Today it’s Colombia: the peasants’ strike
Since 18th August, more than 200,000 Colombian peasants, both
men and women, as well as transport workers and miners, have
mobilised against the policies implemented by the government of Juan
Manuel Santos. The people who provide food for the nation have said
“basta!” [enough] and have declared a strike in the agricultural sector.
It has been met with repressive action from law enforcement
agencies.
With the strike, the agri-sector is saying “basta” to the lack of
investment in public services for the rural population, “basta” to falling
incomes, “basta” to the fact that 77% of the land is in the hands of
13% of the population and “basta” to the privatisation of seeds.
Three years ago, resolution 970 was passed. The consequence was that in
2011, 1,167,225 kilos of seeds were confiscated from small farmers
and destroyed by the ICA (the Colombian Agriculture Institute) as they
were not registered. The crops affected included potatoes, maize,
wheat, peas, and beans.
The struggle of the Colombian people is a global one.
They are fighting the brutal consequences of a new order
for food production that favours multinational companies and banks.
It is a system that converts food into a raw material or a value on the
stock exchange, excluding the role of peasant farmers. It is a new
order whose spearhead has been the deregulation and globalisation
of the markets for food produce. This has been made possible by the
free trade treaties backed by the US and Europe.
Everything points towards the next phase of the struggle taking place
in Europe, where right now the EU and the US are negotiating the
biggest free trade agreement in history.
Agriculture is one of the key issues in this treaty.
* Currently they are trying to amend resolution 970.
A documentary about resolution 970, titled ‘Colombia 970’ can be watched here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kZWAqS-El_g
from here
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