A year later, Ica laments the agrarian strike and the new law

“That it was worth it, no. Because I think there are people who went on strike for political reasons or convenience, nothing else, ”says Clementina, a day laborer from the Don Ernesto farm, recalling what the agrarian strike in Ica left on November 30, 2020.

In Ica, citizens demand water, sewage, basic services. The State is still absent and the social climate – despite the efforts of the private sector – is a time bomb.

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NO WATER, NO STATE

Thousands of buses stopped in the middle of nowhere, innocent people who had nothing to do with the protest; children, elderly and sick pregnant women were left without food and water for several days. In the midst of the pandemic, ambulances asked to pass the blockades to take COVID-19 patients, oxygen and medicines to the south of the country. A death in the province of Virú was added to this terrible panorama.

Kaleb Clemente, leader of Barrio Chino in Ica, tells Peru21 that, with the repeal of the Agrarian Promotion Law, which was so much demanded in the strike, “there is no difference, it is the same law with other terms. Only two things have been added: free unionization and the Beta bonus, which only increases by 9 soles ”.

The workers point out that what their cities need is public investment through works that solve their needs. “We lack many things, health posts, we do not have firefighters, there are no schools, we need basic services, tracks and sidewalks. All these deficiencies began to feverish the workers ”, alleges the leader.

Edith Bautista, leader of the Expansión sector, who was at the dialogue table, recalls that the strike began on social networks from one moment to the next. “We are not satisfied with this new law and I do not believe that the businessmen are; I think both parties were to blame, but we learn from mistakes and we are talking, “he says.

PRIVATE EFFORT

The agro-export sector lost more than 100 million dollars, shipments of products abroad stopped. Only Ica represented 3% of GDP in 2020; in other words, for each day that was paralyzed, the region stopped generating 57 million soles of contribution to the Peruvian economy. “In front of Villacuri there is a farm field that is dry, it has gone bankrupt. There are businessmen who have already killed their field because they can’t afford it. We had a goal of 300 hectares for this year and we stopped it because we have no confidence that the money we invested will be recovered ”, explains Manuel Izaga Divos, manager of Los Olivos de Villacuri.

There are more than three calls for a new stoppage, but this would no longer have support according to Manuel Olaechea, president of the Business and Human Rights Committee of the Ica Chamber of Commerce. “There is a lack of attention in all rural areas of Peru, they have been abandoned during the pandemic; everything has added tensions. Much of the responsibility belongs to the State, because I can be responsible for the salaries of the workers, but I cannot get involved in making water for the population, I cannot be the State. If this year we are going to strike, this year it is political, because it has no labor justification, this year we are listening and we do know the problems of our workers ”, he says.

Jorge Vargas Corbacho, president of Water and Agro of the CCI, considers that the protest was legitimate, the agricultural workers have many needs. However, on the way there were unscrupulous people who wanted to take advantage of the protest. “I think we are in a different scenario, we are talking with the workers. Last year the ethnocaceristas from Antauro and Movadef were at the protest. They did the test, they brought the state to its knees and repealed a law, and they put a new one that the workers did not read. Many strange people attempted against productive activities. There were many complaints, but they were very careful to have a direct appearance, “he explained.

Today there is a new agrarian law with which the workers of the sector and the entrepreneurs themselves are not happy. Exports have been reduced and their ambitions to invest as well. Ergo, it has not prevented both parties – businessmen and workers – from reaching out and looking for solutions, which suggests that any attempt at mobilization would lack legitimacy and would go against the interests of the actors who only seek to work and generate employment for a country. that cries out for an economic reactivation.

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