El Maizal Commune has hundreds of hectares cultivated / Photo: Alba Ciudad
During the international People’s Assembly, farmers report successful food production experiences
The El Maizal commune, located between the states of Lara and Carabobo in northwestern Venezuela, has managed to guarantee food on the plates of hundreds of Venezuelan families in the midst of severe adversity, mainly caused by the so-called “economic war”. Luismar López explains how in a decade of productive activity, they managed to present new horizons for the country’s agricultural production.
“In the organizational aspect of food production, we have produced white corn [the base of Venezuelan food, used to make the arepas]. On March 5 we will celebrate the tenth anniversary of this place, where Chávez visited and guaranteed that the lands were owned by the organized people, the peasants. And here we are, fighting for that, creating this organizational form of self-government,” López says, regarding the hundreds of hectares of land occupied by the commune.
The rise in the price of oil in the years 2000 and early 2010 has made “black gold” account for about 90% of the country’s exports in recent years. As a result, industrial and agricultural activity had become unprofitable and the production of subsistence items had fallen dramatically, making Venezuela a country dependent on imports of basic necessities. With the fall in the price of a barrel of oil in recent years and the blockade and economic boycott promoted by the United States, the economy has collapsed and rural workers have begun to build models of production and productive management that attempt to transform the country’s economic matrix and guarantee food sovereignty.
“We are in the midst of adversity, we cannot deny it. We are going through a historical conjuncture of an international blockade. However, in the El Maizal commune, it has been ten years of productive struggle. We started with 250 tons of beans, but we have advanced in the production of corn and now we have 1800 hectares of corn, in addition to a vegetable garden where we produce various products, such as paprika, chives, coriander, pepper, eggplant, a large quantity of ingredients that are part of our plan for growth and economic development”.
Workers from the El Maizal commune, present at the International Assembly of Peoples. (Photo: José Eduardo Bernardes)
José Osorio, a member of the Peasant Struggle Platform, explains how the international trade blockade has impacted food production in the country, which had been advancing since the approval of the land law in the early 2000s.
“At this moment, there are certain things blocked that are necessary to continue developing our agrarian project. There are supplies that are imported and which now deprive us of being able to count on them”.
In the face of adversity, Osorio points out that the peasant movement, with the support of the revolutionary government, has developed sustainable alternatives to production, seeking to create new ones.
“This is a blessed country. We have large expanses of land that do not require a large amount of agricultural resources. And now, with the development promoted by Chávez of agroecological products, we can develop these products”.
Assembly of Peoples
The International Assembly of Peoples is being held in Caracas, in the face of worsening international pressure on the country, bringing together more than 400 representatives from 85 countries around the world. According to Osório, this represents, more than the hope of victory, a warning to the “empires of the world” about the willingness and capacity for struggle of the organized people.
The International Assembly of Peoples began last Sunday (24) and will continue until Wednesday (27) in the Venezuelan capital.
Edition: Pedro Ribeiro Nogueira
Translation by Internationalist 360°
