Village women farmers belie the Minister of Agriculture: “Still no present and no future”.

VILLAGE WOMEN DENY THE COUNCILOR'S ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT COMPLIANCE WITH THE AGREEMENT SIGNED AFTER SEVEN DAYS ON HUNGER STRIKE.

The seven farmers from La Aldea who staged a hunger strike last November in front of the headquarters of the Government of the Canary Islands to demand commitments with the tomato sector, They have reported to the media that the agreement signed with the Minister of Agriculture has not yet been fulfilled.In this way, The women of La Aldea deny the announcement made by the counselor last week in which he stated that, with the payment made of two million euros, has already complied with what is established in the agreement.

Not only has the agreement been not fulfilled regarding the outstanding debt of 9,35 million euros, but it has not been carried out within the period in which the counselor himself committed to us, stated Laura Martin.

The demand of the seven women in struggle not only required solving the present that has suffocated the sector, but to guarantee the future for the thousands of families who live off tomatoes exported from the Canary Islands.

In this sense, just as important as paying the debt, We agreed to hold meetings to address the immediate future with all the agents involved, so we agreed with the counselor that he would call us shortly. Four months later we have not held any meeting to guarantee the future of our activity, noted Fayna Ramírez.

At the time of agreement, las mujeres le propusieron al consejero vincular las ayudas al empleo, lo que repercutiría de manera positiva en el sector que precisa más mano de obra por superficie, aprovechando la revisión del POSEI que estaba en marcha en ese momento.

Tras conocer la paralización de la modificación del POSEI anunciada por el comisario de Agricultura, ante la insistencia de algunos sectores para la ejecución de un estudio de impacto previo sobre las medidas, las mujeres han manifestado su indignación.

¿Cómo es posible que algunos políticos canarios muestren su satisfacción por la paralización del POSEI más social que hemos tenido a lo largo de su historia?. ¿Cuándo antes se nos ha permitido participar en una consulta pública sobre el mismo?. Is this going against our interests??, Beatriz Sosa asked herself.

Sosa asked these questions following recent statements by MEP Gabriel Mato, in which he showed his satisfaction with the decision that, having been carried out, “it would harm the interests of Canarian producers”.

Dominga Luján declared that they would like to know which sector she refers to, because among the proposals that appear in the document to which we have had access, never before in the history of POSEI have they had a marked social character, linking aid to the much-needed job creation or rewarding the incorporation of young people into the agricultural sector, among others.

After analyzing the document in its entirety, We still do not understand how these proposals may negatively affect the Canary Islands, when unemployment continues to be the main problem that affects Canarian families, apostille.

Arminda Martín regrets that those who claim to defend the interests of the Canary Islands, are very satisfied with the execution of an impact study that determines whether creating jobs is good or not and, However, have not requested an impact study on the repercussion of the EU – Third Countries agreements that have been negatively affecting the Canary Islands tomato for more than eight years.

With this procedure, we are very afraid that, as they have shown to date, This Government and some political representatives are not concerned about the disappearance of the almost 15.000 people who work in tomatoes and who support thousands of families in the Canary Islands, indicated Elisa Castellano.

Mª Luisa Segura and Dominga Luján announced that as long as the agreement is not fulfilled, they will not give up their demand: We will continue fighting for what is justice, what generates employment, economy, foreign exchange, maintains towns, respects the environment and has demonstrated its strength in this crisis, despite whoever regrets it.

Our dignity is above all the breaches and nonsense of those who claim to represent us and ensure our well-being., concluded the seven village women.