President Castillo Launches New Land Reform in Peru

On Sunday, Peru’s President Pedro Castillo launched the "second agrarian reform", which is a national policy for the development of agriculture through the incorporation of technology, the provision of technical advice, and the construction of productive infrastructure.

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"I want to make it very clear: this second agrarian reform does not seek to expropriate land or take away property rights from anyone," Castillo emphasized, adding that the Peruvian State will be at the service of farmers who have been relegated for decades.

The announcement of this development policy occurred on Oct. 3, when Peruvians remember the nationalist government of Juan Velasco Alvarado (1968-1973), who implemented the first land reform in this Andean country. This progressive general put an end to the abuses suffered by peasants and laborers in the countryside. The Peruvian ruling classes, however, remember him as the promoter of the expropriation of properties from large landowners.

Before the ceremony to launch the new agrarian reform, Castillo held a meeting with farmers on the esplanade of the Inca's Sacsayhuaman construction near Cusco City, where hundreds of farmers were waiting for him.

The tweet reads, "The first agrarian reform dignified the farmer and redistributed unfair land tenure. The second agrarian reform that President Pedro Castillo will present tomorrow in Cusco will boost family production and agriculture and give women a leading role."

"Today we are going to promote the farmers' rights and development... At last, Peru stands up to end exploitation and inequality in agriculture," the President said and announced that his new policy's first measure will be the creation of a "Cabinet of Agrarian and Rural Development," which will be made up of ministries related to production and subnational governments.

The Castillo administration will also carry out "corrections" in the price range of agricultural products, build a phosphate-based fertilizer plant, promote a program of public purchases of goods generated by family farming, build markets in all the provinces, create a water "sowing and harvesting program," and establish an agrarian development bank "with loans under favorable conditions."

To promote structural change in Peruvian agriculture, he will promote tax benefits for farmers and Indigenous producers, improve road and electrical infrastructure, and establish the "Agrarian Civil Service" program through which thousands of young university students will technically support the farmers.