 So I think we can start announcing this. You may have noticed or not. I think you have noticed that this is not the most regular dev confevent. I am very glad because it looks, it will be quite fun, quite interesting. And well, I don't know what else to say. Fernanda Ciles registered this talk about La Vía Campesina, international peasant movement in struggle for food sovereignty. So I don't know what follows. I am very excited to see it. Please Fernanda, it's all yours. So hi everyone, thank you for being here. This certainly has been a mobile talk, even though it's not about mobile anything. So like months ago, Holger suggested that we wrote down this talk about seeds and the struggle of La Vía Campesina, which is an international peasant movement for rescuing original seeds. And their struggle against the privatization of them and against big industries that make their business with patents or patents, I don't know exactly, have to say it in English. But I found it really exciting because to me that I work with Vía Campesina and I'm also interested in free software. I think that it is a very direct link in the construction of alternative models of knowledge and of life in general. So today we have the participation of young people from La Vía Campesina in Nicaragua. And afterwards I'll tell you what they're gonna be doing. But first I would like to say that La Vía Campesina is a global movement of peasants of around 200 million people, around 70 different countries in the world, in Asia, Africa, America and Europe. And it's made of peasants, small, medium-sized farmers, landless people, women, young people. And Vía Campesina is a movement that's built up of organizations. So there are around 150 organizations around the world that come together eventually and struggle for changes, especially in agriculture, but more widely for a different world and a free, just world. So one of the main or the main goal of Vía Campesina is building food sovereignty. And this is a term that has been introduced in global levels in very formal spaces like the UN because of the pressure of the movement. And it stands for peoples and countries or state and state unions right to define their agricultural and food policy without any dumping vis-a-vis third countries. And regarding especially the struggle for seeds, it's about local agriculture production to feed the people, not corporations and not enlarging the bags of the people that already have money. And that obviously signifies having access to land, water, seeds and credit, as well as not as opposing nature to become a commodity. Well, food sovereignty is also about the right of farmers and peasants to produce food and the right of consumers to be able to decide what they consume and how and by whom it is produced. So the struggle for seeds is also a struggle for knowledge and for rescuing cultural and ancient knowledge about how to grow food. So this is why I thought this fits here because I think that Via Campesina's struggle is not only economic or political, it's also in the area of symbols and of discourse. And Via Campesina is making a strong question to the world about who is the authorized source of knowledge regarding agriculture, but more widely about the things that matter to define how we live. So they question what are the means and the mechanisms in which knowledge is being produced on agriculture, especially in corporate driven economic models. And they are against the commoditization of this knowledge of the homogenization about promoting universal knowledge that is applied in all contexts regarding of the specific conditions that need to be taken into account when growing food and against the privatization of knowledge too. And I think this is a great opportunity for you to exchange with the people from the peasant movement on their struggle and on your struggle and to see what strategies might be common and what might be the points where you coincide the most. So what they are going to present today is an attempt to communicate without speaking, but through images, which is a technique that's derived from theater of the oppressed, which is very linked to popular education. And in this form, I just wanna say that in this form of theater, there's no real boundary between the audience and the actors to say so. And that all that you're gonna see was built by them and is like their analysis. It's not only art or cultural presentation, is a political analysis that they have made on their situation and on their ways of struggle. So I'm gonna say it in Spanish. So everyone here understands that I'm presenting what's gonna happen. I was saying that what they are going to present now is a theater of the oppressed, which, in addition to being art and being a cultural piece, is also, above all, a political analysis that you have made on a situation that they face in their lives and also on the way out of those demonstrations of the oppression that there are in their communities and in the peasant communities of the world. So thank you very much for giving your time and presenting what's gonna happen. And thank you, everyone, for showing up voluntarily or by mistake, but it's so good that you're here. So it's their turn now. So I think that now's a good chance that if anyone wants to ask them a question or if they wanna ask questions, feel free to do it and I can translate or... I don't know if you could explain a little bit what the current situation is. They can get seeds, a saint and all these partners, they give them seeds so they can grow them and then they can't grow them because they're transgenic. What's the situation in the country right now? I was just asking them about the transgenic seeds and what is the actual situation in the country. Si, buena ya casi tarde, verdad, compañeros y compañeras. Good afternoon, Fernandez. Alo, alo. Como decía, la compañera Fernanda, nosotros somos parte del Movimiento General del Campo aquí en Nicaragua de la Vía Campesina. That, as I was saying, that they're part of the peasant movement here in Nicaragua from Vía Campesina. En el caso de Nicaragua, todavía no se ha patentado lo que son las semillas transgénicas. In the case of Nicaragua, transgenic seeds have not yet been patented. Pero con esto de la economía verde, con esto de la nueva tecnología para producir, but with the green economy and the new technologies to produce, vemos de que se puede convertir en una amenaza para los pequeños y pequeñas productoras del país. We see that it can become a threat to the small peasants, the small farmers and peasants of the country. Nosotros ya tenemos experiencias con otros compañeros del Movimiento General del Campo en Centro America y se han visto seriamente afectados por el problema de la patentación de las semillas. That we have other experiences with other members of young peasant, the young people from the peasant movement in Central America that have fought against the real cases of seeds being patented. And as we have been studying the problem, we see that it is a very big cultural threat as well as a threat to the environment. Because it would mean to lose biodiversity and our cultural or ancient ways of growing seeds or growing food. Well, I'm going to ask first in Spanish and in English, ¿cuáles son las restricciones específicas que les ponen las compañías que hacen estas semillas? In English, what are the specific restrictions that these companies are putting in the seeds? Buenas tardes compañeros y compañeras, mi nombre es John Wyman. Soy coordinador del Movimiento Juanil Campesino Centroamericano y del Movimiento en Nicaragua. Good afternoon everyone, I'm John Wyman. I'm the coordinator of the young movement of young people here in Nicaragua and in Central America. En sí, restricciones, pienso que no ponen así como estas son las restricciones que tienen que seguir, sino que… That the restrictions are not specific. Sino que mediante la introducción de las semillas al mercado de las semillas transgénicas se introducen en gran cantidad y más favorable, a menor precio. There is a massive introduction of seeds through the market which lowers the price, with low prices. Eso hace que los campesinos y campesinas, los productores y productoras, lo compren a menor precio y sea más acomodable a la economía. So that fits better in the economy of small peasants to buy cheaper seeds. That's from the perspective of transnational corporations, but seeing from our position as members of a social movement we know that this doesn't really benefit our economy. And also that due to the introduction of transgenic seed, we're losing our original seeds. This drives peasants into a cycle of transgenic production because transgenic seeds cannot be saved and used again. Para el consumo de nosotros y para los productores. No, no, that... Well, that there's this misleading idea that transgenic seeds are cheaper and will benefit the economy, but it just drives you into that cycle of buying and having to buy again because you cannot use that seed. That seed. Something like that. Sorry. Well, I want to add, then, to the translate again, as always, I want to add something that was very interesting to me, that I read in a text that some of you know of Caro Flores from Costa Rica, that he was working with campesinos Honduranos. And that's where the relationship between the movement, we're going to work on the field, with the movement of our free software, that says that it was with a community of campesinos Honduranos to help them automate their processes, install free software on their computers and so on. And when explaining the ideological part of the freedom of software, a lady who had never had contact with technology said, oh, it's like the seeds. Entendió perfectamente la relación. What I was telling, well, a friend of mine from Costa Rica, I wrote a paper where she describes her experience with peasants in Honduras. So she says they went there to help set up some automatization in some processes, I mean, to give them access to computers and give them talks on free software. So of course, as we always do, when we want to teach something technical, we start teaching something philosophical. And when she was explaining to people who have never had contact with computers before, one of the women there raised her hand and said, oh, this free software thing, it's more or less like what happens with the seeds. So yeah, this is like the full cycle. We're doing the same as they are. Punto Vista del Software Libre podemos ayudaros en vuestras tareas o vuestras tareas pueden ayudar de alguna forma a software libre. They're asking them if they can, if from free software point of view we can help them or if they can help us as well with what kind of interaction they can think of that could be helpful. De nuevo yo. Again, me. In this way that Gunnar was saying, we also find a relationship between both topics. Con el derecho de compartir, con el derecho de divulgar y con el derecho de usar lo que nosotros creemos que nos conviene o que estamos seguros que nos conviene. In the right to share and to distribute and to use what we're making, producing. Libres o demandas concretas a lo que nosotros nos viene afectando. We think that it is very important to have free access to communication technologies and technology in general to make our demands openly and really. Pero para ser efectiva, estas demandas tenemos que tomar en cuenta la manipulación que se está dando a la tecnología hoy en día. But to make these demands we have to take into account the manipulation there exists around technological. Entonces de esta manera creo que lo importante es transmitir información y transmitir conocimiento y también acompañar y hacer alianzas en las diferentes luchas por decidir lo que queremos hacer y lo que queremos usar. That's why I think that it is very important to transmit through the right media and to establish alliances with whomever made support us and share. And that with like the right to use and to the right channels and to have access to safe media to do that. So the translation is I'm sorry I don't speak Spanish. So I come from the USA where patents were originally supposed to promote progress in science in the useful arts. Que viene de los Estados Unidos donde se pensaba inicialmente que las patentes se impulsaban para promover el desarrollo de la economía de la ciencia y la art. And now patents are used to give companies monopolies. Y ahora las patentes se usan para otorgar a las compañías el monopolio. And the two strongest lobbying forces in the United States are software and for patenting molecules. So that means that not only is food patented but drugs are also patented. Que no solamente la comida patentada sino también la medicina. And that touches to those al mundo que eso eso afecta todo el mundo. Everyone everyone is impacted by food and drugs being patented and I don't think that that is successfully promoting progress. Successfully promoting that means that progress. Que las patentes sobre la comida y sobre la medicina afecta todo el mundo. Pues creo que no hay que eso no lleva al progreso. En español y luego resumen en inglés. Yo formo parte de una cooperativa en Barcelona de alimentos y allí hay un movimiento muy fuerte que se llama transgenics fora. Me gustaría saber qué tipo si tenéis algún tipo de colaboración a nivel internacional. Creo que ha dicho que sí. Bueno que explicaréis un poco eso. I'm part of a cooperative in Barcelona and there is a great movement that's called transgenics fora. Transgenics out. It's in Catalan and I would like to know the relations they have in a global movement or with other associations. That they have never heard of transgenic fora. Con relaciones internacionales, como decía Fernanda, la Vía Campesina está en cinco continentes. But regarding international relationships, Vía Campesina is in five continents. And Spain is one of the countries that's a member of Vía Campesina. Organizaciones que son parte de la Vía Campesina en España tendrían algún contacto con transgenics fora. So probably one of the members of Vía Campesina in Spain has a relationship with transgenics fora. Ahora desde acá en Centro America o desde Nicaragua, por ejemplo desde la perspectiva de Nicaragua, no tenemos contacto con transgenics fora. Pero sí con otras organizaciones y sí se podría, creo, tener algún contacto. That he says that in Nicaragua there's no relationship been established yet with transgenics fora, but that they think that it's possible. Y en Centro America como el que se hace en Nicaragua y en Centro America divulgarlo en España. For sharing information in both countries of what's been done in each of them. I'm telling him to speak a little bit about Vía Campesina as a global movement, not only about transgenics fora. Vía Campesina is an international movement that brings together peasant organizations in the world. 200 millones de campesinos indígenas afrodescendientes. That's 200 million of peasant farmers, indigenous peoples. Food sovereignty is one of the main goals of Vía Campesina. Reform agraria, agrarian reform, young people, women. Indigenous people, biodiversity. Y uno de los temas que más se ha implementado ahora para la conservación de la semilla criolla es la agroecología. And agroecology, which is one of the main ways Vía Campesina has been trying to assure the conservation of original seeds. En Nicaragua, there was already the first course to educate people in agroecology. Y en Centroamérica, tenemos escuelas que de formación que también tocan el tema de agroecología, como es una de las banderas de lucha, oejes principales de la Vía Campesina. And in Central America, there's also school for peasants to learn how to grow agroecologically. Esto con el punto de conservar la semilla criolla y estar en armonía con la naturaleza, con la madre tierra. With the purpose to keep original seeds and to build a harmonic relationship with the nature. Y pomenar el no uso de los transgénicos de la semilla mejorada. And to stop the use of transgenic seeds. There's one question from my RC that I think is related in time to what Tom was saying. En los Estados Unidos, los campesinos deben regresar todas las semillas que no crecieron después de una cosecha o enfrentarse a una demanda. Is this related to the farmers in the U.S. that must return any not growing seeds after a harvest or get sued? Is it related that in all countries where there are transnational seeds promoting transgenic seeds? Existen diferentes políticas de patentes o de uso de semillas de acorde a la realidad del país. There are different policies about seeds, patents, depending on each context. To point out a case that we had in El Salvador. That one person from El Salvador was using transgenic seeds and through the pollination process, other crops or other areas were contaminated. So Monsanto, which was the transnational in the case, grabbed the area where the seed was infected by the other transgenic seeds because the seed had a patent. And that is legal in El Salvador. It's part of the policy to manage seeds. So it might be the case also in the United States. Some people sit in the back thinking they will not talk. Hello. I think I understand your emphasis on private companies and transnational companies messing up with the way we have been growing what we actually eat. And this emphasis about privatization. But I have a question. How do you relate with the attempts of states and governments to normalize the list of the kinds of seeds we are allowed to grow? Because for example in where I live it makes it actually very difficult to grow ancient varieties of seeds. And sell the product thereof because the process to have centuries old variety added to the list is long done thing and very expensive. So how do you relate with such states or governments rules, attempts to normalize these lists? And in the privatization of seeds, what do you think about the intervention of states in the regulation of what kind of seeds can be cultivated? And give an example of a place where you cannot cultivate seeds in France, where you cannot cultivate certain types of seeds because it takes a long time, even though it has a very long history of cultivation of that food. You are from France. From Germany it's a European Union. And just today the European Union Court said it's allowed to trade seeds which are just so old. So the usual way is to get on a list in the European Union and this Court said for old seeds it's not needed anymore. So it's not a problem anymore. Just decided these days. If I understood correctly, I see that you and I were trying. Today it was a legal change in the European Union. Here I see the European Court raising restrictions on seeds trade. What it says is that the seeds that want to be commercialized with certain barriers have to be inscribed on a list. So the original seeds are not going to be subject to this treatment, which reduces this problem. It can continue to be commercialized with the usual. Regarding what the partner said, I return to the intentionality that the State can have. That he wants to go back to the idea of the intention that the State has regarding their idea of development. Many states in Latin America, Asia or Europe work to serve the interests of transnational corporations. That's why the policies that are applied are meant to facilitate their job. We as a social movement develop actions in favor of small peasants and the peasant communities. The use of original seeds that will be produced normally at its speed according to the historical use of the soil. The migration from conventional agriculture to agriculture is going to take a while because our soil is contaminated by bad practices from the past. What is the current position of the government of Caragüense before its activities? What are the main actions that are carried out against transnational and transgenic corporations? What is the position of the Nicaraguan government regarding transnational transgenic seeds? What are your main actions against transnational corporations and how can we contribute if it is as consumers? The support that we can give as consumers is to consume locally. That there is an experience like 100 meters away from the university. There is a peasant market in Cipres where we had the peasant wine party. That's an example. The government or the congress of Nicaragua recently approved a law that's called for the development of agroecology. Peasants were present in the discussion in work groups. Nicaragua doesn't have a law that prohibits the use of transgenics. That's something we have to be careful with because it threatens our identity as Nicaraguans and it threatens our productivity as well. And the promotion of this type of production is made through the impulse of cooperatives as a way to improve the quality of life of the communities. You have at least one open question. I also would like to have one. I think we are requested by our very kind German-led video team. We are being asked to cut and time the sessions. But please, I hope they will still be here for a bit so we can talk without the protocol of receiving and giving the microphones. Thank you very much.