Carlos Vicente – We are saddened by the news of the untimely passing of Carlos Vicente, a staunch peasants’ rights and food sovereignty activist who contributed so much—in his home country of Argentina and around the world. Carlos was active in multiple coalitions against the corporate control of seeds and to advance agroecology and the conservation of medicinal plants. He worked as an organizer, writer, and communicator for GRAIN for over 20 years, serving on the editorial board of Biodiversidad magazine, and providing invaluable support to the Latin American arm of La Vía Campesina, among many other grassroots groups. He will be remembered as a warm and generous spirit whose expansive legacy lives on throughout our movement. Read tributes to Carlos at GRAIN.org.
Gustavo Esteva – We also said goodbye this past week to the Mexican activist and organic intellectual Gustavo Esteva. The founder of Oaxaca’s Universidad de la Tierra (University of the Earth), Esteva dedicated his life to scholarship and solidarity with peasant and Indigenous peoples. He participated in the Zapatista uprising and became one of the movement’s key advisors and negotiators. He authored, co-authored, and edited more than 40 books and thousands of articles. He was an ardent critic of Western/Northern-led “development projects,” the ideologies of superiority that justify them, and the violence they inflict. Read an interview with Esteva at In Motion Magazine.
We offer our deepest condolences to Carlos’ and Gustavo’s families, friends, and colleagues.
