Press
release : LVC will
develop an
alternative
framework for
global trade in
agriculture
La Via
Campesina
commemorates the
International Day of
Action Against the
WTO and Free Trade
agreements and
announces that the
endeavor to
construct an
alternative trade
framework based on
food sovereigntyand solidarity
among peoples, will
commence in 2023
during the 8th
International
Conference in
Bogota, scheduled
for this December.
This year coincides
with the 20-year
anniversary of the
tragic passing of
Lee Kyung Hae, who
sacrificed his life
outside the
Ministerial meeting
site in Cancun,
Mexico.
08
September 2023 |
Bagnolet: The
World Trade
Organization (WTO) has
illustrated to the
world how
neoliberalism,
privatization,
deregulation, and a
capitalist free-market
economy can
marginalize, exploit
and dispossess the
world’s most
vulnerable communities
– including peasants,
indigenous
populations, and rural
and urban workers.
Despite nearly three
decades of existence,
none of its promises
have stood the test of
time. Today, we
inhabit a world
plagued by severe
inequality, poverty,
patriarchy, hunger,
violence,
authoritarianism,
chauvinism, and
conflicts. To compound
matters, a worsening
climate crisis has led
to unprecedented and
catastrophic weather
events that devastate
our farms, forests,
rivers, and oceans,
gravely imperiling
food sovereignty of
our peoples.
This is the
grim legacy the WTO
has bequeathed us in
its nearly thirty-year
tenure.
Even the
wealthiest countries
and their corporations
now acknowledge that
the World Trade
Organization teeters
in a state of
uncertainty. However,
driven by their vested
interests to safeguard
their establishments
and wealth, they
employ various
strategies to sustain
neoliberalism – with
or without the WTO. A
few instances of these
tactics include:
secretive negotiations
of bilateral and
multilateral free
trade agreements to
ensure business as
usual; the
establishment of
multi-stakeholder
entities within the UN
that deliberately
sideline peasants and
rural communities,
while affording
corporate lobbies
unrestricted influence
– masking their
actions with talk of
sustainability and
promoting a dystopian
vision of ‘farming
without farmers’;
substantial
investments in
marketing campaigns
and biased research
aimed at painting a
rosy picture of a
world where poverty,
hunger, and inequality
are purportedly
disappearing.
Yet, as
peasants who toil
relentlessly in the
fields to feed the
world, our lived
experiences are immune
to their paid
propaganda. We witness
the appropriation and
violation of our soil,
biodiversity, and
seeds by those in
power. We observe how
speculative trading,
orchestrated by asset
management firms,
drives up food prices.
We perceive how
pandemic or
conflict-induced
supply disruptions can
dismantle their global
food supply chains in
mere days. Despite
these challenges,
agribusiness giants
continue to amass
massive profits and
distribute hefty CEO
bonuses, while many
struggle to afford
three meals a day.
The
evidence is as
palpable as the air
we breathe – the
global trade system
is fractured.
Should we, the
people, desire a
positive
transformation,
superficial
alterations or an
imagined “reform” of
the WTO will not
suffice. The remedy
lies in a complete
overhaul and the
construction of a new
global trade
framework. This
framework must honor
countries’ food
sovereignty, respect
biodiversity, and
uphold the rights of
peasants and other
rural and urban
workers. It should be
underpinned by values
of solidarity,
cooperation,
people-to-people
exchange, and
internationalism, with
the ability to
dismantle the
economic, political,
social, and cultural
dominance of select
global north
countries. It must
stand as an
anti-imperialist,
anti-colonial,
anti-patriarchal and
pro-social justice,
pro-feminist
framework.
La Via
Campesina is
embarking on this
endeavor in 2023,
coinciding with the
20-year commemoration
of Lee Kyung Hae’s
sacrifice. The
peasants, small-scale
food producers, wage
and migrant workers
and indigenous
communities of La Via
Campesina will draft
this framework,
leveraging our
collective knowledge
of agriculture and
food trade to ensure
no one goes hungry.
This initiative
serves as a tribute to
Lee’s memory, as we
strive to construct an
alternative trade
order for the world.
In 2022, we appealed
to global south
nations for assistance
in building this new
framework, aiming for
equitable and fair
global trade founded
on the principles of
communitarianism and
solidarity. We
continue to implore
governments worldwide
to stand with us in
this endeavor.
At the
8th International
Conference of La Via
Campesina in Bogota,
Colombia,
peasants from over 80
nations will convene
to collaboratively
develop this
framework. Just as we
constructed the UN
Declaration for the
Rights of Peasants and
Other People Working
in Rural Areas through
years of patient
negotiation and
dedication, we will
similarly construct
this trade framework.
This serves as our
homage to Lee, whose
life and struggle
encapsulate the daily
battles of peasants
everywhere.
We are
all Lee! A new trade
framework is urgent
and vital!
