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La Via Campesina defends the Peace Agreement in Colombia
by La Via Campesina 22 Nov '19

22 Nov '19

LA VIA CAMPESINA DEFENDS THE PEACE AGREEMENT IN COLOMBIA 22 NOVEMBER 2019 INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY [1] _Third anniversary of the signing of the Peace Agreement in Colombia - La Via Campesina Press Release_ (Harare: November 22, 2019) On November 24, 2019, the Colombian people and the entire world saw with hope the signing of the Final Agreement for the End of the conflict between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People's Army (FARC-EP) and the Colombian State. This fact constitutes a historic opportunity to building peace in a country that for more than 50 years has suffered the wrath of violence materialized in multiple economic, political and social dimensions, in addition to seriously weakening the country's social structures. Three years into the process of building peace, La Via Campesina - organization that brings together millions of peasants in the world and was designated by the Government of Colombia and the FARC-EP as an international accompanying partner in the implementation process of the agreements - observes with deep concern the meagre progress in the materialization of the commitments for the termination of the conflict and, worse still, what seems to be a misrepresentation of the spirit of what was agreed in Havana. This situation is evidenced by the lack of significant advances in the implementation of the agreement which, as of February 28, 2019, had only about 23% of its aspects implemented fully[1] [2]. It should be noted that the legislative procedures necessary to continue with the implementation have not been made and 57% of the required regulations are still pending processing in Congress. Some examples are the Law for the Creation of the Multipurpose Cadastral System, the law on Differentiated Criminal Treatment for small farmers linked to crops used for illicit purposed and the Land Adaptation Law, whose bills for discussion in Congress are on file, although they constitute priority implementation laws for the development of the first point of the Agreement referring to Integral Rural Reform. We are concerned with the fact that not even the first hectare of land has been distributed through the Land Fund[2] [3]. According to the National Development Plan of the current Government, progress in the point of Access to Land will be registered in accordance with the titles formalized and not in relation to the hectares to be distributed - an approach that distorts what is established in the Framework Plan for the implementation of the Agreement. During the first year of Ivan Duque´s government, a total of 73,465 hectares of small- and medium-sized holdings have been formalized. This represents only 8.7% of the formalization that should be achieved annually to meet the goal established in the Agreement (to provide and formalize 10 million hectares through the Land Fund). Furthermore, the mentioned goal is based on a total term of 12 years, contrary to what is established in the agreement which is 10 years for formalization[3] [4]. The situation of crops used for illicit purposes is equally disappointing. To address this issue, the Peace Agreement prioritizes voluntary eradication, through consultation between the State and the communities. However, the current Government has put forward the use of coercive strategies to eradicate illicit crops, using aerial spraying with glyphosate according to the terms recently established by the Constitutional Court. The approach Duque´s government has adopted results in the stigmatization, repression and prosecution of small farmers and ignores the social and economic nature of this problem. We note with concern that by prioritizing forced eradication, the current Government approach does not consider the implementation of the National Comprehensive Program for the Substitution of Illicit Crops (PNIS) and the Integral Rural Reform (RRI), a situation that not only violates the spirit of the Final Agreement, whose central axis is voluntary and concerted substitution, but also aggravates the vulnerability of smallholder farmers linked to illicit crops, who are deprived of food and technical assistance to undertake productive alternatives. Only 0.7% of the families that are complying with the substitution agreements are linked to productive projects[4] [5], a situation that affects the medium- and long-term sustainability of the PNIS because small farmers might be forced to return again to crops used for illicit purposes in the absence of productive alternatives. It is necessary to refer to the alarming modifications that the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) has suffered. One of the modifications is the Constitutional Court verdict whereby the third party's obligation to go to the JEP is eliminated. This decision affects the process of knowing the truth, which is the core of transitional justice, violating the right of Colombian society to know what really happened in the context of the armed conflict. In this way, the possibility of knowing about the participation in financing and supporting paramilitary groups and other structures involved in the war by multinational companies, nationals linked to banking, cattle latifundios, agribusiness, public officials and other civilians, is limited to the will of the third parties involved. We want to call attention to the danger that represents the creation of a differentiated procedure for the military within the organic structure of the JEP. The draft legislative act, promoted by the Government's party, aims to create new sections within the Peace Tribunal, which will have the exclusive role of gathering the facts committed by the military in the conflict, a situation that puts in serious threat the Victims' right to know the truth and receive justice, reparation and guarantee of non-repetition, which allows the veil of impunity to be unravelled. Moreover, this devastating draft legislative act violates the right of Colombian society to know the truth about what happened in more than half a century of war, obstructing not only the work of the JEP but also of the Commission of truth, and the commission for the search of missing persons. The rights of the victims, whose protection has been one of the essential characteristics of the Peace Agreement between the Colombian State and the FARC-EP, are not only being violated in relation to the component of the truth, but also in relation to their right to be an active political subject in the process of implementing and building peace. That is the impression left by the fact that Congress has filed the bill that creates the Special Circumscriptions for Peace, a situation that prevents the political representation of these populations and their economic, political, social and cultural rights. The limited advances in the process of reparations for victims are also discouraging. In Colombia 7,155,469 subjects of reparation has been identified; However, since the policy was launched, the country has only made progress in reparations for 898,540 people - roughly 12% of the total. In this regard, it seems that the current Government has no real commitment to the implementation of victim reparation policies, an impression reinforced by the fact that during the first year of the Duque's Government the annual average of victims reparation has been reduced to less than half. We also want to express concerns referring to the reinstatement of former FARC-EP combatants, now grouped in the political party called "Common Revolutionary Alternative Force". There are several commitments made by the State in terms of reinstatement, which include the subsidy for productive initiatives and land titling of the ex-combatant population. The figures indicate that the Government has approved 29 collective productive proposals of the ex-combatants, of which only 19 have received their respective disbursement. Likewise, the number of beneficiaries is limited, since the approved projects cover only 14% of the population in the process of reinstatement, and those disbursed only cover 9% of this population[5] [6]. This reality leaves the ex-combatants in a situation of uncertainty about the effectiveness of the process of economic and social reintegration. State actions to provide security guarantees to ex-combatants, as well as social leaders and human rights defenders have also been insufficient. We observe with concern the climate of violence unleashed after the signing of the peace agreement, including a special concern for the human rights violations resulting from the systematic murder of the ex-FARC combatants and their families as well as of leftist leaders and activists, human rights defenders, environmentalists, peasants, students, indigenous and Afro-descendants, resembling the past extermination of the Patriotic Union. In this context, it is impossible to identify any government commitment at all to keep to the compromise of fighting and dismantling paramilitarism. Having handed in their weapons as part of the Peace Agreement, the FARC turned Common Revolutionary Alternative Force Party - has denounced the murder of 150 ex-combatants since. During the first year of Iván Duque's government, 236 homicides of social leaders and human rights defenders have also been registered[6] [7]. We perceive the absence of political will to comply with the Security Guarantees contemplated in the agreement due to the inefficiency of the State to face the situation of human rights violations. The peace agreement implementation process suffers from what appears to be a lack of political will from the Government to comply with the agreement. We sound an alarm about the lack of commitment in the development of a peace pedagogy as well as the fact that Government authorities - especially those of the Government's party - attacking congressmen of the Common Revolutionary Alternative Force Party as well as other members of opposition parties and social leaders. This atmosphere appears to be an official state policy reluctant to move forward in a process of reconciliation, while a stigmatization and extermination process of opposition sectors is operating. Given the current status of implementation of the Peace Agreement, LA VIA CAMPESINA calls on the Colombian People, the international community, the United Nations, FAO, the ILO, the European Union, the Non-Aligned Countries, Governments, Organizations and international solidarity in general, to surround the Peace Agreement in Colombia, demand unfettered compliance with the commitments assumed and demand that the dialogue not be replaced with the silence of violence. LA VIA CAMPESINA , 24 NOVEMBER 2019 ------------------------- [1] [8] Kroc Institute for international peace studies. Tercer informe sobre la implementación del Acuerdo de Paz: La implementación sigue Progresando. 2019. [2] [9] CSIVI-FARC. Centro de Pensamiento y Diálogo Político. La implementación del Acuerdo de Paz durante el Gobierno de Iván Duque. Tendencia a la Perfidia y la simulación. 2019. [3] [10] ¿En qué va el Acuerdo de Paz a un año del Gobierno de Duque? Retos y Recomendaciones. Seguimiento multi-partidista a la implementación del Acuerdo de paz. 2019. [4] [11] La implementación del Acuerdo de Paz durante el Gobierno de Iván Duque. Tendencia a la Perfidia y la simulación. CSIVI-FARC. Centro de Pensamiento y Diálogo Político. [5] [12] CSIVI-FARC. Centro de Pensamiento y Diálogo Político. La implementación del Acuerdo de Paz durante el Gobierno de Iván Duque. Tendencia a la Perfidia y la simulación. 2019. [6] [13] Subcomisión de DDHH Cumbre Agraria, Campesina Étnica y Popular, informe para el período del 7 de agosto de 2018 al 4 de agosto de 2019. Links: ------ [1] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/international-solidari… [2] https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-in… [3] https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-in… [4] https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-in… [5] https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-in… [6] https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-in… [7] https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-in… [8] https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-in… [9] https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-in… [10] https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-in… [11] https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-in… [12] https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-in… [13] https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-defends-the-peace-agreement-in…

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La Via Campesina’s Call to the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
by La Via Campesina 20 Nov '19

20 Nov '19

LA VIA CAMPESINA'S CALL TO THE INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN (Harare, November 19, 2019) From 25 to 30 November 2019, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, La Via Campesina is calling upon its members and allies to carry out mobilizations and actions to strengthen our collective struggle for a conscious and free society, which does not exploit humans and nature. The global peasant movement denounces the capitalist, patriarchal, racist and colonising system that exploits, oppresses and attacks the lives of women and humanity in general. We, as La Via Campesina, unite with all those women and people of diverse identities who resist, organise and struggle to achieve a fair and egalitarian society that works in solidarity, by keeping love and respect at its core. In an environment of structural violence, we see that fascism is gaining strength and is particularly leading to the erosion of the rights of working-class women. The current capitalist patriarchal system harasses and kills poor people, women and those who fight to create a better society. It's alarming to see the growing statistics on a global scale of physical and sexual violence against women, young girls and people of diverse identities. These instances of violence occur against a backdrop of impunity and injustice perpetrated by a sexist, misogynist and patriarchal system. At the same time, it is disturbing to observe the increase in the erosions of workers' rights and social rights, as well as the growing numbers of women in temporary, precarious and demoralising employment. Today, migrant and displaced women and people of diverse identities, including those living in conflict zones, are vulnerable and exposed to all kinds of violence and violations of their rights. Many are used as objects in wars and are tortured and forced to perform sexual services in order to survive. This year we also denounce the disappearance of community leaders who are persecuted, imprisoned and murdered for struggling in defense of their territories and rights in countries such as Brazil, Honduras and the Philippines, amongst others. That is why La Via Campesina is using this International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women to ratify its slogan, which transmits the political message: "No More Violence Against Women!" It is a rallying call to strengthen the commitment to carry out actions, to struggle on a permanent and daily basis against all forms and expressions of violence against women, in support of the International Campaign "No More Violence Against Women", that has been a movement since 2008. To this end, as La Via Campesina, we call on our member organisations, our friends and allies to unite on these Days of Struggle from 25 to 30 November 2019 by organising and carrying out, with our allied organisations, marches and actions that fight and denounce violence, to demand that our States grant us public policies that favour our rights. We need to build mechanisms that punish our aggressors and protect victims so we can finally break the cycle of violence against the lives of women. As a sign of unity, we are sharing our campaign's official poster (download posters here [1]), translate it into your local language, print it for your activities and share it with your friends and allies. We share also other social networking materials: (click here to download [2]). LVC has developed a series of 6 postcards on several articles of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas related all peasant women rights - download the postcards [3] in ES, EN, FR and share. We also want to give visibility to all the actions carried out in our different territories, we ask you to send your posters, photos, videos and statements to lvcweb(a)viacampesina.org. #POPULARPEASANTFEMINISM #NOMOREVIOLENCEAGAINSTWOMEN #25NOV GLOBALISE THE STRUGGLE! GLOBALISE HOPE! Links: ------ [1] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/tXe77PpxrC4fHJ4 [2] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/R9y2DrkDDDpq3R7 [3] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/SexGmCnkKmYREp7

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Bolivia: La Via Campesina denounces the Coup d’État
by La Via Campesina 12 Nov '19

12 Nov '19

LA VIA CAMPESINA DENOUNCES THE COUP D'ÉTAT IN BOLIVIA HARARE, 10 NOVEMBER 2019: As an international peasant movement, La Via Campesina expresses our deepest solidarity with the people of Bolivia and condemn the racist, class-based and misogynist _COUP D'ÉTAT_ orchestrated by US imperialism and local conservative oligarchs. Furthermore, we call for constant mobilisation and a democratic solution that guarantees the human rights of social leaders. We denounce the role played by the Bolivian Armed Forces and media who choose to reproduce violence, disinformation and destabilisation, in a clear alliance with local and international elites. For the past two weeks we have been following with great concern the increase in violence in Bolivia, as a result of the opposition´s failure to win the elections of 20 October. And despite multiple efforts to create dialogue, the coup plans went ahead to force President Evo Morales and and other officials to the point that were pressured to resign, in an attempt to safeguard peace and safety for the people and their organisations. In this time of crisis, we call on institutions such as the United Nations (UN) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to be vigilant and safeguard both democracy and justice in Bolivia, as these grave events are a threat not only to the exercise of democracy but also to peace and stability across the continent. In this context, it is imperative to preserve the physical and moral integrity of Evo Morales and all other social activists. We call on our member and allied organisations to mobilise and carry out different actions in solidarity to demand an end to the violence, that these events do not go unpunished and to find a solution that is both just and democratic with the peasant, indigenous and popular majorities who continue resisting in defense of the rights they've recovered during the past decade. > Solidarity is the warmth of the peoples! > All our support to our comrades in Bolivia! ------------------------- _ALSO READ: LA VIA CAMPESINA LETTER TO EVO MORALES AYMA , PRESIDENT OF THE PLURINATIONAL STATE OF BOLIVIA, IN OCTOBER 2019, THANKING HIS GOVERNMENT FOR THE SUPPORT TO PEASANTS' RIGHTS PROCESS [1]_ Links: ------ [1] https://viacampesina.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/10/2019-10-15-L…

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16 October, Call to Action: No Food Sovereignty Without Peasants’ Rights!
by La Via Campesina 14 Oct '19

14 Oct '19

HARARE: OCTOBER 11, 2019: La Via Campesina and its allies around the world celebrate the _INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION FOR PEOPLES' FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND AGAINST TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS_ on 16 October each year. We celebrate this day to remind people that it is only possible to end hunger in the world with food sovereignty and peasant agroecology. The current economic and agricultural policies only perpetuate the food crisis and the destruction of biodiversity, promoting agribusiness and expelling peasants from their territories. The direct result of these policies is land grabbing and seed control by a handful of multinationals, which flood international markets with uniform, toxic and nutritionally poor food products while increasing poverty in rural areas. Food sovereignty allows the peoples of the world to design their own agri-food policies, by promoting the production and distribution of peasant products to local markets, according to the demands and needs of the populations, while respecting the environment and the rights of peasants and consumers. We celebrate this day as global climate change intensifies and manifests itself more and more, hunger has been on the rise since 2018 affecting hundreds of millions of people, especially in rural areas. The perpetrators of this crisis, we call multinational corporations, convert suffering and human lives into money and drive rural populations to despair. The world is seeing the violations of human and peasant rights that these companies commit: dispossession of land, contamination of water, looting of resources and land, poisoning of food with agrotoxics, and even the murder of peasant and indigenous activists and leaders. We have seen them burn Amazonia and forests in Africa. We have seen how a private court overturned the Ecuadorian court's decision against the oil giant Chevron, responsible for an environmental disaster in the country's Amazon region, and then the IMF just imposed an austerity policy on the Ecuadorian people. We, peasants, men and women, indigenous peoples, rural populations, agricultural workers, in urban and rural areas, have long been claiming that we have the solution. Food sovereignty is able to cool the planet and bring relief to the climate crisis. Peasant agroecology is able to end famines, feed urban and rural inhabitants with healthy food, feed the soil with organic matter and preserve biodiversity. The international peasant movement has fought for almost two decades for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Others Working in Rural Areas since full respect for peasants' rights eliminates the conditions that allow the exploitation, repression and displacement of hundreds of millions of peasants and rural populations and saves them from poverty. MAJOR MOBILIZATIONS OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND CITIZENS ARE ALSO TAKING PLACE ALL OVER THE WORLD IN OCTOBER. We join all initiatives against the power of multinationals and for the food sovereignty of peoples. We will be in Geneva in the process of the United Nations Binding Treaty on Multinationals and Human Rights to demand the rights of peoples and an end to impunity for multinationals. We will be in Rome to propose our solutions to the Committee on Food Security. We will also be in Palestine, at the International Conference for Food Sovereignty. We will be everywhere with young people mobilised against climate change. We will say everywhere that agroecology and food sovereignty are the way not only to solve these crises, but also the way to prosperity in cities and the countryside. ACT NOW! This October 16, we call for action by organised social movements, unions, universities, the media and people's governments that prioritise their peoples. We call for increased pressure to enforce farmers' rights and for public policies based on food sovereignty and not on the interests of the global market and agribusiness. There can be no food sovereignty without respect for peasant rights. There can be no food sovereignty without agrarian reform and social justice, organise actions in the territories, denunciation mobilisations, forums, seminars, farmers' fairs, film screenings, all expressions are important to demand the implementation of peasant rights through land reform and social justice. Send us all the actions planned for this day to our address lvcweb(a)viacampesina.org, we want to make them visible on our global action map. Also send us articles, audio, photos and videos of all the actions to be published on our website and on ViaCampesinaTV. Follow us on our social networks: #FoodSovereignty, #PeasantsRightsNow, #LaViaCampesina LET US GLOBALIZE THE STRUGGLE, LET US GLOBALIZE HOPE WE FEED OUR PEOPLES AND BUILD THE MOVEMENT TO CHANGE THE WORLD!

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La Via Campesina | e-newsletter | Aug-Sept 2019
by La Via Campesina 07 Oct '19

07 Oct '19

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* La Via Campesina | e-newsletter | Aug-Sept 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] 10 SEPTEMBER MOBILISATIONS: HIGHLIGHTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD As part of the International Day of Action Against WTO and Free Trade Agreements, members and allies of La Via Campesina and its allies organised several demonstrations, seminars and media releases in September and October, to highlight their concerns regarding several multilateral, regional and bilateral trade agreements that are currently being negotiated inside and outside the WTO. Read More [3] FEATURED ARTICLES AGROECOLOGY ENCOUNTER IN HARARE The Encounter of Agroecology Schools of La Via Campesina Africa took place from 20-23 August in Harare, with the participation of 16 peasant organisations, from 18 countries across the Africa- continent. Read more → [4] THE BARINAS MASSACRE: LA VIA CAMPESINA STANDS IN SOLIDARITY WITH OUR CRBZ Six activists of our movement in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, including a pregnant comrade, were vilely assassinated by mercenaries suspected to be linked to right-wing landholders. Read more → [5] SOMONTES OCCUPATION: SOLIDARITY MESSAGE Over 70 peasant delegates from Africa, America, Asia and Europe, expresses its solidarity with the day labourers of the SOC-SAT from Andalusia who occupied the Somontes public farm in Palma del Río for the seventh time on 26 August. Read more → [6] PUT HUMAN RIGHTS AND NATURE BEFORE PROFIT: LA VIA CAMPESINA IN UN To achieve zero hunger, food production must be based on agroecology and food sovereignty, embracing small-scale food producers Read more → [7] PAULO FREIRE TRAINING CENTER IS BEING SHUT DOWN! TAKE ACTION! Send an email to the judge to rescind the eviction order. The email is in English and Portuguese addressed to the judge who issued the eviction order, the government of Pernambuco and officials at INCRA. Fill in your name and other information in both the Portuguese and English sections of the email. Read more → [8] "BURNING THE AMAZON IS A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY", VIA CAMPESINA BRAZIL It should be clear for society in Brazil, Latin America, and the world that this is not an isolated phenomenon. In fact, it is the result of a series of actions taken by agribusinesses and big miners since the beginning of the Jair Bolsonaro administration. Read more → [9] FEATURED PUBLICATION NYÉLÉNI NEWSLETTER: DIGITALIZATION OF THE FOOD SYSTEM A synopsis of the digitalization of food, and contains examples of how digitalization affects and is used by communities in different parts of the world. Download here [10] FEATURED VIDEO [11] FIVE REASONS WHY WTO IS BAD FOR AGRICULTURE 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]. [12] [13] Twitter [13] [14] Facebook [14] [15] Vimeo [15] To unsubscribe from the distribution list click here [2] For questions or comments, email LVCWEB(a)VIACAMPESINA.ORG WEBSITE: www.viacampesina.org [16] TV: www.tv.viacampesina.org [17] To subscribe to this newsletter - Click Here [2] Links: ------ [1] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdonatenow.networkfo… [2] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmail.viacampesina.o… [3] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fviacampesina.org%2F… [4] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fviacampesina.org%2F… [5] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fviacampesina.org%2F… [6] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fviacampesina.org%2F… [7] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fviacampesina.org%2F… [8] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fviacampesina.org%2F… [9] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fviacampesina.org%2F… [10] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyeleni.org%2Fcc… [11] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvimeo.com%2F2924445… [12] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fviacampesina.org%2F… [13] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.twitter.com%2Fvi… [14] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F… [15] https://us13.mailchimp.com/mctx/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvimeo.com%2Fviacamp… [16] http://www.viacampesina.org [17] http://www.tv.viacampesina.org

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The Nyéléni Newsletter: Digitalization of the food system
by La Via Campesina 18 Sep '19

18 Sep '19

THE NYÉLÉNI NEWSLETTER: DIGITALIZATION OF THE FOOD SYSTEM Today, more than 820 million people suffer from hunger while obesity also continues to increase across the world . Biodiversity in food and agriculture is being eroded at an alarming rate by the destruction of eco-systems. Climate change is accelerating: temperatures this July were the highest ever recorded; glaciers are melting much faster than predicted; and millions of young people are demanding urgent action to address the climate crisis. Meanwhile governments are showing little initiative to change the industrial, fossil-fuel driven food and agricultural system. Instead, a new "silver bullet" is being presented by corporations, governments and international institutions to tackle hunger, malnutrition and climate change: digitalization, which refers to the adoption of information-communication technologies (ICT) and artificial intelligence (AI) into everyday life and across societal activities. Digital technologies have the potential to be beneficial or harmful depending on the context. Small-scale food producers have their own technologies, innovations and knowledge. However, so do corporations, who seek monopoly controls on technology. Also, digitalization is happening in an era of increasing inequalities, authoritarianism and oppression. This newsletter presents a synopsis of the digitalization of food, and contains examples of how digitalization affects and is used by communities in different parts of the world. We hope that these articles help social movements to engage in a collective discussion about digital technologies - and particularly how to benefit from them and prevent them doing harm. > DOWNLOAD THE NEWSLETTER [1] Links: ------ [1] http://www.nyeleni.org/ccount/click.php?id=136

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Global Action against WTO and Free Trade Agreements!
by La Via Campesina 03 Sep '19

03 Sep '19

LA VIA CAMPESINA ISSUES CALL TO MOBILISE AGAINST WTO AND FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS 02 SEPTEMBER, HARARE: Two decades after coming into being, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) - one of the flag bearers of globalisation and neo-liberalism - is facing an existential crisis that is precipitated by the same group of people who created it. This is also happening at a time when peasants and indigenous people are several degrees worse off than they were two decades ago; with their land, rivers, oceans and forests having undergone massive erosion and forced evictions are inflicted upon them by profit hungry corporations. Local peasant markets and food systems in several countries have been decimated by an order of international trade that only looks at commodification of everything, including the food that people eat. For an organisation that inscribed among its founding objectives, its aim _"to help developing countries benefit fully from the global trading system"_, WTO's greatest indictment has indeed come from the following realities confronting the developing world today; rising rural unemployment, rising hunger, staggering levels of inequality that exists between countries and within countries, and rising per capita world debt. La Via Campesina has long been warning the world of the risks of deregulation and unbridled expansion of global capital. As people working in the field to feed 70% of the world's population, we were the first to face the brunt of free trade agreements that were pushed forth by WTO and other multilateral institutions. WTO led the pack in seducing and coercing our governments to sign up to the grand plans of a few rich countries. The devastation caused by this top down model of global governance was first felt in our territories when it crashed the prices of our produce, destroyed local peasant markets, wiped away the rich biodiversity that existed in our fields, took away our autonomy over seeds and evicted millions of our sisters and brothers from their territories. It is this destruction of the country side that forced one of our own, Lee Kyung Hae from South Korea, to take his life outside the venue of the WTO ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico in 2003. On the 10th of September that year when he committed this tragic act, he had a banner that hung around his neck which read _"WTO Kills Farmers"_. Once a self-sufficient rice farmer in rural Korea, Lee had lost everything to cheap dumping of imported rice and meat, the result of free trade agreements pushed through WTO. He took such an extreme step because the rich and few who ran these institutions or lobbied around them, were too far away from the lived realities of the countryside. His act of sacrifice brought the depressing account of the rural world right outside their gates, even as in his last moments he bravely echoed the demands of peasants and rural communities worldwide; "to keep agriculture out of WTO's free trade negotiations". SINCE THEN, LA VIA CAMPESINA MARKS 10TH OF SEPTEMBER EVERY YEAR AS THE _INTERNATIONAL DAY OF STRUGGLE AGAINST WTO AND FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS_ – TO KEEP THE MEMORY OF LEE KYUNG HAE ALIVE AND ALSO TO NOT REMAIN MUTE TO THE CALAMITOUS CONSEQUENCES OF INTERNATIONAL FREE TRADE. 16 years hence that tragic incident, what has changed? Nothing, except that the hands that feed WTO is now refusing to continue. It is ironical when the rich captains of capitalism claim that they got a bad deal from WTO. It begs the question, _"then who got the good deal?"_ . But let us not be fooled by this charade of false threats made by rich western countries to withdraw from WTO. What we have been seeing over the past one decade is the establishment of several bilateral and regional mega-free trade agreements and creation of newer unified trade blocks. So while WTO may eventually be weakened or be dead, capitalism wants to continue to thrive through other means. It goes by different names in different continents. Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) comprising ASEAN nations, India, Australia and New Zealand is one among this new age trade agreements that wants to create a unified market in the region, being negotiated 'outside of WTO'. Peasant organisations here have been pointing out how it could severely impact their livelihoods, particularly those of small scale dairy farmers, how it could impose restrictive seeds laws and more. Yet these negotiations continue behind closed doors in the most opaque ways possible led by a few who have never held a plough in their hands! The EU - MERCOSUR deal between Europe and the economic and political bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela, under negotiations for 17 years and finally signed onto by the European Commission in July this year, is another case in point. _European Coordination of Via Campesina_ (ECVC) had warned that the deal with MERCOSUR threatens to undermine standards on health, the environment and animal welfare in the European Union, in addition to lacking any policy coherence with the tall promises made at COP 23. Peasant organisations in the MERCOSUR block calls it a neocolonial model that will result in a capital concentration for the few and poverty for the majority. In Africa, the creation of African Continental Free Trade Agreement, a mega regional free trade agreement, is '_premised on the notion that trade liberalisation, through both tariff and non-tariff barrier reduction, will drastically increase intra-continental trade, and that this increased trade will be beneficial for all_.' [CADTM [1], 2019]. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Farmers organisations in Canada have also called out U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA, earlier known as NAFTA) for failing to address the concerns of grain farmers and dairy farmers in the country. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) between Australia,Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru,Singapore, and Vietnam. has sown the fears of corporate capture of seed systems, dilution in the regulation for GMOs and serious worries for small-scale food producers. Many, if not all, of these trade agreements carry within it the controversial provision of _Investor-State Dispute Settlement" (ISDS)_, which in all instances invariably allow private corporations to override sovereign national laws and sue the national governments for threatening their profitability. A system that allows multinational private corporations to take a sovereign nation to trial in front of an opaquely set up international tribunal, for the 'crime' of choosing people's welfare over profit is indeed a dangerous one and must be fiercely opposed. REJECT WTO AND FTAS! MOBILISE FOR A PEASANT-LED ALTERNATIVE! It is in this vein that La Via Campesina is calling upon its members and allies to not be misled by the smokescreen of a 'weakening WTO' and be aware of the new age mega and bilateral free trade agreements are equally if not more harmful. As we remember Lee Kyung Hae this September, let us also agitate, educate and organise the rural members of our movement and our allies about the lurking dangers of these closed room trade negotiations. It is important that we reject all kinds of free trade agreements and work towards the complete dismantling of WTO as it prepares to meet for the next Ministerial in Kazakhstan. It is important to inform the people of peasant-led-alternatives that exist, which can feed the people and also save the planet. _The UN Declaration on Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas_(UNDROP), which our movement won through 17 years of hard fought negotiations, are an instrument to protect the rights of our people and our efforts must be to have it implemented in our countries. It is vital for our movements to promote and strengthen the local peasant markets selling locally produced food using agroecological methods to local customers, and that which represents and respects the diversity of local food systems. We demand for national policies that strengthen these peasant market systems and reject free trade agreements that pose an existential threat to it. It is important that our movements on the ground also support the Global Campaign for a UN Binding Treaty for Transnational Corporations on Human Rights that aims to end the impunity of transnational corporations and work to strike out the controversial provisions of ISDS from all free trade agreements. Starting 10 September, we are exhorting the 182 peasant organisations of La Via Campesina in 81 countries, all our allied social movements, academic institutions, political schools of training and NGOs to organise direct actions, public events, study sessions and demonstrations to expose the dangers of these free trade agreements in your own region and countries and also to present an alternative that is rooted in local cultures, context and biodiversity. > Let the rallying call for our global actions once again be > > "WTO, FTAS OUT OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD!" > > "PEASANT TRADE SYSTEMS OVER FREE TRADE" > > "FOOD SOVEREIGNTY, NOT FREE TRADE!" ------------------------- Send the details of your planned actions to lvcweb(a)viacampesina.org or share it on social media with the hashtags #WTOKILLSPEASANTS #FOODSOVEREIGNTYNOW. Follow our Facebook Page [2] and Twitter Page [3] for cartoons and official posters for 2019 that will be launched during the week. To download posters from our archives, click here [4] and to make your own posters, try this link. [5] Links: ------ [1] http://www.cadtm.org/The-African-Continental-Free-Trade-Agreement-Loss-of-S… [2] https://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL/ [3] https://twitter.com/via_campesina [4] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/mCxyKsGXJnLiEw5 [5] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/HTGkSZZCipGmLxn

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Barinas Massacre: La Via Campesina stands in solidarity with our CRBZ
by La Via Campesina 01 Aug '19

01 Aug '19

La Via Campesina, the international peasant movement that brings together 200 million members in hundreds of social movements throughout Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas denounces to the entire world the BARINAS MASSACRE which took place 27 July 2019. In it, six militants of our movement in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, including a pregnant comrade, were vilely assassinated by mercenaries suspectedly linked to right-wing landholders. The hybrid war being waged against the Bolivarian Revolution must end immediately, respecting the right of the Venezuelan people to live in peace. We add our voice to that of the Frente Nacional Campesino Ezequiel Zamora (FNCEZ), its Corriente Revolucionaria Bolívar y Zamora (CRBZ) and Brigadas de Defensa Popular Hugo Chávez (BDP), insisting on a rapid and effective investigation that clarrifies the facts and holds both the material and intelectual culprits responsible for their heinous crime. In these moments of grief and resistance, we express our full solidarity with the great people of Venezuela and their popular organizations in struggle. José Geraldo Rojas, Manuel J. Cordero Benítez, Alexi Ontiveros Mora, Eudes Rojas Peña, Kebin Navas Rodríguez, Milaidis Navas González ¡PRESENT! "Honor and glory to our fallen brothers and sister. They will be forever present in our hearts and minds, in every battle and process of struggle!" - CRBZ ¡Globalize struggle, globalize hope! LA VIA CAMPESINA HTTPS://VIACAMPESINA.ORG/EN/THE-BARINAS-MASSACRE-LA-VIA-CAMPESINA-STANDS-IN…

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La Via Campesina |e-newsletter| June-July 2019
by La Via Campesina 31 Jul '19

31 Jul '19

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* La Via Campesina | e-newsletter | June-July 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] UN DECADE OF FAMILY FARMING; PEASANTS VOICE THEIR HOPES AND CONCERNS The Decade was officially launched at FAO headquarters in Rome on 29th May 2019 and was preceded by sessions to exchange and discuss the priorities to implement the global action plan, with the participation of key stakeholders, including the International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty and La Via Campesina. La Via Campesina, with a strong delegation of representatives from several regions around the world, different agricultural activities and battlefields for agroecology and food sovereignty, had an active participation in the dialogues and shared its expectations, hopes and concerns with regards to the Decade. Will this Decade simply be another declaration of intent, adding to other ineffective instruments? How is family farming defined? What is the role to be played by governments? And where is the place for peasant agroecology? The answers to these questions will be determining for the success of the Decade. Read More [3] FEATURED ARTICLES PEASANT'S RIGHTS DECLARATION ENRICHES THE HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM On 28 September 2018, the Human Rights Council adopted the declaration, which was voted in by a comfortable margin, and which represented, without a doubt, an important step forward on the part of the human rights system from a pluricultural and humanist perspective. Read more → [4] SOUTH ASIAN PEASANT MOVEMENTS MEET IN KATHMANDU, NEPAL Members of La Via Campesina from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India took part in the 3-day long meeting making a collective commitment to unify the struggles in the region to realize food sovereignty and to also strengthen the solidarity across the region. Read more → [5] DECLARATIONS FROM THE VII CONGRESS OF THE CLOC LVC In Havana, Cuba, 300 men and women delegates of peasant, indigenous, afro-descendant, landless, artisan fishers, native peoples and rural men and women workers, the youth and women from 30 countries in representation of all of the regions of America, as well as delegates from Via Campesina International, Africa, Asia, Europe and North America, and over 50 international guests all met to hold the VII Continental Congress of the CLOC Via Campesina. Political Declaration of the VII Congress [6] V Youth Assembly of the CLOC-LVC: Declaration [7] VI Women Assembly of the CLOC-LVC: Declaration [8] FORCEFUL MASS DISPLACEMENT AS A RESULT OF HOUSE DEMOLITIONS IN OCCUPIED EAST JERUSALEM The Israeli occupying authorities are accelerating illegal policies and practices to forcibly transfer Palestinians out of Jerusalem. Read more → [9] PROTESTS IN EL PASO AGAINST BORDER PATROL FACILITIES, TREATMENT OF MIGRANTS "It's critical now," she said. "Children are being held in cages now. Mothers are without their babies. Families are without their children.", says Rosemary Rojas, president of the board of directors for the Border Agricultural Workers Project (BAWP) Read more → [10] THE AGRARIAN ISSUE AND CURRENT CHALLENGES Throughout history, the progressive transformation of agricultural production has at its basis the struggle for land. This struggle aims to introduce a radical change in the productive structure; as a consequence, the agrarian issue is significant for the coexistence of humanity and it was dealt with by the leaders of social struggle. Read more → [11] KOREAN FORUM OF RIGHTS OF PEASANTS On May 24, KPL News and Nyeoreum Research Institute of Agriculture & Peasant Policy, with the support of peasants movement in Korea including Korean Peasant League (KPL), Korean Women Peasants Association (KWPA), launched Forum of Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas in Korea. Read more → [12] La Via Campesina Southern and Eastern Africa Youth Articulation Statement We, La Via Campesina Southern and Eastern Africa youth articulation delegates from eight organizations (ESAFF Uganda, ZIMSOFF, Kenyan Peasant League, COPACO, Landless People Movement, Agrarian Campaign for Food Sovereignty, União Nacional de Camponeses [UNAC], MVIWATA) gathered at Mutuko, Zimbabwe for the Youth training, are concerned about the current precarious state of the youth in our region and the African continent. Read more → [13] 2019 WILL BE A DECISIVE YEAR FOR THE BINDING TREATY ON TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS AND HUMAN RIGHTS, SAY CAMPAIGNERS The Global Campaign to Reclaim Peoples Sovereignty, Dismantle Corporate Power and Stop Impunity (Global Campaign) has issued a call to mobilise in protest against corporate power on October 12 across the planet and to pressure governments to advance the Binding Treaty. Read more → [14] Mercosur: hypocrisy of the European Union In the midst of a climate crisis, how can EU sign an agreement that promotes a model of industrialization of agriculture instead of the localised agricultural systems which completely flies in the face of the objectives of the Paris agreement on climate change?, ECVC asks. Read more → [15] FEATURED PUBLICATION LA VIA CAMPESINA: 2018 ANNUAL REPORT The 2018 Annual Report highlights the selected activities and the advances made during the year towards strengthening the international movement. Download here [16] 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]. [17] [18] Twitter [18] [19] Facebook [19] [20] Vimeo [20] To unsubscribe from the distribution list click here [2] For questions or comments, email LVCWEB(a)VIACAMPESINA.ORG WEBSITE: www.viacampesina.org [21] TV: www.tv.viacampesina.org [22] To subscribe to this newsletter - Click Here [2] Links: ------ [1] https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/viacampesina [2] https://mail.viacampesina.org/lists/listinfo/Via-info-en [3] https://viacampesina.org/en/un-decade-of-family-farming-peasants-voice-thei… [4] https://viacampesina.org/en/opinion-adoption-of-the-peasants-rights-declara… [5] https://viacampesina.org/en/south-asian-peasant-movements-meet-in-kathmandu… [6] https://viacampesina.org/en/political-declaration-of-the-vii-congress-of-th… [7] https://viacampesina.org/en/v-youth-assembly-of-the-cloc-lvc-declaration/ [8] https://viacampesina.org/en/vi-women-assembly-of-the-cloc-lvc-declaration/ [9] https://viacampesina.org/en/forceful-mass-displacement-as-a-result-of-house… [10] https://viacampesina.org/en/artists-agricultural-workers-gather-in-el-paso-… [11] https://viacampesina.org/en/opinion-the-agrarian-issue-and-current-challeng… [12] https://viacampesina.org/en/launch-of-korean-forum-of-rights-of-peasants-an… [13] https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-southern-and-eastern-africa-yo… [14] https://viacampesina.org/en/2019-will-be-a-decisive-year-for-the-binding-tr… [15] https://viacampesina.org/en/mercosur-when-the-hypocrisy-of-the-eu-seeks-to-… [16] https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-2018-annual-report/ [17] https://viacampesina.org/en/donations/ [18] http://www.twitter.com/via_campesina [19] https://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL/ [20] https://vimeo.com/viacampesina [21] http://www.viacampesina.org [22] http://www.tv.viacampesina.org

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DECLARATIONS from VII Congress of CLOC LVC, Women's Assembly & Youth Assembly
by La Via Campesina 24 Jul '19

24 Jul '19

Political Declaration of the VII Congress of the CLOC LVC In Havana, Cuba, on the 60th anniversary of signing of the Agrarian Reform Law, 27 years after the foundation of the CLOC and 25 years after its first Continental congress, 300 men and women delegates of peasant, indigenous, afrodescendant, landless, artisan fishers, native peoples and rural men and women workers, the youth and women from 30 countries in representation of all of the regions of America, as well as delegates from Via Campesina International, Africa, Asia, Europe and North America, and over 50 international guests all met to hold the VII Continental Congress of the CLOC Via Campesina. Read the full text of the Declaration [1] VI Women Assembly of the CLOC-LVC: Declaration Ten years after the historical day when, in the Niceto Perez School of the ANAP, CLOC-Vía Campesina declared that peasant men and women in Latin America pave the way for socialism, women stood up and shouted with all our strength that WITHOUT FEMINISM THERE IS NO SOCIALISM. The VI Peasant Women Assembly was part of the VII Congress of the Latin America Coordination of Peasant Organizations, CLOC-Via Campesina, which took place in the municipality of Güira de Melena, province of Artemisa, Cuba. It gathered together women delegates of our organizations in 21 countries, inspired by the historical breakthroughs of Cuban women and the revolutionary spirit of Vilma Espin, Celia Sanchez and their people. We met to continue walking down our historical path, the one that has kept alive the resistance of women from the countryside in the face of the patriarchal and capitalist system. Read the full text of the Declaration [2] V Youth Assembly of the CLOC-LVC: Declaration On June 25th 2019 more than 100 men and women youth delegates from 19 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean met in Cuba for the V Youth Assembly of the CLOC-LVC, under the motto "youth of the countryside, youth of the city, let's struggle together for our ideals". Read the full text of the Declaration [3] Links: ------ [1] https://viacampesina.org/en/political-declaration-of-the-vii-congress-of-th… [2] https://viacampesina.org/en/vi-women-assembly-of-the-cloc-lvc-declaration/ [3] https://viacampesina.org/en/v-youth-assembly-of-the-cloc-lvc-declaration/

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