Argentinean Campesinos Publish Their Own Newspaper

by Alex Perrotti

Small farmers in the region of Santiago del Estero, Argentina have begun publishing a newspaper giving voice to their struggle against the encroachment of large-scale soy agribusiness on their lands. The first printing circulated 4000 issues of “El Ashpulito” (Quechua for “Full of Earth”) and documents the abuses and issues facing the nearly 9000 families who make up the Campesino Movement of Santiago del Estero (MOCASE).

Adolfo Farias, an activist in (MOCASE) explains, "For years, but much more so in recent months, our resistance to an agricultural production model that consists of vast monoculture plantations of soybeans has met with repression by ‘para-police’ groups and arrests ordered with the complicity of the local political and judicial powers-that-be.” According to (MOCASE) the “Para-Police” performing illegal raids and arrests are sent by landowners and agribusiness interests who want control of the campesino families’ land in spite of the legal claims held under Argentine law.

There is hope that this paper, which will be circulated on the internet as well as locally, will expose the realities of the ongoing attacks and intimidation which have been ignored by the mainstream media.

http://www.agenciaelnaciente.com.ar/inicio/
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44644