This is the message of Dario Zarazua for the “International Seed Days in Greece”
My name is Dario Zarazua and I’m descendant of Mayas Kaqchikel. I live in the local community of “IXIMCHE” at Tecpan, Guatemala, whose symbol is the plant of corn. We are in central America, in the heart of Mayas area, we send you our warm greetings and we would like to share with you our hope, our faith and our concerns.
Nowadays in Guatemala, our reality is tainted by a political with oppressive dictatorial character, who destroys the structure of indigenous lasting against our rights and mutilating our organization and our culture in favor of neoliberal policies, who wants to benefit the country’s wealthy class. This affects our brothers who are suffering from consequences of our land exploitation by international companies, that not only plunder but also destroy our sacred ground, our flora and fauna and that affects in our brothers’ lives in many ways. The greatest sadness is that affects our lives in ways that we don’t understand and worse of all we cannot cope with.
Similar is the case of the seeds that big companies want to alter and put in danger the existing of these ancestral seeds maintained from generation to generation , has been passed from parents to children and has been exchanged to maintain a healthy seed among local communities. Is very important for us, the conservation of these seeds, mainly of corn.
In our sacred book “ Popol Vuh” is written that after a lot of failed attempts our creators, decided to create us in corn consensus and this is part of our worldview rooted in the depths of our hearts.
Thereforewe expressed our concernto defenda legacythat comeswithour civilizationof whichwe are all born. Our seeds has fed our people for generations and they are the cornerstone of our culture. Now they become a form of resistance to globalization and economic attacksacross differentcontinents, different countries, differentbrothers. We don’t forget that we are all brothers who live in the same land and be warmed by the same sun. We have to begin thepath that leadsback tofindtheinnocence,thatbringsback the lovein our heartsandbe able to recreatea collective consciousness.
Withgreat admirationwe sendgreetings andourdeepest respect forthe activities you realize. We all know that seeds are life and they are nobody’s property. They weremadeto feed the world, that why they are land’s property. Nobody can privatize or destroy them. Our knowledge, our seeds and our love are all yours. We would like tounite with allthe differentpeoplewho gathertodayin thisland blessed bythe creator, Peliti’s land. Today, in this land mainly gatherthe seedsof soulsthat are creatingmajor changesfor the futureof humanity. You arethe real actorsof the big changesfor our planet and in the future we ‘ll come with you. Receiveall our lovebutalso the confidencethat you arethe true heroes ofour land.
Light and blessings,
Dario Zarazua