Agreements include Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) Mechanisms that hamper governments from enacting new legislation and regulations to protect human and environmental health. Canadian investors in the mining, oil and gas sector have initiated the highest number of Canada’s ISDS cases – 70 percent! The warning Mr Lee left us is especially relevant as Mexico currently struggles to uphold its food sovereignty by prohibiting GM corn.
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 sovereignty and 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.
It has been twenty years since the World Trade Organization’s imperialist, neoliberal and neo-colonial free trade policies led to the sacrifice of one of our peasant leaders – Lee Kyung Hae – at the gates of the Ministerial meeting venue in Cancun, Mexico. Since then things have only worsened for both people and the planet. The Agreement on Agriculture (AoA), which forms the core of the WTO’s food and agriculture trade policies, continues to wreak havoc on people’s lives.
Recently, La Via Campesina received a request to participate in a civil society “council” to the WTO executive. After careful consideration, we decided to decline this invitation. Through this open letter, we wish to explain why we believe it is impossible to reform the WTO in a way that is favourable to peasants and, more generally, to the interests of the people.
A. BACKGROUND The World Trade Organisation (WTO) held its 12th Ministerial Conference (MC) in Geneva… Read more →
The 2022 Geneva Declaration | La Via Campesina | 28 June 2022 We, La Via… Read more →
Free trade is an enemy of food sovereignty—this is what grassroots, peasant, and ecological movements… Read more →
Geneva | 17 June 2022 | La Via Campesina’s initial reactions to the WTO MC12… Read more →
15 June 2022, Geneva: La Via Campesina, the global peasant movement representing the voices of… Read more →
Geneva, June 14, 2022: During the week of action ahead of the 12th WTO Ministerial… Read more →
