The determining role of peasant movements in Latin America

In Latin America the political significance of peasant movements have increased in the past 25 years – in spite of the decrease of the number of peasantry. Toady these movements are more successful in mobilizing the society against the neo-liberal elite and they are often capable of more organized actions and deeper solidarity than the weakened working-class movement. One of the reasons of this phenomenon is that the countryside suffers more from the impacts of neo-liberalism than the towns. The alliance with the local parliamentary central-leftist political parties was therefore almost always detrimental for the peasant movements. However, they are not ready to seize power on their own and there are severe obstacles to an alliance with the working-class.