The world's largest peasant & Indigenous movement expressed its solidarity with Mexican farmers, who have been striking to demand the government remove basic grains from free trade agreements.

This article originally appeared in the December 4, 2025 edition of BM Editores.

More than one hundred organizations, members of Via Campesina’s Latin American Coordination of Rural Organizations, called for the exclusion of basic grains from all trade agreements between Latin American and Caribbean countries and European nations, as well as with the United States, arguing that food cannot be used as a weapon of war.

The members of CLOC, who are holding their VIII International Congress in Mexico from December 2nd to 10th, with the participation of 100 member organizations from 21 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, emphasized the urgency of guaranteeing, in the region: food sovereignty, security in rural areas, as well as respect for the land and the human right to water.

Regarding the above, José María Oviedo, a member of the Political Commission of CLOC, stated that Latin America is rich in culture, climate, and soil to produce and be the breadbasket of the region, ” but we need agriculture not to be included in free trade agreements since producers are forced to produce unequally in the face of the subsidies and advantages that their counterparts in the United States and Europe have ,” he emphasized.

He argued that, “food should not be in the World Trade Organization (WTO) because it is not a trade issue and should not be used as a fundamental element of war .” Therefore, he asserted that organizations in the region must work on the matter in order to guarantee food sovereignty.

Meanwhile, José Narró Céspedes , Federal Deputy and leader of the National Coordinator Plan de Ayala (CNPA), declared that the price given to corn in Mexico is unfair, since the producer is paid 5 pesos while flour costs 24 pesos and tortillas reach 30 pesos per kilogram.

“It is not fair to place the burden of the price on the shoulders of the farming sector, it’s urgent to continue the fight and protect farmers in order to remove basic grains from the trade agreement with the United States in 2026” he said.

In turn, Francisco Chew Plascencia, leader of Mexico’s Movimiento Social por la Tierra (Social Movement for the Land), expressed that in our country there is “a demonization of the organizations of the independent peasant movement.”

He indicated that the recent mobilizations demonstrate a just cause derived from price speculation in basic grains. It is essential in 2026 that corn be removed from the USMCA, a free trade agremeent based on a neoliberal model that the Fourth Transformation has no will to resolve.

Juana Ferrer Paredes , also a member of the Political Commission of CLOC-VÍA CAMPESINA, reported that this Continental Congress, where more than 500 delegates will participate, will also address women, youth, and diversity.

She asserted that this meeting represents a continuous struggle of resistance from the territory at a challenging time where, she said, “ we face religious conservatism, criminalization and the exclusion of women from land and decent work.”

José Dolores López, leader of the Independent Central of Agricultural and Peasant Workers (CIOAC), stated that the Congress taking place in Mexico will have a final declaration on the defense of the human rights of peasants and indigenous people, food sovereignty and the production of healthy food because Latin America and the Caribbean continue to fight against global crises.

Finally, Saúl Vicente Vázquez, leader of the Unity of Indigenous and Peasant Force (UFIC), pointed out that the defense of corn must continue since Mexico is the cradle of this grain that has provided food and cultural sustenance to the nation.

Youth, women & sexually diverse communities also held assemblies during CLAC’s Congress.

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