Descrição
BUILDING PEASANT INTERNATIONALISM - LA VIA CAMPESINA AT WORLD
SOCIAL FORUM, BENIN
Since its founding in 1993, La Via
Campesina has built an internationalism rooted in the daily
struggles, realities, and aspirations of peasants, agricultural and
rural workers, Indigenous Peoples, pastoralists, fisherfolk, women,
and youth. This peasant internationalism, from below, is through
solidarity, mutual learning, collective action, and a shared
commitment to social justice, food sovereignty, and dignity for all. Peasant internationalism is one of the defining political principles
of La Via Campesina. Today, humanity faces deep and
interconnected political, economic, social, and ecological crises. Land grabbing, corporate control of food systems, free trade
agreements, climate change, militarization, extractivism,
authoritarianism, and financial speculation transcend national
borders, profoundly affecting how peasants and rural communities live
and organize. While peasant struggles are rooted in local realities,
the forces shaping those struggles are increasingly global. Our
resistance must therefore also be international. These realities raise important
questions for La Via Campesina, such as what does peasant
internationalism mean in the current context; how to strengthen
solidarity and collective action and ensure that peasant voices
influence debates about the future of food systems, climate justice,
peace, trade, and development? La Via Campesina will self-organise
activities at the World Social Forum under the theme “Building
Peasant Internationalism” to stimulate debate on these
questions and contribute to the renewal of peasant internationalism
as a strategic pillar of our movement while advancing food
sovereignty, agrarian reform, peace, and social justice. Proposed Objectives
Reaffirm peasant internationalism
as a core political principle of La Via Campesina. Assess how current geopolitical,
economic, and environmental changes are affecting peasants and rural
communities. Strengthen alliances with social
movements, trade unions, Indigenous Peoples, feminist organisations,
environmental justice movements, and other progressive forces to
build a stronger international movement capable of confronting
corporate power, imperialism, and authoritarianism. AGAINST WARS AND IMPERIALISM : DEFENDING PEOPLES'
SELF-DETERMINATION- 5 AUGUST
In
the face of escalating imperialist and warlike actions, peasant
resistance and internationalism are essential for building a world
without war, based on the
self-determination of peoples. We
witnessed increased wars and geopolitical tensions in Yemen,
Palestine, Syria, Libya, Ukraine, Iran and many other countries and
regions. The main consequence of these wars is the loss of many human
lives, taken for reasons almost always alien to their daily lives. Millions of people are mutilated by the war, both physically and
psychologically, traumatized by the loss of relatives and friends. The destruction of homes, the fear and frustration at having
abandoned their land with nothing, leaving behind everything they
have built up to flee the war and try to save their lives and
families. The
environmental destruction caused by wars leads to long-term
pollution, creating territories where it becomes impossible to live
and grow food for decades.
The
world will suffer the consequences of these wars at various levels
and will worse the economic crisis, which we have been experiencing
since 2008. La
Via Campesina is therefore raising an alarm today and call on the
peoples to unite against this generalization of war. We should reject
this logic of war and intensify internationalism. In order to advance
peace and international solidarity, we should build bridges among
movements across regions to promote peace, dialogue, and justice. Solidarity should move beyond declarations and become a practical
mechanism for collective action.