This is what Edgardo Garcia, Secretary General at the ATC, said in an interview with Real World Radio. The ATC is an organization that has been working for the past 32 years in favour of agrarian reform, and that didn´t hesitate to join the Frente Sandinista de Liberacion Nacional against the military dictatorship led by Anastasio Somoza.

After the neoliberal drive of the 90s, according to Garcia, one of the achievements of the ATC was the implementation of a “Zero Hunger” Program, that has allowed peasant economy to be recapitalized and has facilitated exchanges among small producers cooperatives.

Another important measure was the passing of a Food Sovereignty Law that highlights the recovery of native seeds, and the creation of a bank to promote production.

The ATC has also been promoting initiatives related to ownership of indigenous lands and reforestation programs.

Despite these local improvements, the Nicaraguan peasants are worried about the expansion of agribusiness in Central America.

García believes that the vulnerability of the region has allowed transnational corporations to control rivers and poison them, and to colonize small producers in order to install monoculture plantations to produce agrofuels.

Photo: Cesta - Amigos de la Tierra El Salvador