UCTP Liaison Addresses Indigenous Peoples Corn Conference in Mexico

UCTP Liaison Officier Tai Pellicier speaking at an international conference

Tlaxcala, México (UCTP Taíno News) - The International Indian Treaty Council held its 4th International Corn Conference in Vicente Guerrero, Tlaxcala México from March 7-8, 2019. Indigenous Peoples from throughout the hemisphere and the Pacific attended the conference whose theme was “By our ancestral rights, we protect and guarantee our Food Sovereignty and that of our future generations.” The United Confederation of Taíno People was represented at the conference by Tai Pellicier, a UCTP Liaison Officer. 

Taking place on day one of the conference, Tai’s presentation was entitled “Transgénicos, una amenaza que va más allá que semillas.” It focused on Borikén (Puerto Rico), as an example, and touch up colonialism; the U.S. invasion; land grabbing; contamination of soil, air, and water, environmental racism; subsidies given to corporations not provided to local people; and free corporate access to water.

Panel topics at the conference included the History and Importance of Corn for Indigenous Peoples; Threats to milpa systems by genetically modified seeds, pesticides, loss of fertility of the land, dispossession, false solutions and the green economy; Youth and Food Sovereignty; International Work on Food Sovereignty; Practical uses for corn; and Strategies, Projects and Solutions. A conference declaration was also developed and adopted.

UCTP Taíno News 03.8.2019