Paraguay: Peasants and Indigenous Communities March for Agrarian Reform Law
This marks the 31st annual march, bringing together hundreds of families who have traveled to the capital to continue their decades-long demand for a legal framework supporting agrarian reform.
Peasant families claim that the government of current Paraguayan President Santiago Peña “has not promoted public policies for food production.” A group of members from the National Peasant Federation marched in Paraguay on Wednesday to demand the implementation of an Agrarian Reform Law.
According to teleSUR correspondent Osvaldo Zayas, the movement is grounded in the country’s own legal foundations, as agrarian reform is enshrined in the Paraguayan Constitution. The law considers the country’s specific context, including land distribution and agricultural capacity. The report notes that peasant families say the current government “has not promoted public policies for food production.”
It also highlights that “while 2.5 percent of families in Paraguay control 85 percent of arable land, it is primarily small-scale farmers who cultivate and produce on this land.”
Small-scale food production plays a key role in ensuring Paraguay’s food sovereignty. Given the value and service they provide—as well as the food they generate for the country—it is essential to support food production, not just agribusiness. In support of their demands, protesters plan to march tomorrow toward the country’s Congress.
Despite repeated mobilizations, including this 31st march by peasant and Indigenous communities, the government has yet to respond.