Peasant Voices from Argentina

(translation by Laura)

"MOCASE is what its name says, the Peasant Movement of Santiago de Estero. The main objective since the beginning is to unite so there are more of us to struggle against those who want to run over us, mainly to defend the land. And after the issue of land have always been the issues of marketing, farm credits, all that has to do with the small farmer. We never used to have access because they always pushed us aside because everything was always politically managed and they never took us into account. It began with this and we are continuing with this: the struggle for the rights of peasants."

"I've been with MOCASE since '89. We've struggled against everything. Before we only had one pick-up truck. Now they respect us. The issue of the evictions - over there are some compañeros that have been evicted. They burned their farm and now we are defending them. The news sometimes doesn't carry this because of fear of the government. Everything is managed by those who step hard, that is, those who have money. If it weren't for being organized, we would all be landless out in the little towns."

So say the campesinos, speaking slowly, considering every word.

In Santiago del Estero, 75% of land ownership is under possession "at-will of the owner". Thousands of campesinos who were born and raised, and worked for generations, on the same land, are suddenly kicked out by unknown buyers who, with irregular land titles, displace the families and burn the farms. Theoretically, if one lives on land for twenty years he becomes the owner through "adverse possession", but justice always finds a loophole for the powerful. In spite of making up 70% of all farmers, the small farmers with less than 25 hectares of land occupy only 1.5% of the total land area.

The eviction problem is not new. The first takeovers by large landowners date from 1963 in the southeast of the province and continued with impunity through the '70s and into the early '80s, when the first peasant organizations arose, predecessors of MOCASE.

Today this drama, which leaves hundreds of families without sustenance, has worsened with devaluation. Landowners and big business are going though a great economic moment in which their political power has become enormous. It is a terrible, disproportionate power which moves in all spheres – from finance to the halls of the ministry of economy, to the burning farms of the Santiago peasants. It's the old oligarchy with bad breath back in charge.

"The future we want is to have land, to live free, as our own masters, and with dignity. We don't want to go to the big city and face hunger, because in the country, good or bad, we live well because we farm and we can live off of what we produce. That's where we want to be. And attacks by the landowners, some judges and the government, keep us from it - because they are all one chain. Because if the businessmen didn't have the support of the government then the law would be fair."

Cooperation between the campesinos has a solid base: survival. According to official statistics, more that 56% of the rural population lives without basic needs met. The campesino logic can be summed up simply: together we have more power to buy or sell what we need. Therefore, explains Doña Mirta, they work in buying, selling and credit cooperatives. Also, machinery is shared. A tractor rests on a mountain of charcoal. On the side of the motor, in letters faded by the sun and sporadic rains, the words "MOCASE" and "Santa Rosa" - the name of the community where we are standing - can still be read. The old vehicle, which Hugo learned to drive and repair without reading the manual, works for the entire community, ploughing and harvesting and transporting whatever is needed. There are undertakings repeated in each settlement: a charcoal oven, carob trees, and many cactus fruits, all to sustain the community labor. Under the table, Doña Mirta is covering a large saucepan. Later, armed with a spoon and infinite patience, she will bottle it to sell in the town market.

"Sometimes they hit us here, sometimes there. They think we are only a few, but in the end we are many. Everyone is going to defend the land, because there are also some strong compañeros who won't give in and will hold tight until everyone gets there and then we become strong, and, well, we'll defend what is ours until death."

(to discuss building solidarity with social movements in argentina contact eleusa [at] riseup.net)