The Alberto Lovera Bolivarian Circle invites you to join us for an evening with two special guests from Venezuela, Braulio Álvarez, campesino leader and member of the Venezuelan National Assembly, and Miguel Angel Nuñez, a leader of Venezuela’s “Agroecological Revolution.”
Introductory remarks will be given by William Kramer, Adjunct Professor and Researcher in Globalization and Labor Studies at Rutgers University. Come learn about land reform, sustainable agriculture, and the struggles of farmers in Venezuela from these two incredible individuals (see bios below). Also learn about the movement for food sovereignty throughout Latin America and around the world. Special thanks to World Hunger Year and the National Family Farm Coalition for helping to sponsor the visits of Miguel Angel and Braulio.
When: Thursday, February 15th, 7-9 PM
Where: Local 1199, 43rd Street between 8th and 9th Avenues, Midtown Manhattan
**Wine and snacks will be provided - please feel free to bring something to share**
**This event is free and open to the public**
Questions? Email: cbalbertolovera@gmail.com
Braulio Álvarez is a founding member and national coordinator of Venezuela’s largest peasant group, CANEZ, and is the Vice President of the Permanent Commission on Economic Development of the National Assembly of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Born into a farming family in the state of Yaracuy, Venezuela, he has worked tirelessly throughout his life to organize peasants in the struggle for land, livelihood, and dignity. He is a leader of the Latin American coordination of campesino groups (CLOC) affiliated with the Via Campesina global peasant movement. In his capacity as a member of Venezuela’s National Assembly, he leads the Special Commission on the Investigation of Assassinations of Campesinos, Fisherfolk, and Indigenous People. Since the passage of Venezuela’s Law of the Land, over 100 campesino leaders have been assassinated by paramilitaries, and Álvarez himself has been the victim of two assassination attempts.
Miguel Angel Nuñez is a pioneer in Latin America’s agroecology movement and is the founding director of the Institute for the Production and Investigation of Tropical Agriculture (IPIAT) in Venezuela. He partners with rural communities throughout the country to reclaim traditional crop varieties and agricultural practices as part of a broader move in Venezuela’s political process to promote “development from within.” As an advisor to President Hugo Chavez, Nuñez works to promote a national shift from a Green Revolution-style model of industrial agriculture to a model based on principles of sustainability and participatory democracy. At the international level, he works to raise awareness and build support for what he has dubbed Venezuela’s “Agroecological Revolution.” (For further information)
