people we can thread + hold people accountable locally, once we become aware, afar...
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Peace is real!
–
Peace is real!
–
this is what i`m talking about when i say we need to get organized so alerts can go out long before people are in trouble, even though i know this corruption has been going on long, but we can do more if we organize. so people we need names + detail in real time so we can build this network + link with others with our 2 cents of offering, until something else comes about...
Here is an ex from Padma from her experiences;
Farmers and the CCDA.. open letter to SEED FREEDOM and friends.
by Padma De Pana (Notes) on Monday, April 1, 2013 at 3:38pm...
you asked about the machete in the CCDA logo... and Gandhi and Peace...
i think it´s worth talking about.
especially to help people understand the levels of violence in Guatemala... because we are badly represented by mainstream media as a country full of gangsters and drug traffickers.
which we do have, no doubt... on the highways and in the cities and In the Government paid off by the CIA who also traffics drugs...
below is my analysis .. historically condensed and with my personal position at the end... just to give you my perspective on the situation...
we are a very small country of mostly poor farmers.. a few rich businessmen and a scrambling "middle class" trying to find jobs that pay their cost of living...
for all the resources there are here, the corruption makes it almost impossible to get a fair deal anywhere...
some history:
i am old enough to remember hashish sold legally in every little shop in India before INTERPOL decided to pass international drug laws that allow their armies into every country to manipulate and bribe officials and small farmers... Afghanistan and Iran are two of the most prolific opium producers in the world...
that´s just to set the stage... internationally...
Guatemala doesn´t produce any of this... Mexico grows pot but the cocaine all comes from south America..
so... we are just in the middle... having CIA armies here just oils the machine.
point is, it makes them happy to call us a bunch of criminals. it enables military suppression.
historically, Guatemala has been the easiest country bought off by corporations...
this government played a huge part in "anti Communist" violence throughout the 50s.
The Genocide committed mostly in the 80´s is still unresolved... the president in power now was a general who boasted (its on youtube) how easy it was to kill a whole town if you fly in with helicopters to machine gun them all at once.... yes, women and children too... whole towns
this is land seizing for corporate development. so yes, a guerilla movement developed in the highlands...
planting "illegal" cornfields, hiding out in the mountains trying to survive
the machete is a weapon sometimes, but it is mostly used by every farmer on his land to cut down trees and weeds, dig holes to plant... i use one every day...
it is a symbol of the workers movement
the Workers movement of the 50s in Latin America had more to do with socialist idealism than now..
the Cold War is over... things have changed drastically with the years...
now there is an international movement of Indigenes and Campesinos.. hundreds of thousands marched at Rio+20 for farmers´ rights to oppose the "green revolution"
but... political leaders want their world bank handouts so we couldn't get in the door.
same thing happens locally. USAID and the Guatemalan government .. or individual candidates.. hand out free fertilizers as bribes and the farmers just take it....
the CCDA is partly what´s left of the guerrilla movement from back in the 80sbut since "the Peace" was signed in 96 they have been engaged in strictly poltical moves, trying to change laws, and they march peacefully
they get killed almost every time they march... leaders have been kidnapped and murdered... we know its the army doing it
but the campesinos don't attack the army... they just keep sending letters out to try to attract international attention to the situation.. get some support...
its a country full of martyrs.
i am not saying Seed Freedom should take their side... i am just telling you what their situation is... you should know who they are because they have masses of indigenous farmers at their events... and they give workshops all over the country in Traditional Permaculture and Food Sovereignty.
they reclaim lands for community organic farming projects... in San Lucas they mostly do organic coffee... they support families.
at the same time they are pushing this new law which has been in limbo for years
a Food Sovereignty law giving people the right to grow their own food.
they have some great written materials in Spanish on the economies... how much it costs to raise food for export and why for the number of farmers we have who traditionally have fed their families, it is making them poorer to be "developed"...
so... my position as a networker is this...the CCDA has some great resources and platforms.
they just have an image problem there is no "communist" or "socialist" movement really... not any more... i believe there are still people in Latin America clinging naively to those ideals but its just not practical. and farmers are pretty practical people.
they just want rights to their lands and their choice of what to grow on em...
some of our partners cross into this territory..
Greenpeace is outspoken in Mexico, CLOC - La Via Campesina is vocal on this... GRAIN is all about land seizing ... ngo´s help finance marches and legal actionsit is political, but not militant. they don´t carry weapons, they carry banners and children...
unfortunately, the Guatemalan government is militant. and abusive.
the history and the continued land seizing .. with Pres. Perez Molina it´s been about mining expansion... lots of lives lost ... just keeps polarizing the victims...
** this is why i like the SEED FREEDOM movement.** nothing polar about it.**
i think it presents local farmers with a way to do the same things without being abrasive or contrary to government policies... go at it from the environmental end...
engage the "new age" permaculturists...
nurture local food markets...
particularly here at the lake where we are according to law a Protected Area.. a national park protected by environmental laws...
and faced with issues of Water Contamination which everybody professes to be invested in solving... even the government :D
if "everybody" who wants to help clean up the lake would be careful about what they put in the ground it would change in a day.
easier said than done perhaps but it can be visualized.. i can see it...
if we can broadcast more images of the positive working we can pass by the conflicts around us...
get in harmony with a bigger world picture
a new world economy in which food is as valued as money....
really just go back to the old ways, appreciate the farmerswe sure can´t do it without them...
+ our combined` effects post;
Padma, am I understanding right? are you saying those doing workshops in traditional permaculture + food sovereignty are good people or not? actually what wendy + i are working on now is not to even use the word permaculture, (many good folks but much also exploited, but yes better to work with their good ideas + take what is needed).
rather it is what you say; good simple people being helped + then energy merges + people create within local natural limits, sharing old ways that work, while yes as we suggest plugging into networks to show simple ways, not Free Trade that is not free or even some Fair Trade that can exploit.
rather like matsonubu fukuoka`s food forests, where people can strengthen by pooling resources. + yes it is this misconception in pockets from corruption that we need a global org to then hold their locals accountable + track these threads.
i`m sorry you people have to be in the crossroads. well lets stay in touch, actually we may be sailing down + cross over to the carrib their?? unless we get trucked cheaper in mexico?
meanwhile folks check out matsonubu`s you tube, it is not good filming but i think you can get the message, for we don't need yuppy modes, nor coops with packaged foods, rather we had one where we would buy bulk from farmers.
actually truck would deliver to a house + we would then go + bag our orders + save, this is what is nice when we get fueled simply + love the natural world. one makes soap + trades with another to grind grain, another grows what best for each area + foodforests together worked supply a lot. we don't believe in any wild set aside just for tourism, rather if sensitively worked it helps us self-develop.
for we all are interdependent on these wild areas, so we need to preserve homes for our wild gentic bio-diversity. so native ways have the answers, + Miguel Altieri had worked these areas with indigenous I believe if check out his web site.
meanwhile take a look, + if i can help holler + you can use our forum until we all define how best or freely get one from Nabble for yourself. they sell advertisement not me. enjoy! hope to see ya, kara
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft0ylk4sU5M
Here is an ex from Padma from her experiences;
Farmers and the CCDA.. open letter to SEED FREEDOM and friends.
by Padma De Pana (Notes) on Monday, April 1, 2013 at 3:38pm...
you asked about the machete in the CCDA logo... and Gandhi and Peace...
i think it´s worth talking about.
especially to help people understand the levels of violence in Guatemala... because we are badly represented by mainstream media as a country full of gangsters and drug traffickers.
which we do have, no doubt... on the highways and in the cities and In the Government paid off by the CIA who also traffics drugs...
below is my analysis .. historically condensed and with my personal position at the end... just to give you my perspective on the situation...
we are a very small country of mostly poor farmers.. a few rich businessmen and a scrambling "middle class" trying to find jobs that pay their cost of living...
for all the resources there are here, the corruption makes it almost impossible to get a fair deal anywhere...
some history:
i am old enough to remember hashish sold legally in every little shop in India before INTERPOL decided to pass international drug laws that allow their armies into every country to manipulate and bribe officials and small farmers... Afghanistan and Iran are two of the most prolific opium producers in the world...
that´s just to set the stage... internationally...
Guatemala doesn´t produce any of this... Mexico grows pot but the cocaine all comes from south America..
so... we are just in the middle... having CIA armies here just oils the machine.
point is, it makes them happy to call us a bunch of criminals. it enables military suppression.
historically, Guatemala has been the easiest country bought off by corporations...
this government played a huge part in "anti Communist" violence throughout the 50s.
The Genocide committed mostly in the 80´s is still unresolved... the president in power now was a general who boasted (its on youtube) how easy it was to kill a whole town if you fly in with helicopters to machine gun them all at once.... yes, women and children too... whole towns
this is land seizing for corporate development. so yes, a guerilla movement developed in the highlands...
planting "illegal" cornfields, hiding out in the mountains trying to survive
the machete is a weapon sometimes, but it is mostly used by every farmer on his land to cut down trees and weeds, dig holes to plant... i use one every day...
it is a symbol of the workers movement
the Workers movement of the 50s in Latin America had more to do with socialist idealism than now..
the Cold War is over... things have changed drastically with the years...
now there is an international movement of Indigenes and Campesinos.. hundreds of thousands marched at Rio+20 for farmers´ rights to oppose the "green revolution"
but... political leaders want their world bank handouts so we couldn't get in the door.
same thing happens locally. USAID and the Guatemalan government .. or individual candidates.. hand out free fertilizers as bribes and the farmers just take it....
the CCDA is partly what´s left of the guerrilla movement from back in the 80sbut since "the Peace" was signed in 96 they have been engaged in strictly poltical moves, trying to change laws, and they march peacefully
they get killed almost every time they march... leaders have been kidnapped and murdered... we know its the army doing it
but the campesinos don't attack the army... they just keep sending letters out to try to attract international attention to the situation.. get some support...
its a country full of martyrs.
i am not saying Seed Freedom should take their side... i am just telling you what their situation is... you should know who they are because they have masses of indigenous farmers at their events... and they give workshops all over the country in Traditional Permaculture and Food Sovereignty.
they reclaim lands for community organic farming projects... in San Lucas they mostly do organic coffee... they support families.
at the same time they are pushing this new law which has been in limbo for years
a Food Sovereignty law giving people the right to grow their own food.
they have some great written materials in Spanish on the economies... how much it costs to raise food for export and why for the number of farmers we have who traditionally have fed their families, it is making them poorer to be "developed"...
so... my position as a networker is this...the CCDA has some great resources and platforms.
they just have an image problem there is no "communist" or "socialist" movement really... not any more... i believe there are still people in Latin America clinging naively to those ideals but its just not practical. and farmers are pretty practical people.
they just want rights to their lands and their choice of what to grow on em...
some of our partners cross into this territory..
Greenpeace is outspoken in Mexico, CLOC - La Via Campesina is vocal on this... GRAIN is all about land seizing ... ngo´s help finance marches and legal actionsit is political, but not militant. they don´t carry weapons, they carry banners and children...
unfortunately, the Guatemalan government is militant. and abusive.
the history and the continued land seizing .. with Pres. Perez Molina it´s been about mining expansion... lots of lives lost ... just keeps polarizing the victims...
** this is why i like the SEED FREEDOM movement.** nothing polar about it.**
i think it presents local farmers with a way to do the same things without being abrasive or contrary to government policies... go at it from the environmental end...
engage the "new age" permaculturists...
nurture local food markets...
particularly here at the lake where we are according to law a Protected Area.. a national park protected by environmental laws...
and faced with issues of Water Contamination which everybody professes to be invested in solving... even the government :D
if "everybody" who wants to help clean up the lake would be careful about what they put in the ground it would change in a day.
easier said than done perhaps but it can be visualized.. i can see it...
if we can broadcast more images of the positive working we can pass by the conflicts around us...
get in harmony with a bigger world picture
a new world economy in which food is as valued as money....
really just go back to the old ways, appreciate the farmerswe sure can´t do it without them...
+ our combined` effects post;
Padma, am I understanding right? are you saying those doing workshops in traditional permaculture + food sovereignty are good people or not? actually what wendy + i are working on now is not to even use the word permaculture, (many good folks but much also exploited, but yes better to work with their good ideas + take what is needed).
rather it is what you say; good simple people being helped + then energy merges + people create within local natural limits, sharing old ways that work, while yes as we suggest plugging into networks to show simple ways, not Free Trade that is not free or even some Fair Trade that can exploit.
rather like matsonubu fukuoka`s food forests, where people can strengthen by pooling resources. + yes it is this misconception in pockets from corruption that we need a global org to then hold their locals accountable + track these threads.
i`m sorry you people have to be in the crossroads. well lets stay in touch, actually we may be sailing down + cross over to the carrib their?? unless we get trucked cheaper in mexico?
meanwhile folks check out matsonubu`s you tube, it is not good filming but i think you can get the message, for we don't need yuppy modes, nor coops with packaged foods, rather we had one where we would buy bulk from farmers.
actually truck would deliver to a house + we would then go + bag our orders + save, this is what is nice when we get fueled simply + love the natural world. one makes soap + trades with another to grind grain, another grows what best for each area + foodforests together worked supply a lot. we don't believe in any wild set aside just for tourism, rather if sensitively worked it helps us self-develop.
for we all are interdependent on these wild areas, so we need to preserve homes for our wild gentic bio-diversity. so native ways have the answers, + Miguel Altieri had worked these areas with indigenous I believe if check out his web site.
meanwhile take a look, + if i can help holler + you can use our forum until we all define how best or freely get one from Nabble for yourself. they sell advertisement not me. enjoy! hope to see ya, kara
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft0ylk4sU5M
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