BY CAN COBAN AND MARIA PLESSA
LARISSA, Greece - Close to 400 farmers rallied in this town of north central Greece, located in the agriculturally rich Thessaly plain. Despite the heavy rain and sleet, a convoy of about 50 tractors, waving the black flag of struggle, made it into the central square December 8.

The farmers were joined by a contingent of about 30 students from the town's occupied high schools. Representatives of high school students, striking medical school students, and the Larissa Labor Center gave greetings to the rally.

A day earlier hundreds of farmers held a tractorcade in the nearby town of Trikala and on December 2 hundreds of tractors descended on the central square in the town of Karditsa.

In a statement published in the Larissa daily Kirikas, the Pan Thessaly Coordinating Committee (PASE) of the farmers explained the demands of the protests. These include:

Lowering farmers' production costs by reducing the value added tax to 8 percent and the fixing of the cost of petrol at transit prices - that is without all the usual taxes.

Renegotiating farm loans with the Agricultural Bank and suspending foreclosures.

Reducing payments by farmers to the farmers social insurance fund and increasing the minimum pension from 29,000 Drc. to 45,000 Drc. (290 Drc. = US$1) per month.

Halting the court trials of farmers, which are continuing against farmers who engaged in road blocks.

Intervention by the state to guarantee a price of 55 Drc. a kilo for wheat and 365 Drc. a kilo for cotton.

In a discussion with Militant reporters one cotton farmer, who did not wish to be identified, said, "There is real fear now of losing the land. You see one or two foreclosures taking place in every village now. This must stop. Of course the problem is that our costs are too high and our prices too low."

Christos Papasteriadis, a member of the PASE coordinating committee, told the Militant, "Small and medium farmers are facing extinction. The aim of the European Union and the government here is to reduce the farm population from 21 percent to 8 percent! The EU is not allowing subsidies for small farmers, and with small plots they are not competitive in the globalization of the market and the capitalist type of production."

Pointing to how debt has become a major problem, Papasteriadis continued, "Five years ago the price of cotton was 332 Drc. a kilo. People produced cotton with that price in mind, and invested in production. The following year the price dropped to 220 drc. To make up the difference you were forced to borrow. Debt has mushroomed tenfold in the last 10 years. Now debt is accumulating on the interest."

Referring to the high school mobilizations currently taking place (see article elsewhere on this page), Papasteriadis added, "The students are doing the right thing. They should not lower their heads and accept this situation." A high school student attending the farmers' rally explained that 11 out of 15 schools in Larissa were occupied.

Georges Mehrabian contributed to this article.  
 
 
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