The Broad Campesino [small farmer] Front rejected "the aspirins" with which the government of Enrique Peña Nieto seeks to alleviate the neglect and crisis of the domestic agricultural sector.
"There is a stubbornness of the political leaders and officials of the Agricultural Cabinet for convening a meeting to discuss and approve a policy for the countryside for the next six years, which might focus attention on small and medium [farm] producers," explained Marco Antonio Ortiz, a member of the group.Ortiz is also leader of the Coalition of Urban and Rural Democratic Organizations (CODUC), and he reported that political parties that make up the Pact for Mexico are more interested in addressing the conflict of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE).
"We do not minimize this social struggle, but it is also in the national interest to attend to food production. It is time to define the public policies and build agreements to guarantee food sovereignty and the right to produce enough food to eliminate imports."The organizations of the Central Independent Agricultural Workers and Campesinos, the Coordinating Committee of the National Plan of Ayala, the National Workers Union, Barzón and the National Integrative Union of Solidarity and Social Economy Organizations,
"demand an actual agreement, with seriousness and responsibility of government and party politicians for a new leadership for the countryside."Ortiz noted that
"Twenty days ago everything was ready for dialogue. We were informed that the Under-Secretaries of Government Affairs [SEGOB], Agriculture, Social Development, Environment, and other institutions related to the sector, were invited to jointly arrange agenda items. They suspended the meeting arguing that the SEGOB had to address the issue of the teachers."
The farmer groups, he added, are preparing a mobilization for June 19 in Mexico City, since the changes announced by the head of SAGARPA, Enrique Martínez y Martínez, do not solve the stagnation of agricultural production. Spanish original