This is what Pancha Rodriguez said in an interview with Real World Radio. She also talked about the 50th anniversary of the law on agrarian reform and peasant unions, and the violent step backs in the country with reference to the access to land and the recognition of peasant rights.

“We need to recover the historical memory in the case of a law that changed Chile as the one on agrarian reform”.

First-line actors of the process that started in 1966, with a tragic moment in 1973 with the Coup D´Etat against Salvador Allende, participated in the Seminar. Such is the case of Rafael Moreno, leader of the Corporation of Agrarian Reform by the end of the 60s and Jacques Chonchol, former Agriculture Minister during Allende´s administration.

Representatives of peasant movements from Colombia, Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil, among others, also gave their testimonies about the current situation of the struggle for land.

An analysis about this phenomenon, said Pancha, allows to “recover our memory, which means for instance, to recognize the absence of women in this process, because if we don´t analyze the counter-agrarian reform, we will not be able to advance”.

The continent needs an agrarian reform with women at the forefront, but also with other social sectors that defend the value and social role of land: “because it is important to understand that the struggle for land, for food sovereignty, for the social role of land is not exclusively of peasants or indigenous peoples”.

The member of CLOC-VC also made reference to the meaning of the next continental assembly of the Coordination planned for April in Colombia. Choosing this country, where the issue of peasant rights and territorial sovereignty is key when building peace with social and environmental justice, is a sign of the fact that the peasant movement as a whole is following this process closely, as well as the process started these days involving the insurgent forces of the National Liberation Army (ELN).

“We need to recompose the links between the peasant world and the popular movement, strengthening the popular political project that allows us to build irreversible changes, so as to not be alone again”, said Francisca in the interview with Real World Radio.