Diego Monton, member of the Policy Commission of CLOC spoke with Real World Radio from Mendoza, Argentina. The global campaign for an agrarian reform, against land grabbing and to enable the return of the people to the countryside, will be the backbone of the peasant action at this moment, he said.

The analysis of the delegates during the work meeting in Cordoba, Argentina, focused on defending seeds and fighting genetically modified food promoted by transnational corporations like Monsanto, especially in the Southern Cone.

“We assessed the current scenario. It is quite hard on us because of the long-term economic, food and energy crises. The proposal of capitalism for our region is to further the extractivist model, by speeding up mechanisms that will enable to privatize nature”, said Monton.

The member of the National Indigenous Peasant Movement said that during the meeting they provided new methodological approaches to the campaigns that will be a contribution for the upcoming Continental Assembly of CLOC to be held in Managua, Nicaragua on October 17.

“Speaking of agrotoxics is like speaking of the heart of agribusiness. It would not work without those products”, said Diego Monton. He highlighted the momentum gained by the campaign against agrotoxics in the region, which had the support of consumers and intellectuals. “In Argentina and Brazil there has been fast progress, even more perhaps than we would have foreseen”, while the challenge now is to achieve similar outcomes in the Andean region and in Central America.