April 17, 2024 – International Day of Peasant Struggles - Via-info-en

25 Mar 2024


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*/April 17, 2024 – International Day of Peasant Struggles/*
On April 17, we mark the International Day of Peasant Struggles, our 
annual action day that brings us together to commemorate the Eldorado do 
Carajás massacre* in 1996 and to honor the resistance of peasants 
worldwide who persist in their struggle for social justice and dignity.
Following our 8th international conference 
https://viacampesina.org/en/viiith-international-conference-la-via-campesina-bogota-declaration/ 
last December, we, peasants, youth, women, men, and diversities, 
migrants, rural and landless workers, fisherfolk, and indigenous 
peoples, stand with renewed hope and strength, heightened awareness, 
unwavering commitment, organized unity, and determination to confront 
the multifaceted crises. We continue an unwavering fight against 
genocides, wars, violations of people’s sovereignty, evictions of 
peasant families, the criminalization and persecution of peasants and 
their leaders, as well as extractivism and violations of peasants’ 
rights. United, we safeguard our mother earth against the grip of 
agribusiness multinationals, neocolonialists, fascists, and repressive 
military forces.
This devastation involves various actors in the shadows, notably 
neoliberal institutions such as the WTO, the World Bank, and the 
International Monetary Fund. Their interference in national agricultural 
policies, related to trade, and social protections, is evident. Free 
trade agreements (FTAs) and other economic partnership frameworks 
imposing neoliberal conditions linked to loans and financial assistance 
programs, or measures favoring the interests of corporations, jeopardize 
the livelihoods of peasants, agricultural workers, and migrants. Yet, it 
is the peasants who provide sustenance to 70% of the global population 
with healthy and quality food.
*Poster:* /Inspired by the Andean cosmovision, our poster this year 
reflects the interconnectedness of all elements of nature, with humanity 
as an integral part. It illustrates how Mother Earth supports peasants 
and their struggles, defending their existence and rights. According to 
this vision, we can also be an offering of the earth, even as part of a 
collective movement like the peasantry. Portrayed as a unifying force, 
Mother Earth sustains us, alongside its natural expressions, with 
mountains symbolizing our ancestors and collective memory./
*Enough with the genocide, evictions and violence!*
Today, the world witnesses multiple crises affecting every aspect of 
life on Earth. The capitalist system now reveals its true destructive 
nature, driving peasants in Asia and other parts of the world to suicide 
due to unpayable debts. It corrupts governments in the interest of a few 
elites, violating nature and ecological balance, thereby compromising 
the future of humanity. This system generates genocides, not only 
through militarism but also by denying access to food, using starvation 
as a weapon of war, as currently seen in Gaza. It also takes the form of 
slow genocide, as experienced by the Haitian population with 
anti-peasant policies and gangsterization orchestrated to facilitate a 
new foreign intervention, allowing the seizure of peasant lands and the 
looting of commons.
Neocolonialism is inherent in this system, extending to countries like 
Niger, where EU sanctions affect the right to food of the populations. 
Political and armed conflicts provoked in Libya, Syria, and Sudan have 
led to massive population displacements, infrastructure destruction, and 
difficulties in accessing agricultural lands. In countries such as 
Guatemala, Argentina, Paraguay, and Turkey, multinational corporations 
impose their profits over the fundamental rights of peasant families, 
leading to their eviction and the exploitation of Mother Earth. This 
capitalist logic undermines peasant struggles for peasant rights, food 
sovereignty, sustainable and diversified agroecological production 
methods, family farms, biodiversity preservation, and peace, with social 
justice serving as peasant solutions to the food and climate crisis**. 
It crushes diversity in all its gender and ethnic forms and ignores 
local and ancestral agricultural knowledge, masking its true intentions 
behind development solutions that serve only the economic interests of a 
minority. Those who control and commodify our commons hinder youth 
peasants from accessing land and break the autonomy of peasants and 
peoples, pushing them toward agrarian conflicts, poverty, starvation, 
and agriculture without peasants.
*Build Solidarity, Unite for Food Sovereignty!*
2024 started with massive protests of peasant farmers in Europe, Asia, 
and other parts of the world against destructive agricultural policies. 
These demonstrations are not limited to seeking fair prices and a 
dignified life for peasants but also express the need for a society 
oriented toward a future where peasant agroecology prevails over 
agribusiness methods and where social justice and the dignity of 
everyone are ensured. It is imperative to guarantee that no one is 
forced to leave their land, family, and culture to seek a better life 
elsewhere while sacrificing their lives to feed their families.
Our peasant struggles, deeply rooted in the principles of food 
sovereignty, aim to establish an inclusive system that promotes rural 
economies and sustains the livelihoods of peasants, while cultivating 
hope to mitigate tragedies such as suicide, family breakdowns, and 
forced migration in rural areas. Recognizing food sovereignty, popular 
agrarian reform and peasant agroecology as genuine solutions to global 
crises, La Via Campesina fervently advocates for the implementation of 
the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other 
People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) 
https://viacampesina.org/en/undrop-illustrations/, a vital 
international instrument addressing the multifaceted crises faced by 
peasants. Furthermore, we advocate for the establishment of a new 
international trade framework based on cooperation and food sovereignty 
https://viacampesina.org/en/free-trade-agreements-failed-trade-agreements-an-alternative-is-now-urgent-and-necessary/ 
to challenge the neoliberal trade system perpetuating hunger. 
Simultaneously, we are preparing for the Nyéléni World Forum in 2025, 
which will convene the international movement for food sovereignty to 
confront the challenges of hunger and poverty by advancing the 
development and fortification of local economies.
On April 17, we will occupy the streets and all spaces where peasant 
struggles are left to forcefully reaffirm our peasant path and 
strengthen food sovereignty in our territories. We strongly urge all 
members, allies, and supporters of La Via Campesina to mobilize now and 
throughout April, united in a single solidarity voice to support the 
struggles of peasants against global crises.
*Build Solidarity! Enough with the genocide, evictions and violence! *
#17April #PeasantStruggles #FoodSovereigntyNow #PeasantRightsNow
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*Here are the actions we can take together:*
1. Download our communication kit
    https://comms.viacampesina.org/s/dRRbpYzRkkwGKYH to disseminate
    the official materials, including our poster of April 17. Translate
    it into your local languages
    https://www.canva.com/design/DAFdZvOBCLQ/ix4MZ5DZYE-Y0EjRNokmtQ/edit?utm_content=DAFdZvOBCLQ&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton,
    and engage in solidarity actions in support of peasant struggles in
    your country and everywhere in the world.
 2. Organize activities, webinars, and workshops focused on the rights
    and struggles of peasants, including access to land, fair pricing,
    the promotion of peasant agroecology and seeds, as well as the
    defense of people’s sovereignty, among others.
 3. Write declarations, articles, and create impactful audiovisual
    material to amplify the voices of peasant struggles and promote food
    sovereignty. You can then share your contributions with us at the
    following address: communications@viacampesina.org
 4. We aim to map global actions. Don’t forget to tag us in your social
    media publications by identifying La Via Campesina on: Facebook:
    @viacampesinaOFFICIAL
    https://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL/ Instagram:
    @la_via_campesina_official
    https://www.instagram.com/la_via_campesina_official/, Twitter:
    @via_campesina https://twitter.com/via_campesina
 5. You can use these hashtags to associate your social media
    contributions with the global campaign for Peasant Struggles:
    *Main:* #17April #PeasantStruggles#FoodSovereigntyNow
    #PeasantsRightsNow; *Complementary:* #IncomeForFarmers#CeaseFire
    #StopGazaStarvation #HaitianSolutionForHaiti
 6. Get involved in all actions and protests against the genocide in
    Gaza, foreign interference in Haiti, economic sanctions in Niger,
    evictions of peasants, impunity for human rights violations, free
    trade agreements, rural indebtedness, false solutions to the food
    and climate crisis, measures favoring multinational interests over
    people’s sovereignty, and other peasant struggles in your territories.
 7. Share your activities on our global map of actions
    https://padlet.com/lvcweb/17april-international-day-of-peasant-s-struggles-rci6kikicx8ehszy
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* Twenty-eight years after the tragic massacre of landless peasants by 
Brazilian military police, impunity persists for crimes committed 
against rural communities. Although two agents were convicted in 2012, 
no other police or political officials have been held accountable. 
Autopsies revealed executions and serious injuries, leaving 69 wounded 
and a total of 21 dead.
** The challenges facing women and the impact of the climate crisis are 
exacerbating the difficulties faced by farmers. The United Nations (UN) 
has stated that by 2030, around one in four women will face food 
insecurity. Source : https://news.un.org/es/story/2023/09/1523922