On January 5,  the Governor of Cojedes State (located in north central Venezuela), Yohnny Yánez Rangel, shook public opinion when he signed the first Zamoran Decree, which will activate the Land & Rural Development Law ... this is a polemic legal instrument approved in a package of 49 Enabling Laws by the Bolivarian government of Venezuela on November 11 (2001).

The Land Law's approval was quickly followed by the creation of the National Land Institute (INTI) ... an organization assigned to revise the structure of  legal land ownership (i.e. how many acres have been recovered, to organize peasant farmers and to issue agrarian titles as documentary proof of legal property rights.  The immediate reaction by landowners was to form squads of shock troops and, since the law has been on the statute book, more than 100 peasant farmers have been assassinated in consequence.

Four years later (January 2005), the Zamoran Decree by the Cojedes State Governor has once again spurred the rancid Venezuelan countryside oligarchy into action, their immediate clamor against the Bolivarian government has been to allege that private property rights are being violated. Almost immediately, the privately-owned mass media has put its machinery into gear to generate general uncertainty and to predict violent situations which would be Chavez’ fault, and which (they claim) would end the nation's prevailing tranquility.

Reaction by the Landowners

The first sector to become active was the Cattle Ranchers' Federation (Fedenaga), whose president, Jose Luis Betancourt said:  "This is not the right way ... if they want to eliminate private property and institutions, it will mean an end of peace in our country".

The allegation of "expropriation" of idle lands is a controversial topic in Venezuela, and is one of the arguments used by the opposition to brand Chavez with a term invented by their illuminati ... "Castro-communist" (?)

Other organizations invented by the private mass media (due to the opposition's virtual self-dissolution) ... 'Free Electors and the 'Committee against High Costs' are just a couple of examples.

Vicente Brito is a leader of an association in the ranks of the opposition named the Federal Movement and was formerly president of the bosses’ federation, Fedecamaras, which supported the oil industry sabotage in December 2002. On January 6 Brito stated: "Governors do not have the authority to issue these sort of decrees ... we categorically reject the intervention of the national government. This will increase poverty ... it will lead to generalized uncertainty in Venezuela's productive sector."

Situation in Venezuela

At present, according to statistics from the Land & Agriculture Ministry (MAT), the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela imports 70% of all the food it consumes as part of the basic diet. One should also note that 80% of fertile land is in the hands of 5% of landowners.

Much of this land (some argue that it has been inherited from generation to generation) was obtained from complacent governments ... violating the rights of peasant farmers ... and allowed large tracts of land to be illegally occupied. These people modified the boundaries at will and and took over the country's best lands. Coincidentally, it is the large commercial importers and the business oligarchy, together with political groups who had their heyday during the "puntofijismo" period from 1961–1998 who are still the major land owners.

The Bolivarian  Objective

When people speak about "food sovereignty" in Venezuela, they mean reversing the land "situation" ... to overcome an over-dependence on oil exports and to initiate a broad program to help the peasant farmers to at least produce the food consumed by the Venezuelan population. This is largely the objective contemplated in the Bolivarian project.

In order to push ahead with the strategic objective, President Chavez presided over a well-attended act Monday (January 10) in Caracas as part of a celebration of the 145th anniversary of the death of Ezequiel Zamora. 'Mission Zamora' was re-launched aimed at reorganizing ownership and use of agricultural land to do away with idle crop lands that remain fertile.

Mission Zamora (presidential decree no. 3408), is a constitutional line of action embraced in the revolutionary process currently underway in Venezuela, to attain social equality by complying with Article 307 of the 1999 Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which directly states: "Idle agricultural land is contrary to social interests."

Idle agricultural land is so manifestly unjust, that even opposition governors (Manuel Rosales of Zulia State, and Morel Rodriguez of Nueva Esparta) agreed to support the presidential decree and to publish their own decrees in respective jurisdictions.

During the relaunching of Mission Zamora, Chavez spoke about the accomplishments achieved by General Ezequiel Zamora ... he recognized the legendary soldier Zamora as being "from the pained but great soul of a people, betrayed by the oligarchy of the day, the concern of promoting the peoples’ revolutionary cause, since he in fact led the first national insurrection of peasant farmers in 1846."

Land and Free Men

The signing of the decree ... christened by the people as the "war against idle crop land" ... was attended by 20 State Governors (Venezuela has 24 States), government ministers and representatives of peasant farmers movements from all over the country.

Understanding that if it could not reach a just distribution of land and put it into production, the Bolivarian government would not be able to overcome dependence on oil exports to foreign markets. The revision of property titles and documents has begun with the aim of passing over illegally obtained land to the peasant farmers. President Chavez stated: "A democracy that allows this sort of injustice is losing its essence, and will turn into a democratic pantomime ... a revolution that permits this sort of injustice, cannot be called a revolution".

However, land distribution in Venezuela comes with a series of initiatives designed to help peasant farmers: soft loans through the Bank of Social & Economic Development (Bandes); credits to buy farm machinery through Fondafa; a State-owned funding body; the handing over of machinery to cooperatives of peasant farmers; technical assistance from INTI to make the best use of soil and planting cycles; courses for the training of cooperatives (Sunacoop); the use of silos for storing crops; the inclusion of CASA (state packing and distribution company, run by the military) in the distribution network and the marketing of products at low cost in the Mercal network of government-run food stores.

The Farmer's Vision

Peasant farmer leader Braulio Alvarez requested full cooperation from all State organs to ensure that the decree would not just end up as empty words. On this basis, he proposed the formation of the Bolivarian Peasant Farmers Front.

For Alvarez, the whole government project can be defined simply and clearly: "I am certain that if we achieve this, we will enter into a deeper phase in the agricultural process which will ensure the production of plentiful, cheap food."

The Governor of Cojedes State interprets the strategic objective of the Bolivarian revolution this way: "The action by the government concerning land reform represents the sentiments of the revolutionary leaders to forge ahead with the commitment to give power to the poor to combat poverty."

One thing is certain -- the battle has just begun. The Bolivarian government and the peasant farmers will have to face up to the strong resistance of the Venezuelan oligarchy and their traditional allies, the private mass media.

The objective is clear: Food Sovereignty.

The challenge is great: Defeat the economic powers which are contrary to national interests ... the interests of the Venezuelan people.

Ernesto Navarro
ernestojnavarro@hotmail.com

Information Sources

AFP

Diario El impulso

Unión Radio Noticias

Diario El Universal

www.univision.com

www.rnv.gov.ve

www.mci.gov.ve

www.venpres.gov.ve

www.alopresidente.com.ve

www.mat.gov.ve

Translated by: Richard Smith

Translators note. Ezequiel Zamora was the driving force in the Federal War in Venezuela (1859-1863) which was a continuation of the peasant farmer’s battle for land rights after independence from Spain in 1821 and the death of Simon Bolivar in 1830. Thus, he is the emblematic figure of the current land reform in contemporary Venezuela.