Radio Mundo Real

The International Day of Peasant Struggle was marked through countless events in different parts of the world. In Perez Zeledon town, Costa Rica, there was a meeting called “Where is the South heading to?”.
The space for reflexion focused on five themes: the access to land and housing, food sovereignty, women in the countryside, monoculture plantations and megaprojects.

The meeting was organized by the Rural Women Network, the Tinamaste Group, the South-South Coordination, FEUNA and the department of Rural Development of the National University.

Real World Radio’s correspondent in Costa Rica, Henry Picado, spoke with several rural women who participated in the event.

Esperanza Jurado, from the indigenous Terraba territory highlighted the need for solidarity and to organize around the struggles of indigenous and peasant communities against mega projects that threaten their territory.

Denia Monge spoke about the work carried out in one of the discussion panels on threats. She mentioned the construction of infrastructure projects such as the hydroelectric project of Diquis, the international airport, the installation of a tuna industry in Osa, millionaire hotel investments that could displace fishing and peasant communities, tourist speculation and the expansion of palm oil and pineapple.

The peasant woman added that “if a cost-benefit analysis is carried out, we realize that megaprojects are not beneficial for the communities”.

Flor Quiros Blanco, of Siquirres town, says one of the major problems faced by rural women in Costa Rica is the expansion of monoculture plantations, especially of pineapple. She said the activity increased 600% in the last 9 years.

The activist considers that disseminating information in the communities affected by monoculture plantations is paramount. For this reason she told us they publish materials to inform the rural population about the consequences of pineapple monoculture plantations.

The Network of Rural Women exposed that the Costa Rican state has not consulted the peasant organizations about a transformation bill of the Institute of Agrarian Development, which will now become the Institute of Rural Development. They believe the amendment will have negative consequences on the rural population, by depriving the peasants of the right to land and also by increasing land grabbing by big corporations.

They also report that officials of the Institute of Agrarian Development blackmail and harass peasant women and that they deny them their right to land just for being women. “The proposal is that as rural women, as indigenous women, the right to women’s work is recognized”, said one of the event organizers.