The event, which will gather over 2,000 delegates, will address several long-standing issues for the peasant movement and it will be preceded by assemblies of women and youth from several Central American, South American and Caribbean organizations.
Climate and dependence

In Chile, a country hit by recent floods in the northern area of the country, the National Association of Rural and Indigenous Women (ANAMURI) is exposing the climate crisis and the lack of remedies for the rural populations, especially women.

"The landscape and ecosystems have changed. The unlimited looting of our natural resources and environment by predatory companies moved by capital has changed our climate geography. They have deeply hurt Nature, which can no longer take rains, soothe the winds, or ensure that clouds release water when necessary. The "climate phenomena" we are experiencing today are part of an extremely serious climate crisis caused by capitalism, which continues polluting the atmosphere and destroying ecosystems and all processes that make our lives possible", says ANAMURI.

The debates around the climate crisis at the 6th Congress of CLOC will be a follow-up of those that took place during the Peoples´ Summit in Lima, Peru (December 2014), which was carried out in parallel to the Climate Change Summit.

"In Chile, climate isn´t the only thing under attack. The out-of-control capitalism we are experiencing in our country has destroyed our food habits, our ways of producing, living and consuming, our labor and social relationships. It has also stained the political system and divided the political actions of the people. It has taken over our conscience and above all it is trying to make us feel that "we are all to blame", states ANAMURI.

The struggle for land

Meanwhile in Paraguay, peasants continue demanding lands for their livelihoods amid an increasingly oppressive State which responds to large landowners.
This week, the Struggle For Land Organization (OLT), a member of CLOC-Via Campesina, denounced harassment and attempts to violently evict landless families from the 1ero de Marzo settlement, in Yvyra Rovana District.

These families have been the target of illegal attacks with eviction attempts perpetrated by armed civilians presumably hired by land usurpers of the area. The latest attack against these families took place on June 11, 2014, when a group of peasants who were working the lands were attacked by 30 armed civilians.

The Marina Cue massacre took place under similar circumstances in June, 2012, which resulted in the death of 15 peasants and the illegal ousting of President Fernando Lugo. Miguel Villalba, whose accusation was filled with irregularities, is still in prison.

Mining vs. Peasant Farming

Meanwhile, in a Peru hit by a political crisis after a case of espionage in favor of Chile, thousands of peasants of Valle del Tambo, Arequipa, have been on indefinite strike to protest against the imposition of the Tia Maria mining project of Southern Peru Company.

This transnational corporation has a long history of water pollution and grabbing in regions such as Moquegua and Tacna. This town has been protesting against the project for six years. The first Environmental Impact Study of the project included plans to use underground water that fed the peasants´ crops. Concerned by these abuses and without the support of the Peruvian government, the demonstrators started a resistance process that resulted in 34 people injured and 3 people dead in 2011. Little is known about the perpetrators of this crime.

The territorial conflicts between peasant economy and transnational extractive projects are also part of the agenda of the 6th CLOC-VC Congress.