Eighteen American farm leaders, from 13 U.S. states, sent an important message of support to Mexican farm leaders on the occasion of the forum on “Restoring National Agriculture,” held at the School of Economics of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City on Sept. 25. The forum, jointly organized by the National Front to Save the Mexican Countryside (the leading insurgent national farm association) and economics professors of the UNAM, aimed to organize support for the urgent national economic measures required to save Mexico’s farm sector, which like their American counterparts, is being driven into bankruptcy.
Farm leaders and activists from nine Mexican states, including the nation’s principal food-producing states, came into the capital for the forum. UNAM economics professors and professors from Mexico’s premiere agricultural college, Chapingo Autonomous University in the State of Mexico participated. Joining the farmers and professors on the podium in arguing forcefully that the nation must dump neoliberal free trade policies and return to sovereign agricultural policies that have a proven track record (protection from cartels, parity prices, state credit for agriculture), was 91-year-old Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, the son of Mexico’s great President of the 1930s, Gen. Lázaro Cárdenas.
The subject clearly interests Mexican youth, for many UNAM students filled out the auditorium.
The Mexican farm leaders, in particular, paid close attention when the message from their American peers (translated into Spanish) was read to the forum from the podium by a member of the “Save the Countryside” group. Some nodded at key points as it was read; due note was clearly taken of the names of those who signed and the institutions they represent. The message read:
GREETINGS to the Discussion for “Restoring National Agriculture”
Sept. 25, 2025, in Mexico City, with the National Front to Save the Countryside, and members of the Economics Faculty of the National University of Mexico (UNAM).
FROM: Farm and Ranch Leaders in the United States to Friends in Mexico
MESSAGE to be conveyed Sept. 25, 2025
WE RECEIVE THE NEWS with very serious interest, and appreciation, of your dialogue set for Sept. 25, 2025 in Mexico City, between farmers and ranchers from several states of Mexico, and members of the Economics Faculty of the National University of Mexico (UNAM), under the theme, “Restoring National Agriculture,” focused on how to turn back the policies and practices harmful to the nation.
WE SEND YOU OUR SUPPORT, out of a common interest in mobilizing to overcome the transnational enemy dominating farm production, trade and the food supply in both our nations, and restoring nation-serving, family farming at home and everywhere. We have a common enemy, operating through monopoly cartels, and centered in Wall Street, City of London, Chicago and Amsterdam.
WE ARE EXPERIENCING TERRIBLE CONDITIONS in the United States that make family farming and ranching impossible to continue. We have been fighting the situation in many different ways through our organizational and other joint efforts: in Washington, in state legislatures, and in the courts. Just a few points: Input costs exceed revenue for farmers producing corn, soybeans and other crops. Dairy has been slammed. The U.S. imports beef from more than 20 countries. The U.S. is 75% import-dependent for lamb. The monopoly cartels over the past 25 years set up patterns of horticulture production and rigged trade, undercutting farming communities in both our nations, and throughout our Hemisphere. There is no credit policy for new farmers; the average age of farmers is climbing. The list goes on.
YOUR AGENDA FOR DISCUSSION, as we see from your invitation, is a good start: “1) Let us protect the national food market; 2) pull basic grains off the Chicago Exchange and out of the NAFTA/USMCA free trade agreements; and 3) establish a sovereign credit policy.”
WE RESPECTFULLY ASK you to provide us with a summary of your discussion in terms of points of principle, and of concrete action. We look forward to sharing ideas that will benefit family farms and ranches in each of our respective countries and benefit international relations among sovereign nations everywhere.
The discussion about “basic grains” is fundamental, and the approach can carry over into all other sectors of agriculture and the food supply. The historical capacity in the United States for volume of output and productivity has been warped by the monopoly cartels into an “export source” for ruining other nations’ farm-food systems. But there are vast shifts underway in the world. There are big plans for agriculture in what’s called the “Global Majority” nations.
WE SALUTE YOUR COURAGE AND RESPECT YOUR EFFORTS!
Fraternal best wishes.
SIGNERS (Affiliations are for personal identification only).
Robert “Bob” Baker, Leesburg, Virginia; Former Grain and Livestock Producer; Director of Schiller Institute Agricultural Commission
