Cuba & Venezuela Lead Global Organic Revolution

>From Green Left Weekly, February 2, 2005

Food, poverty and ecology: Cuba & Venezuela lead the way

Jon Lamb

Cuba's shining example

A nation that has been forced to endure major economic upheavals and
constraints, Cuba is a shining example of what can be done to diversify
agricultural production and meet energy needs in a sustainable way.

Prior to the 1959 Cuban Revolution, like most impoverished countries in the
Caribbean and Latin America, Cuba was under the thumb of US business
interests, which was bad news for the environment.

Huge tracts of forest had been lost and replaced by sugar and tobacco
plantations. When Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492, forest cover was at
around 90%. This had plummeted to 13.4% by 1959. A painstaking reforestation
process has lifted it to just over 21% today.

The imposition of a US economic blockade against it, which punished other
countries for trading with Cuba, forced Cuba to develop stronger trade
relations with the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc, which while
beneficial, resulted in an overdependence on imports of food and fuel.

As well as this it adopted agricultural practices that carried over some of
the problems that existed prior to the revolution - extensive application of
monoculture, high pesticide and fertiliser use and inefficient use of
machinery and other resources.

In the late 1980s, Cuba launched a ``rectification campaign" in a conscious
attempt to redress some of the distortions - economic and social - that
working so closely with the Soviet Union had introduced. This helped prepare
it better when the crunch came in 1989, with the collapse of the Eastern
Bloc. The Cuban government was forced to undertake dramatic steps to
safeguard the gains of the revolution.

The most significant problems for Cuba centered on how to make up for the
loss of food imports (57%) and the cheap fuel that it consumed (and re-sold
as a major foreign exchange earner).

In 1993, the policy of "linking the land to the people" was initiated. As a
means to rapidly lift food production, the Cuban government recognised that
it needed to reorganise state-owned land, transforming nearly all of it over
to co-operatives. A new economic incentive was introduced for the
co-operatives to help establish redistribution based upon pay according to
the final results (the more you produce, the more you get paid).

In conjunction with this process was the development of "new land" in urban
areas with the creation of organoponicos (raised bed organic gardens),
cultivation of vacant lots and parks and support for intensive patio
gardens. The reorganisation and planning of food production was enhanced by
the level of scientific research that the Cuban state had put into
biotechnology and agricultural science.

The success of Cuba's food production and resource management has been
astounding and is continuing.

By 1999, there were gains in yields for 16 of 18 major crops.
Potato, cabbage, malanga, bean and pepper yields are higher compared to
Central America and above the average yields in the world.

By the end of 2000, food availability in Cuba reached daily levels
of 2600 calories and more than 68 grams of protein (The united Nations Food
and Agriculture Organisation considers 2400 calories and 72 grams of protein
per day to be sufficient).

By 2002, 35,000 acres of urban gardens produced 3.4 million tons
of food. In Havana, 90% of the city's fresh produce comes from local urban
farms and gardens, all organic. In 2003, more than 200,000 Cubans worked in
the expanding urban agriculture sector.

In 2003, the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture was using less than 50%
of the diesel fuel it used in 1989, less than 10% of the chemical
fertilisers and less than 7% of the synthetic insecticides. A chain of 220
bio-pesticide centres provides safe alternatives for pest control.

The ongoing National Program for Soil Improvement and Preservation
benefited 475,000 hectares of land in 2004, up 23,000 hectares on 2003. The
annual production of 5 million tonnes of composted soil by a network of worm
farms is part of this process.

While still highly dependent on sugar, large unproductive
plantations and mills have been closed down and resources reallocated. There
are plans to increase the quantity of sugar cane grown using organic
methods.

The benefits of the improved agricultural production have been far reaching.
Take diet for example. Traditionally, Cuban people have not been eaters of a
wide range of vegetables or fruits. One consequence of vegetable production
rising from 36 kilograms per person in 1995 to around 99kg by 2000 is that
it has led to a healthier diet for many Cubans, which has helped contribute
to a 25% decline in heart disease.

A network of state-run organic farms grow medicinal herbs used by the
Ministry of Health for distribution throughout pharmacies, hospitals and
clinics and all Cuban doctors receive some training in alternative medicine.
Each neighbourhood in Cuba has a "green pharmacy", where alternative
medicines are made and sold.

Cuba's emphasis on research and development has given it a justifiable
reputation as a world leader in biotechnology. This scientific investment
has helped considerably in the areas of sustainable agriculture
(bio-pesticides, beneficial insect breeding and soil treatments), and
medicine (specialised pharmaceuticals, vaccines and health treatments).

The recent advances in cancer treatments designed to help stimulate the
body's immunological defences at the Center for Molecular Immunology in
Havana have been impressive and described as a "unique and unprecedented
discovery" by the head of the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Los Angeles.
The latest treatment for lung cancer is being tested in the US this year.

More efficient use of energy and the use of a greater amount of renewable
energy sources is another major achievement. During the harvest season for
sugar cane, 30% of Cuba's energy comes from renewable sources through the
use of the sugar cane by-product bagasse.

Solar panels provide power to 2364 schools, 350 doctors offices and
hundreds of hospitals. A plan was started in 2003 to electrify an additional
100,000 rural households at a rate of 20,000 per year.

Even in the event that the blockade is lifted there is an extremely strong
sentiment - from farmers and urban gardeners through to leading technicians,
economists and scientists - that there will not be a shift away from the
successful agricultural and energy policies currently in place.

The situation in Cuba today shows what is possible when a rational and
integrated approach is taken when dealing with social and economic problems
under, at times, extremely adverse conditions. No wonder US imperialism
works so arduously at undermining the Cuban Revolution and countries and
movements that seek to chart a similar path, such as Venezuela.

Enter Venezuela

The unfolding Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela led by the government of
President Hugo Chavez is pursuing a range of social and economic policies
that are profoundly pro-people and pro-environment.

Within a relatively short period of time - and amidst considerable
opposition - Chavez's rural and urban land reform measures have given
millions of peasants, urban poor and indigenous people increased economic
security and a leg-up out of poverty and squalor. The agricultural
development law introduced at the end of 2001 is shaking up an unjust land
tenure system where less than 2% of the population owns 60% of the land.

David Raby, from the University of Liverpool's Institute of Latin American
studies notes that:

"The Venezuelan agrarian reform goes beyond satisfying peasant land hunger
and alleviating poverty. It is based as far as possible on organic practices
and is intended as the foundation stone of an entirely new social and
economic model, oriented towards self-sufficiency, sustainability and
"endogenous" development.

The land reform laws are thoroughly despised by the Venezuelan landowning
elite and capitalist class, who have denounced it as an act of
"Castrocommunism" and an attempt to introduce "Cuban slavery". One of the
very first things the leaders of the failed 2002 coup did was attempt to
overturn these laws.

Due to the high dependence on the oil industry, Venezuela's arable lands
are chronically underutilised and mismanaged, resulting in the import of
some 70% of Venezuela's food. While there is plenty of rich agricultural
land available, agricultural production is low - only 6% of the GDP.
Venezuela's agricultural sector is the least productive in all of Latin
America.

Previous land reform programs intended to benefit peasants and landless
people resulted in land eventually being taken over by cattle barons and
other large landowners. According to Ricaute Leonete, chairperson of the
National Land Institute, these landowners "aren't even capitalists.
Capitalists make use of their land Š In Europe capitalism got rid of this
kind of parasitic behaviour a long time ago".

In a 2003 interview with the North American Congress on Latin America,
Chavez described the land reform policy in Venezuela as an agrarian
revolution:

"For 40 years they've been talking about agrarian reform, and it's done
nothing but reinforce the old colonial system. First, we're putting into
effect the constitutional principles to obtain a real and lasting change in
the rural areas-principles like prioritising and taking seriously food
security.'

The Cyber Circles <http://cybercircle.org>, a web-based information source
on the Bolivarian Circles, explains that the land laws: "establish that
landowners need to declare how much land they have (and pay taxes on it, as
in any country) and how much they produce (and pay taxes on the production,
as in any other country).

"If they hold a large extension of land (more than 5000 hectares) that is
not producing they will be asked to show that they own that land. Should
they fail to, they will be given a term in which they have to make it
produce. If the land owner/holder fails to make it produce the law
establishes that it can be bought by the government at current market prices
to assign to farmers to produce. It will not be taken away, but they will be
forced to sell it."

Along with handing over the land to poor farmers and the landless, the
government has fostered the creation of cooperatives and provides technical
assistance, special credits, warehouses for sale of produce, as well as
health and education centres. In response to reactionary state governors and
local ranchers using vigilantes and police to harass cooperative members,
the National Guard has provided security in some areas. Over 120 campesinos
had been killed by landowner thugs between 1999 and 2003.

In Venezuela's big cities and towns, where 85% of the population live, the
process of urban land reform is also taking hold and has benefited hundreds
of thousands of people. Across the poor barrios of Caracas and other cities,
urban poor are gaining formal title to the land where they have built their
homes.

Decree 1666 of the land laws regulates the ownership of urban land and
recognises that the land belongs to those who live on it. At a public hand
over of 3000 titles in the barrio of Petare in Caracas last October, Chavez
told those present that: "We need to leave behind us the horrendous
capitalist system that has been installed here, by those who attempted to
dominate the people and to throw them into poverty. This why we are here, to
put an end to this."

As part of lifting food production, urban agricultural plots - modelled on
the success of those established in Cuba - have been springing up across
Caracas since 2003. Cuban technical assistance is helping with this
production of fresh and organic food. The Chavez government has set a target
of supplying 20% of Venezuela's vegetable production from these urban
gardens.

The process of implementing land redistribution and the associated reforms
has not been without problems. Some cooperatives are struggling to function
properly. Initially the pace was very slow, in part due to inefficiencies in
the government body responsible for overseeing the reforms, the National
Land Institute (INTI). Spontaneous land occupations by land-hungry peasants
have also created complications.

According to an article in the October 13, 2003 Le Monde Diplomatique,
Chavez apparently "flipped" when he learned only 1000 hectares had been
redistributed in the first nine months following the introduction of the
land laws. At a meeting of INTI officials Chavez declared "I want 1.5m
hectares redistributed by August 2003, or you're all fired, from the
chairman [then his brother Adan] to the lowest-ranking official".

By the middle of 2004, some 2.2 million hectares had been distributed to
116,000 families organised in cooperatives, an impressive achievement. As
one participant of the Second International Meeting in Solidarity with the
Bolivarian Revolution held April 2004 noted: "Those who dismissed the
Bolivarian revolution as demagogy or mere reformism should take another
look: this is the most profound transformation in Latin America since the
Sandinistas took power in Nicaragua."

Following the defeat of the opposition in the recall referendum and the
consolidation of pro-Chavez candidates and incumbents in mayoral and
provincial elections, land reform is gathering pace. The governor of the
state of Monagas announced in late December the expropriation of idle lands
in its territory and issued a press release against large estates, affecting
nearly 50,000 hectares, 45,000 in private hands.

In early January, Chavez announced that the government was launching a "war
against the large estates", signifying that the land reform process was to
increasingly focus on privately held land. Some 100,000 new land grants will
be issued to the poor and landless within the next six months.

In addition to this, a team of 2000 government officials will be evaluating
over 40,000 private land titles (some dating back to 1847), to check
ownership and productivity levels. One of the first big estates to be
investigated is the 13,000 hectare Agroflora cattle ranch, a subsidary of
the international meat industry giant, Vesteys.

The presence of armed national guards escorting government officials as
they investigate the Agroflora ranch has resulted in a hysterical tirade
from the cattle barons and editorial warnings by the British Financial
Times.

The Chavez government is faced with some complicated economic and social
issues. With respect to the environment, there is considerable debate over
issues of mining and energy generation. If the current approach taken
towards land reform is applied in these sectors, then we should see some
creative solutions and transformations take place. Some of the environmental
steps the government has initiated include:

• A plan by the Environment and Natural Resource Ministry to reduce
  the air pollution levels in Caracas by 50 percent in 2005 and by 80 percent
  in 2007, with the goal of being pollution free by 2010.
  
  
• Improved protection of waterways and fishing areas, especially
  those affected by oil exploration and drilling.
  
  
• Protection of unique ecological areas and indigenous lands, such
  as the 3.6 million-hectare Imataca Forest Reserve. In 2005, thousands of
  coffee-growing families in the Andes region will be provided assistance to
  establish environmentally sustainable organic coffee and vegetable
  co-operatives.
  
  
• Banned the cultivation of genetically engineered crops on
  Venezuelan soil and established the creation of a large seed bank to
  maintain indigenous seeds for peasant movements around the world.

Solidarity with the people of Cuba and Venezuela and other pro-peoples
struggles must be a central plank of the fight for global justice against
the madness of capitalism. As Chavez recently stated during his visit to
Havana: "the Cuban Revolution and the Bolivarian revolution have
demonstrated that a better world is not only possible but also is perfectly
attainable - a different world is essential to save life and the planet".

From Green Left Weekly, February 2, 2005