From the extreme right to left-wing organizations: this is the battle to control the farmers' protests

The rural mobilizations have behind them a diverse combination of groups: from traditional agrarian organizations, without party affiliation and with different tendencies (from the CEOE to the UGT), to the new 6F Platform that emerged on social networks with leaders from around Vox, which also has the support of the transporters association that paralyzed the industry in 2022. Not everyone has the same objectives or propose the same forms of protest: some ask to cut roads and go to Ferraz, headquarters of the PSOE, and abolish the green agenda from the EU; and others call for more old-fashioned demonstrations and demand that environmental regulations be made more flexible. They all agree, however, in presenting themselves as movements unrelated to politics. In any case, the echoes of the unrest in the countryside have fully entered the political arena, with PP and Vox competing to lead the defense of the agricultural sector.

In the midst of the election campaign in Galicia, which will be held on February 18, the clash between these parties and the Executive took place last Wednesday in the plenary session of Congress. The claims of the countryside have become a central theme of the political dispute. In fact, on February 14, Vox announced that it will send the four regional councilors of its formation related to agriculture and livestock (Valencian Community, Castilla y León, Extremadura and Aragón) to Brussels to talk about the problems of the sector. In this sense, the first vice president and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, described Vox's attempt to “capitalize and manipulate” the mobilizations of farmers and ranchers “to go against Pedro Sánchez” this Friday as an “anti-democratic attitude.” Without explicitly referring to Santiago Abascal's party, Montero assured that the Government knows “who is behind it. The “ultra-right” wants to “politicize” the mobilizations, he said the day before.

This time, at least for now, the Vox leader has not been seen riding a tractor, as happened for example in some protests in 2022. And in fact some protesters have booed a member of this group who has tried to approach the protesters. protests. But the affinity with Vox's ideas is clear in the case of Lola Guzmán, former militant of that party and spokesperson for Platform 6F. She has indeed been seen riding a tractor these days, as Marine Le Pen, leader of the French far-right National Rally party, did at the end of January during the farmers' protests in her country.

Platform 6F, with a leader similar to Vox

The 6F Platform, which owes its name to the start date of the tractor demonstrations on February 6, has burst into the protests through WhatsApp and Telegram groups. Guzmán, a Valencian nurse who has land dedicated to livestock, shows videos on TikTok and Instagram in which she attacks traditional agricultural organizations (Asaja, COAG and UPA) and demands better conditions for farmers. Recently she was at the controversial protests in front of the PSOE headquarters in Madrid. Although she is no longer a member of Vox, she has photos with prominent members of the group, such as a selfie which was done together with Iván Espinosa de los Monteros and Rocío Monasterio, with Abascal in the background, in a protest in the capital.

Platform 6F has called for marches for this Saturday. “On the 10th, transport joins to enter Madrid and the transporters are going to paralyze the markets, with an attempt to reach Ferraz,” said Xaime da Pena Gutiérrez, who presents himself as the legal person responsible for the platform. Da Pena managed, on behalf of the Desokupa organization, the installation of a banner against Pedro Sánchez on a building in the center of Madrid with the slogan “You to Morocco. “Desokupa to La Moncloa.” He argues that he only made the arrangements for the organization that hired him and assures that there are members of all ideologies on the platform: “In Catalonia, we have pro-independence participants,” he said a few days ago in a telephone conversation with EL PAÍS.

In the Whatsapp and Telegram groups there are radical messages, anti-European Union and climate change deniers. But there are also some more moderate ones. It is not clear what real influence this movement has on the protests, but it has been able to channel discontent on the part of the sector.

Asaja, attached to the CEOE

The main agricultural employers' association in Spain, with some 200,000 members, is Asaja (Young Farmers Agrarian Association). It is attached to the CEOE and is considered closer to the right, with more conservative positions. Since 1990, its president is Pedro Barato, a law graduate and owner of an agricultural and livestock farm in Ciudad Real.

“Our organization brings together, from top to bottom, from left to right, thousands of farmers and ranchers. There are many types of farms: small, medium-sized and larger,” explains Donaciano Dujo, president of Asaja in Castilla y León. “We are not going to allow people who are not farmers or ranchers, and who have other interests, political and social, to criticize us,” he says, referring to some protesters who follow alternative groups. “We ask for respect, agricultural organizations have achieved things; There has been progress,” he adds in a telephone interview.

COAG, “from Vox to ERC”

The second agricultural organization by number of members is COAG (Coordinator of Farmers and Livestock Organizations), with about 150,000 members. Since 2021, its general secretary has been the Murcian farmer Miguel Padilla. It is defined as a “professional organization independent of political parties and economic powers for almost 50 years.” It was the first to be established, in 1977.

It brings together farmers and ranchers of all types of ideologies, from “Vox voters to ERC”, mainly the territory in which they are located, according to COAG sources. They emphasize that, when negotiating solutions for the sector, “people leave their partisan vision on the nightstand” and that they “reject any type of politicization” of the protests.

UPA, “progressives without a doubt”

With some 80,000 members, the Union of Small Farmers (UPA) is the one furthest to the left and is linked to the UGT union. Its general secretary, Lorenzo Ramos, a farmer in Valdelacalzada (Badajoz), is part of the confederal committee of this union. “We are progressive without a doubt. We believe in progress and we represent family farming,” explains its deputy secretary general, Montserrat Cortiñas.

Asked if the Spanish countryside is more right-wing or left-wing, the UPA affiliate answers bluntly: “We believe that the countryside is plural and diverse, just like Spanish society.” What do you think about the protests' demands for environmental measures? “We know that there is a complicated situation with climate change, but what we denounce is that the EU takes measures with caution and then when it comes to applying it in the field it is impossible. We have to go from talking about desirable objectives to achievable objectives.”

Union of Unions and Unió de Pagesos

The tractors of the Union of Unions have also rolled through the streets these days, the fourth group with the most representation of the countryside in Spain which, however, the Executive does not recognize as an official spokesperson. For this reason, she was excluded from the meeting held by the main organizations and the Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas, on February 2. Founded in 2008, after several members split from Asaja, it has taken special prominence in Castilla y León, the Valencian Communi
ty and Catalonia. It is led by Luis Cortés who, according to eldiario.es, spent time in prison after being convicted of fraud and forgery. This group maintains its own calendar of demonstrations that will last until the end of the month.

One of the groups that make up this organization is the Unió de Pagesos. The movement emerged in 1971 as an anti-Franco protest group and today is considered “progressive, environmentalist and defender of the national identity of Catalonia.” He was the one who led the day this Wednesday in Barcelona with the entry of about 1,250 tractors to the city center.

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