Food sovereignty delegation to Venezuela: Come see for yourself!

Source:  Revolucion Alimentaria

October 16 2019

What’s going on right now in Venezuela? Come see for yourself how Venezuelans are coping with US economic sanctions designed to cause a social implosion. Sensationalized reports of Venezuelans eating zoo animals and rotten garbage present a distorted picture of what is happening in Venezuela. The media also omits serious analysis of the role of the food distribution program known as CLAPs run through a government-community partnership reaching millions of Venezuelans. There is no doubt, however, as indicated in a recent report by CEPR, that the US-imposed sanctions are indeed causing collective hardship and even death.

January 3 – 12, 2020

Join us for a special delegation (January 3-12, 2020) dedicated to studying the actual conditions on the ground and the struggle for food security and food sovereignty in Venezuela, at a time when the Donald Trump’s administration has initiated a new series of sanctions against the food programs that Venezuelan state has created 

The Alberto Lovera Bolivarian Circle of New York, invites historians, artists, videographers, writers, political analysts, health professionals, agricultural production experts and other activists to join a delegation to Caracas, Venezuela this coming January 2020. Witness: communities organizing themselves in the face of manufactured food shortages to grow and distribute their own food; participatory democracy in action through community councils, ‘comunas’ and other forms of citizen organization; community-run art, media, education, health and nutrition efforts; alternative markets and fairs featuring homemade products and agroecologically produced foods; parks, natural areas, historic sites, and other reclaimed public spaces.

Come bear witness to the effects of the economic warfare and the sanctions against the Venezuelan people imposed by Donald Trump’s administration as well as the inspiring resistance to these, as Venezuelans push for food sovereignty in response to crisis. Come see the real “threat” posed by Venezuela – as living proof that another world indeed is possible. As the Venezuelan people assert, “Venezuela is not a threat – we are hope!”

Venezuela: Small farmers and Cooperatives Benefit from Land Redistribution

Source: Venezuelanalysis.com

13^th January 2014

This year the Venezuelan government plans to continue its pace of land expropriations in order to move towards what it terms “agrarian socialism”.

According to the 2014 national budget, the government’s National Land Institute (INTI) aims to expropriate 350,000 hectares of land this year.

This compares with the goals of 350,000 and 397,000 hectares of land to be expropriated in 2012 and 2013 respectively, after the government began to increase the pace of land expropriations in 2011.

It is estimated that in the decade between 2001, when former president Hugo Chavez passed a law promoting land redistribution, and 2011, the INTI expropriated 3.6 million hectares of agricultural land.

With the lands expropriated since then, the total amount of expropriated land since 2001 would currently be over 4 million hectares. Private Venezuelan newspaper El Universal meanwhile claims that since 1998 the Bolivarian government has expropriated more than six million hectares of land.

UN FAO Describes Cuba as Very Positive

MORE than 800 million people go hungry every day, while nutritional deficiencies threaten the health of another 2 billion. At the other extreme however, 1.5 billion people suffer from obesity. 

The message is clear: the global food market is not fulfilling the needs of the poor, and having access to this market doesn’t necessarily translate into access to better nutrition and health. This is why governments must eradicate hunger and malnutrition by implementing public policies designed to ensure food security and adequate nutrition for all citizens.

Cuba stands out

In the midst of this situation, a country like Cuba stands out, with food security measures described as “very positive” by Theodor Friedrich, representative of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, during the monthly panel discussion Letra con Vida,organized by the Dulce María Loynaz Cultural Center in the capital, and this time dedicated to World Food Day.
Friedrich, an Agricultural Sciences Ph.D.  commented on the country’s achievements in indicators such as eradication of hunger – being one of the few countries to have accomplished this – and fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals. However, he stressed “there are still challenges to overcome, above all the issue of food sustainability through personal effort, rather than relying on imports”. 

Venezuela: President Maduro Launches Second Phase of Street Government

Source: Venezuelanalysis.com

11th October 2013

Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro has launched the second phase of his Street Government initiative, with the aim of inaugurating new projects and strengthening community organisation.

The Street Government is a governance mechanism implemented by Maduro this year which involves the national executive visiting Venezuela’s regions and holding meetings with different neighbourhoods and social groups.

These meetings allow the government to orient its regional development strategies and launch new projects with the support and involvement of communities.

Read more at: http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/10085

Venezuelan Government Moves Forward with Seeds Law, Movements Demand Anti-GMO Measures

The Venezuelan government will continue its efforts to increase national food production and combat the use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) through a new Law on Seeds, president of the Agri-Food Development Subcommittee for the National Assembly Alfredo Ureña announced on Friday.

The law, designed as a reform to legislation from October 2002, aims to preserve Venezuelan biodiversity and contribute to food sovereignty.

“There are a number of studies throughout the world which affirm that the health of humans and animals may be impacted when they consume genetically-modified foods,” Ureña said during an interview with state-run television channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).

Read more at:  http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/9647

Related article:  http://www.realfarmacy.com/shocking-new-study-glyphosate-found-in-human-urine-samples-from-18-countries/