#17April2022: The continuining persecution and criminalization of those who struggle for territories
La Via Campesina Press Release | Bagnolet: April 17, 2022
26 years later, the persecution and criminalization of those who struggle for land and territories continues in most countries of the world
Today, #17April2022 – International Day of Peasant Struggles, from La Via Campesina we recall what we commemorate on this date and why it is a global day of action for our movement.
Another year has passed since the massacre in Eldorado dos Carajás, Brazil, where 21 peasants from the Landless Movement (MST) were killed in 1996 during a mobilization to demand the expropriation of land from landowners. Although those directly responsible for this massacre were brought to justice, the persecution and criminalization of those who fight for land and territories continues in Brazil, Colombia, Kenya, Honduras, Morocco, Palestine and many other parts of the world.
Today, as every year, we raise our voices heard from all corners of the world to unite our demands and propose real solutions to the current crises. Unfortunately, we at La Via Campesina continue to witness the systematic violation of our rights through the repression and persecution of those who fight and organize to defend land, natural resources, territories and the environment. These are violent acts that directly threaten our lives and are endorsed by national and international laws and policies which, in most cases, favor the agribusiness, free market agreements and corporate food systems.
In spite of this, we continue our political commitment to agroecology as a key expression of our struggles for food sovereignty. This can only be achieved with a genuine agrarian reform that makes possible the democratization of access to agricultural land and puts an end to the grabbing and dispossession of ancestral territories.
We launch the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of La Via Campesina
This year is a special year for us. We are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the creation of our movement and we are using this date to start a series of actions and mobilizations that we will carry out until next year, when we will organize and celebrate the 8th International Conference of La Via Campesina.
After three decades of permanent mobilization, we have much to offer the world in crisis. To learn more about our political process, achievements and demands, we invite you to read and share our POLITICAL DECLARATION.
Get involved, share and learn more about our actions. To find out more, visit our official website (www.viacampesina.org) and follow the communications from the LVC regional secretariats. On social media, follow and use these hashtags: #30YearsLVC, #17April2022. #NoFutureWithoutFoodSovereignty #FoodSovereigntyNOW
For interviews or media enquiries contact press@viacampesina.org