The Continental Assembly of the Latin American Coordination of Countryside Organizations (CLOC-Via Campesina) discussed and approved its Charter as a necessary step towards strengthening the organization. The Assembly also approved new members.

Some of the resolutions include the ratification of the five regions of CLOC-Via Campesina: The Caribbean, Central America, the Andean region, the Southern Cone and North America.

It also recognized the existence of the Continental Political Commission as the space to lead, encourage and support actions as defined in its Congresses and Assemblies, the plan of action and strategic principles.

The Assembly also recognized the Women and Young Peoples’ groups and the permanent campaigns as crosscutting areas, such as the campaign against violence against women, against agrotoxics, for an agrarian reform and in defense of peasant seeds and biodiversity.

The charter provides that the Secretariat of CLOC, which is now in charge of the National Peasant and Indigenous Movement of Argentina, has the responsibility of securing the dynamic interaction between the different regions, besides the everyday work of representing CLOC.

The Political Commission is made up by two representatives of each of the five regions. Gender representation is still not secured in its integration, this issue is pending until the 6th Congress.

Meanwhile, the 1st Assembly addressed the representation within CLOC and in La Via Campesina International. The Assembly proposes that the members of the political commission should be international representatives.

All the regions agreed that they should define the roles of the Intermediate Assembly in order to make political decisions, such as the power to grant membership to the groups that request it.

The over 300 delegates ratified the definition of CLOC as an anticapitalist, socialist organization, as well as the role of the coordination in mobilizing against the hegemonic power, the pillage and exploitation of capital.

CLOC also has a growing number of allies, such as the World March of Women, Friends of the Earth International, FIAN, GRAIN, Solidarity Sweden-Latin America, etc.

CLOC-VC will put forward before the 6th Conference of La Vía Campesina International, to globalize the permanent campaign against the use of agrotoxics in agriculture and to promote agroecology as a real alternative to feed humanity and to cool the planet.

New members
The Continental Assembly approved the requests of membership of several organizations. Now the different regions should proceed to the final inclusion at the 6th Congress, scheduled for 2014.

Some of the organizations include: Boricuá of Puerto Rico, National Council of Women Farmers of Chile; the Fishermen and Fisherwomen Movement of Brazil, the National Coordination of Black and Quilombolas Communities of Brazil, the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil and the Panamanian Peasant Union from Central America.