is marked by a strong peasant component and integrates millions of people. We also witnessed the organizational dynamics and the productive work peasants have managed to develop. This work is one of the actions of resistance to the economic blockade that has an impact on the areas of food and overall human development. The rescue and further development of Peasant Agriculture in a path towards Agroecology and Food Sovereignty gain a special relevance given the current context. In addition, we value and salute the appreciation of local organizations awarded to the "IALA Paulo Freire" due to its contribution in knowledge exchange and dialogue related to peasant agriculture aimed at recovering the wisdom of the peoples about ways production free of toxic agro-chemicals. This institute of political agroecological and internationalist education is the main reference in Latin America. It was founded thanks to the sensibility of the Venezuelan Bolivarian Government in the early 2000s. The current focus is on finding a way to face the crisis and succeed in supplying peasant families and people's markets, as well as ensuring the necessary food for education facilities through the connection with the national government. La Via Campesina reaffirms its solidarity with the FNCEZ of the CRBZ and the Venezuelan peasantry as a whole. We are certain that this period of crisis, largely due to the #US blockade, will come to an end and that Venezuela will be able to make its own decisions regarding its economic and human development in full sovereignty and with utmost dignity. _Globalize the struggle, globalize hope!_ Links: ------ [1] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/food-sovereignty-and-t… [2] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/international-solidari… [3] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/human-rights/

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Watch > Globalize Hope (1h 13 mins): New film on the history of La Via Campesina
by La Via Campesina 22 Jan '20

22 Jan '20

JANUARY 2020 | LA VIA CAMPESINA Watch the film "Globilize Hope" [1] SYNOPSIS LA VIA CAMPESINA is an international movement that brings together millions of peasants, landless workers, indigenous peoples and migrants - comprising women, men, youth and diverse identities - from all over the world. The movement brings them together under its banner of comprehensive and popular agrarian reform and food sovereignty. It is a collective expression of the struggle for recognition, legitimacy and dignity of peasant communities and rural people, in a neo- liberal world that is destroying them. In recent years, globalization and the expansion of agribusiness and monocultural practices have destroyed tens of millions of small farms across the continents. Peasants and small scale food producers now have access to only 25% of the world's agricultural land. Despite these odds, peasant and rural communities continue to be the world's major food producers, providing for an estimated 80% of the food needs in non-industrialized countries. Meanwhile, many governments are increasingly allowing the World Trade Organization (WTO ) and other free trade agreements (FTAs) to govern their national agricultural and food policies. As a result, peasant agriculture finds itself in competition with low-priced imported foodstuffs. The survival of the peasants, who represent almost half of the world's population, is therefore threatened. The consequences for healthy food systems and for humanity itself are dire. Peasant agriculture carries within itself the solutions that humanity needs to face the challenges of the future. Therefore its defense and the defense of the rights of peasants is essential. This film chronicles how La Via Campesina was born more than 28 years ago, as an alternative that brings together struggles, dreams and challenges to build solidarity and secure our collective human future. IMPORTANT NOTE: YOU CAN SELECT ENGLISH, FRENCH OR SPANISH SUBTITLES BY CLICKING ON THE "CC" BUTTON ON THE VIMEO PLAYER [1]. Watch the film "Globilize Hope" [1] [2] [3] [4] _Copyright (c) 2020 La Via Campesina, All rights reserved._ lvc équipe de communication - français OUR MAILING ADDRESS IS: La Via Campesina 197A Smuts Road Prospect Waterfalls Zimbabwe Add us to your address book [5] Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences [6] or unsubscribe from this list [7]. [8] Links: ------ [1] https://vimeo.com/385951418 [2] http://www.twitter.com/ [3] http://www.facebook.com [4] http://mailchimp.com [5] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/vcard?u=89bbab017155e4204481ee9c3… [6] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/profile?u=89bbab017155e4204481ee9… [7] https://viacampesina.us13.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=89bbab017155e420448… [8] http://www.mailchimp.com/monkey-rewards/?utm_source=freemium_newsletter&amp…

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La Via Campesina in Venezuela: a mission for the brotherhood, solidarity and truth of the people
by La Via Campesina 20 Jan '20

20 Jan '20

LA VIA CAMPESINA IN VENEZUELA: A MISSION FOR THE BROTHERHOOD, SOLIDARITY AND TRUTH OF THE PEOPLE 20 JANUARY 2020 FOOD SOVEREIGNTY [1], INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY [2] (Harare, January 17, 2020) Overthrowing the Bolivarian Revolution is one of the US government's plans to regain its control, dominance and oppression of Latin America. Today, Venezuela is the target of a hybrid and multidimensional (economic, financial, diplomatic, media and military) aggression, which is seriously impacting the life of the country and its people. This offensive has benefitted from the support of governments serving the interests of the United States and of stateless and elitist internal political forces. This is the context in which La Via Campesina's First International Mission of Solidarity with Venezuela will take place from January 20 to 27, 2020. This mission seeks to show the effects of the blockade and shed light on the numerous popular organization resistance experiences. The Mission is organized together with the Bolívar and Zamora Revolutionary Current and the Ezequiel Zamora National Peasant Front, a local member of the movement. In recent years, in the midst of extreme difficulties, the Venezuelan people have resisted and stood strong, fighting against adversity, building organizational, solidarity and productive alternatives and striving to strengthen Food Sovereignty in their territories. Zuleima Vergel of the Political Coordination of the FNCEZ stressed that "the institutional firmness of the Bolivarian Government and the Venezuelan State in defending democracy and sovereignty, the unity of the patriotic political forces, the civil and military unity, as well as the high consciousness and political clarity of the Venezuelan people, have all been key factors to defeat the US-led plans and conspiracies against Venezuela". In Venezuela's extended battle for sovereignty, democracy and peace, decisive and effective international solidarity have played a prominent role. La Via Campesina has been instrumental in denouncing US interference and blockade. In addition, most of the planet has rejected systematic blockade and aggression against Venezuela. International and multilateral organizations, numerous governments throughout the world as well as social organizations have demonstrated their solidarity. These are all organized expressions of people who are fighting for their rights and the construction of a world freed from hegemony and imperialism, a world of justice, respect and equality. In this sense, the La Via Campesina Mission aims at getting to better understand Venezuela's reality, the impact of the economic and financial blockade imposed by the United States and its effects on peoples' lives. The Mission will also allow us to get a closer look at the other side of this reality: solidarity, the capacity of resistance and the alternatives that popular movements and organizations have been able to build as a response to the aggression and the crisis. The La Via Campesina delegation participating in this Venezuela solidarity mission is made up of representatives of the National Association of Rural and Indigenous Women, ANAMURI [3] of Chile, the Association of Rural Workers, ATC [4] of Nicaragua, The Farmworker Association of Florida (FWAF) from the USA and the Coordination of Farmer and Rancher Organizations (COAG- [5]ECVC [6]) from Spain. Their tour will allow them to learn about the different productive, community and popular solidarity experiences in the states of Lara, Barinas and Apure, as well as meet and exchange with Venezuelan social and political organizations. The delegation will also include a Communications Collective made up of independent journalists and alternative media such as Alba TV [7] and Radio Mundo Real [8]. The First International La Via Campesina Mission of Solidarity of with Venezuela also aims to be a strong example of how the people can contribute in a concrete way to the necessary construction of a multi-centred and multipolar world. It is an example of how people are able to break Imperialism's media and political siege. Likewise, with this action, La Via Campesina maintains that close, fraternal and solidarity events such as this Mission are the way to strengthen the unity of the peoples of the world in building a world of freedom, justice and equality. "Thus, by building bridges, creating ties and opening paths, we will make the truth of the peoples prevail over the lies and manipulations of the planet's economic and political elites in their eagerness to keep us subjugated and subdued," concluded Nury Martínez of the Political Commission of the Cloc--Via Campesina South America. PRESS CONTACTS: Eduardo Viloria--Local Communication Team (SP) Viviana Rojas--LVC Communication Team (SP, EN, PT) Links: ------ [1] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/food-sovereignty-and-t… [2] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/international-solidari… [3] http://www.anamuri.cl/ [4] https://www.facebook.com/atc.nicaragua/?__tn__=%2Cd%2CP-R&eid=ARD1qa9yh… [5] http://www.coag.org/quienes-somos [6] https://www.eurovia.org/fr/devant-le-conseil-des-ministres-de-lagriculture-… [7] http://www.albatv.org/ [8] https://rmr.fm/

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La Via Campesina | e-newsletter| Oct-Dec 2019
by La Via Campesina 18 Dec '19

18 Dec '19

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* La Via Campesina | e-newsletter | Oct-Dec 2019 Donate [1] This edition of the newsletter is the result of a collective effort of organisations, which are part of_ La Via Campesina_ movement worldwide. To subscribe click here [2] MOBILISATIONS TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN >From 25 to 30 November 2019, on the _INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN_, La Via Campesina mobilised several of its members and allies to unite with all those women and people of diverse identities who resist, organise and struggle for a fair and egalitarian society that works in solidarity, by keeping love and respect at its core. Through demonstrations, seminars and fairs, members of the peasant movement denounced the capitalist, patriarchal, racist and colonising system that exploits, oppresses and attacks the lives of women and humanity in general. FEATURED ARTICLES ONE YEAR SINCE THE ADOPTION OF THE PEASANTS' RIGHTS DECLARATION On the first anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) in December last year, we call on governments, social movements, allies and activists to step up efforts globally to ensure that the member states of United Nations are committed to implementing this important instrument. Read more → [3] IT IS POSSIBLE TO PRODUCE FOOD WITHOUT AGROTOXICS! The peasant movement took up the Campaign in defense of life and against Agrotoxics, which seeks to denounce the close connection between the use of agrotoxics, the intervention of the production and marketing companies, and the different contradictions of agribusiness and their impact in the health of the population. Read more → [4] DECLARATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON FOOD SOVEREIGNTY: COLONY AND FRONTIERS Read the full text of the Declaration from the "_Food Sovereignty: Colonies and Frontiers" international conference_ held in Ramallah, organized by the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), the Social and Economic Policies Monitor (Marsad), and La Via Campesina (LVC). Read more → [5] COP 25: WE WILL CONTINUE BUILDING SOCIAL AND CLIMATE JUSTICE! 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. Read more → [6] LA VIA CAMPESINA DENOUNCES THE COUP D'ÉTAT IN BOLIVIA 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. Read more → [7] DON'T GIVE UP THE INTERNATIONAL SEED TREATY TO THE NEW GENETIC BIOPIRACY! At the eighth meeting of its Governing Body - held from November 11 to 16 in Rome - in which a delegation of La Via Campesina participated along with other peasant organizations, members of the IPC (International Committee on Food Sovereignty) - the International Seed Treaty (1) is totally paralyzed by the greed of the biotech industry and the richest countries. Read more → [8] FEATURED PUBLICATION PEASANT SEEDS, THE HEART OF THE STRUGGLE FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY In this edition of the newsletter we are inviting you to return to the debate on Peasant seeds - the heart of the struggle for Food Sovereignty, which guarantee full Peasants' Rights. Download here [9] FEATURED VIDEO [10] 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 [1]. [11] [12] Twitter [12] [13] Facebook [13] [14] Vimeo [14] To unsubscribe from the distribution list click here [2] For questions or comments, email LVCWEB(a)VIACAMPESINA.ORG WEBSITE: www.viacampesina.org [15] TV: www.tv.viacampesina.org [16] To subscribe to this newsletter - Click Here [2] Links: ------ [1] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/clicks?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdonatenow.networkf… [2] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/clicks?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmail.viacampesina.… [3] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/clicks?url=https%3A%2F%2Fviacampesina.org%2… [4] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/clicks?url=https%3A%2F%2Fviacampesina.org%2… [5] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/clicks?url=https%3A%2F%2Fviacampesina.org%2… [6] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/clicks?url=https%3A%2F%2Fviacampesina.org%2… [7] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/clicks?url=https%3A%2F%2Fviacampesina.org%2… [8] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/clicks?url=https%3A%2F%2Fviacampesina.org%2… [9] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/clicks?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyeleni.org%2Fc… [10] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/clicks?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvimeo.com%2F340618… [11] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/clicks?url=https%3A%2F%2Fviacampesina.org%2… [12] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/clicks?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.twitter.com%2Fv… [13] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/clicks?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2… [14] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/clicks?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvimeo.com%2Fviacam… [15] http://www.viacampesina.org [16] http://www.tv.viacampesina.org

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