The role and challenges of the peasant organization in Cuba: interview with the leader of the National Association of Small Farmers , Mario La O Sosa/Entrevista: O papel e os desafios da organizacao camponesa em Cuba

The role and challenges of the peasant organization in Cuba: interview with the leader of the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP), Mario La O Sosa/Entrevista: O papel e os desafios da organizacao camponesa em Cuba: entrevista com o dirigente da Associacao Nacional dos Agricultores Pequenos (ANAP), Mario La O Sosa/El papel y los desafios de la organizacion campesina en Cuba: entrevista con el lider de la Asociacion Nacional de Agricultores Pequenos (ANAP), Mario La O Sosa. Mario La O Sosa has a long experience in the direction of the National Associations of Small Farmers (ANAP) in Cuba, where he had carried out different responsabilities that range from the basic groundwork to the municipality and the Eastern Provinces. He was in charge of Cacao, Coffee and Forestry as well as the Legal Jurisdiction for almost twenty years. He has been the Head of International Relations and Cooperation Projects of this Non- Governmental Organization for seven years. In an interview carried out by Eraldo da Silva Ramos Filho and Angelina Herrera Sorzano on February 14, 2008 at the sits of ANAP in El Vedado, Havana, La O Sosa dealt with the origin, principles and functions of ANAP; the political role of Cuban peasants in Cuban History since XIX century, including Cuban Revolution triumph in 1959; the importance of Agrarian Reform to economic development; details about private property; agrofuels; the alliance between the State and the peasants the development of the Peasant's World Development, its role in the building up of the sovereignty and food insurance in Cuba and Latin America and the perspectives of the Farmer's Movement in our contemporary world. This interview took place during the International Scientific Cooperation financed by CAPES and the logistic backing of MES, Cuba--entitled Comparative Study of Recent Transformations of Cuban and Brazilian Countryside (1994-2005). Keywords: cuba, ANAP, peasants, sovereignty, food insurance. Mario La O Sosa e um historico dirigente da Associacao Nacional de Agricultores Pequenos (ANAP)--Cuba, onde atuou na base, nos municipios, nas provincias orientais do pais, desempenhou responsabilidades na direcao de cafe, cacau e florestais, esteve a frente da direcao juridica por cerca de 20 anos, e, ha sete anos e o chefe do Departamento de Relacoes Internacionais e Projetos de Cooperacao desta Organizacao Nao- Governamental. Nesta entrevista concedida aos investigadores Eraldo da Silva Ramos Filho e Angelina Herrera Sorza