LOCAL STRUGGLES AND NEWS

- Argentina: For a sustainable Patagonia, against mining

Argentine Patagonia is a vast region covering 800,891 km2, encompassing a great variety of ecosystems. Topographically, two environments may be identified: the Andean area (comprising the Southern Andes Cordillera, with forests, lakes and rivers) and the extra-Andean area (steppes and plateaux).

For years now, Patagonia has been thoroughly explored from the air and hundreds of geologists of every nationality have prospected the land. The result is a mining concession map. This process –in addition to the creation of networks of influence within the provincial governments allowing laws favouring investing companies to be adopted– has been carried out behind the back of the population.

Response has been nil from the traditional political context. Until very recently, the environmental issue was not considered and the prejudice that ‘growth’ is always good, a ‘necessary’ process with high and inevitable costs, predominated. Later it was said that stakes had to be placed on green technologies, on IRAM (the national certification body) standards, on environmental impact files or on questionable cost/benefit studies.

In other words, what they are saying is ‘Stop! Where do you think you’re going? Pass by the till please!’ For, if contamination is a business, the show of decontamination and prevention is one too. Environmental monitoring –‘yes to mining but monitored mining’- is only a part of the same lie. The facts show the contrary: toxic waste from the Angela Mine –cyanide and mercury- have been buried in the mine and now acid drainage is filtering downstream. Reports on ‘remediation’ carried out at a cost of millions by the Argentine State seem to have disappeared from the Mining Office in the Province of Chubut. The same has happened with the water analyses carried out by the Police in Andacollo in the Province of Neuquen, where Andacollo Gold spills its poison.

In many other cases, direct or indirect violence is used to access nature and literally ‘exploit’ it, devastating the hills, contaminating rivers and lakes, deforesting large expanses of forest.

The economic ‘success’ of some countries generated a gigantic ecological debt, swept under the carpet for over two centuries and certainly not appearing in statistics. What we commonly call ‘economy’ is only a thin and shiny veneer on something that conceals monumental destruction, human suffering and exploitation all over the world. Destruction that is externalized (an elegant word to express concealment), such as chemical waste, the loss of biodiversity and incalculable social damages.

The great industrial, scientific and political challenge is not ‘always keep on’ as the Titanic crew obediently repeated, but to seek different ways, promoted by a protagonist citizenship.

Along these lines are the self-convened mobilizations against mining in Esquel (Province of Chubut), Andalgala (Catamarca), San Juan (San Juan), Andacollo (Neuquen), Jujuy (Jujuy), Ingeniero Jacobacci (Rio Negro) and others that are joining them and contributing critical visions, added to those of the indigenous Mapuche-Tehuelche, who give economic theory lessens to those considering themselves to be the intellectual or political centre of the world, the country or the province. An interconnected citizenship rejects the system because it has discovered its inconsistencies and suffers from them personally. This incipient network, varied, broad, democratic, multiple, confused, immature if you like, but also integrative, productive and creative, is providing answers –and generating alternatives– to a fraudulent, impoverishing system, overburdened with conflicts on all sides.

Centralist maps, particularly those ‘designating’ or ‘arranging’ land use, such as in the case of mining (but equally applicable to oil, transport, or any large-scale activity) should be totally revised. Those who talk of ‘national’ mining and define with the same extractivist mentality the cordillera as a ‘resource’ and mountains as an ‘obstacle’ to obtaining metals or minerals, are on the same side as mining companies, with the only difference that they propose adding a blue and white sticker stating ‘Extracted in Argentina’.

Furthermore, the water in the plateaux is not sufficient for the needs of the mega-enterprises. Therefore, they will pump it from wherever they can: wells will dry up, watering holes and mallines (damp environments where natural forage species grow) where the cattle graze will disappear. Mining activities –that can give jobs to a handful of people for a short while– will destructively compete with other longstanding rural activities in the region, increasing rural migration and desertification and overcrowding in urban belts of misery.

There has been a paradigmatic policy change in which an active citizenship has started identifying and establishing general economic objectives and thinking of ways to achieve them. These social organizations and individuals want to make sure that no metal leaving Argentina is used for weapons, or for jewellery or luxurious decoration, nor to compete with Latin American markets, nor to swamp the Argentines with products whose added value remains in other latitudes.

They demand that in the event some type of mining is considered, on a small scale and for very clear purposes –for a real socially and ecologically speaking economy, to feed a local market of craftspeople and small and medium-sized industries, to cover regional and national needs– a totally different point of departure must be used. The whole cycle -environmental, technological, labour, financial, income and destination of each mineral or metal extracted- must be monitored.

Social organizations in Patagonia demand that the land intended for mining use and the surroundings, be used to cover the basic needs of the Argentine people, fully devoted to organic agriculture, recreation, health, education or to many activities with high added value or just as a space to live in voluntary simplicity. They also want to recover the land that has been stolen and achieve recognition of the Indigenous Peoples’ rights. This territory, under the same tax conditions, favours and subsidies obtained for the mining sector, can offer lands for the settlement of one million families, supportive communities or Argentine cooperatives, establishing decent, creative and sustainable sources of jobs for centuries, in opposition to the 26,000 salaries, ‘royalties’ and devastation proposed by this mining policy which, at the best, has a 10-15-year horizon.

Some will say that this is difficult to achieve, which is probably true. However, it is infinitely preferable to the present destructive and parasitical delirium.

Article base on information from: an interview by Verónica Contreras to Professor Andrés M. Dimitriu, published in La Bitácora, Patagonia, Argentina, Nº 23, Autumn 2004, e-mail: slainte@ciudad.com.ar ; “Calcatreu”, published in Argenpress.info, http://www.argenpress.info/nota.asp?num=010771

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- Brazil: A categorical demonstration against the green desert and in favour of life

With the presence of a delegate from the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment, the third Meeting convened by the Alert Against the Green Desert Network took place in the city of Belo Horizonte on 6 and 7 May. This Network, comprising over 100 member organizations, gathered many representatives of the Landless People's Movement, peasants, indigenous peoples, Afro-Brazilian communities, small farmers and social movements from the States of Minas Gerais, Espirito Santo, Bahia and Rio de Janeiro.

The panel session at the start of the meeting comprised a national delegate from the Landless People’s Movement, a delegate from the Afro-Brazilian communities, a geographer from Minas Gerais, a member of the Secretariat of the World Rainforest Movement (WRM) and a representative of the Ministry of the Environment. Except for the latter, all the other panelists expressed their solidarity with those affected by the plantations and explained the reasons for their opposition to large-scale monoculture tree plantations.

The presentation by Mr. Nelson Barbosa, representative of the Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, gave rise to great commotion among the participants. He spoke of the need to plant trees to obtain timber, adding that statistics show that a 65-year old person has already ‘consumed’ 367 trees. Therefore, he affirmed that reforestation plans should be promoted, together with the creation of jobs to reach the Government’s Zero Hunger goal, proposing to reach some kind of an agreement with those present at the meeting.

For over two hours, the participants made the official representative aware of his fallacious argument, showing their indignation over what they had just heard, but remaining respectful and providing forceful examples, Here below are just some of the examples of their many testimonies.

A representative of the Indigenous peoples clearly let the governmental delegate know that the people were not against the government, stating “The government is ours” and adding “we are against the expansion of these companies to the detriment of our survival.”

A 20-year old woman from a community in Nova Venecia in the State of Espirito Santo noted that large-scale monoculture tree plantations are not intended to provide the communities with timber but to provide the large companies with cheap raw material for their pulp mills or charcoal for iron and steel-works. She found it ridiculous that the communities should be blamed for deforestation and ironically suggested that Mr. Barbosa should obtain an invitation from Aracruz Cellulose, one of the largest pulp producing companies in the world, in order to see for himself the impact of monoculture tree plantations on the neighbouring communities.

A representative of the Federation of Rural and Agricultural Workers of the Municipality of Macuri in the State of Bahia, underscored the fact that one could not speak about reforestation when what was really being promoted were large-scale monoculture plantations: plantations should not be confused with forests. While forests are “a gift of nature, monoculture is a crime,” he emphasized.

“The word sustainability is linked to durability, and there is nothing as durable as Indigenous agriculture,” stated another participant “The Indigenous peoples have demonstrated that they are able to maintain forests because they have done so for thousands of years. The 50 years of the Green Revolution have only caused devastation,” he ended by stating.

A member of MPA (the Small Farmers Movement) affirmed that there have been many more jobs lost than generated with the plantations and the installation of pulp mills. He gave details of investments made and what they could have meant in the generation of jobs if, instead of supporting the large multinational paper corporations, they had supported small farmers. According to the figures given by the government regarding investment, each job generated in the plantation/pulp industry has implied an investment of some US$330,000.

With sorrow and pain, a representative of the Hip-Hop movement, a young man from the “favelas” (the shantytowns of Brazil), stated that one cannot speak of “zero hunger” while promoting policies making hunger more critical.

Concisely, seriously and briefly, a member of the NGO FASE questioned Barbosa about the nature of the figures he had submitted. “If you want to talk about numbers, it would be good to know how many small farmers have lost their land, how many wells have dried up, how many rivers have been contaminated, how many people have died of hunger each year and how much money the large plantation companies installed in Brazil have made” she said.

Another participant emphasized that it is impossible to reach an agreement with the communities while the government has agreements with the companies and benefits them, while it violates the communities’ rights and does not even consider them as human beings. “We answered the call made by the President and worked hard and voluntarily in the preparation of a plan for the government to take measures favouring the communities. Where are these documents and plans? When will they start carrying them out?” asked an indignant representative of the Bahia-based organization CEPEDES.

Before leaving, the Government representative promised to bring to the Minister’s attention the serious complaints he had heard and assured the participants that he personally would always defend small farmers as for many years he himself had been a small farmer.

Following the panel session presentations, the participants split up into discussion groups and examined the negative impacts of large-scale monoculture tree plantations on the local population and on labour relations in industry. They also discussed the relationship of industrial monoculture tree plantations with land problems, biodiversity, the energy model, human rights and violence.

As a result a document was prepared and, together with a letter, was personally delivered by some 200 participants to IBAMA (the Brazilian Environmental Institute) and to the National Planning Secretariat. In a tour that lasted almost four hours along the central streets of the city of Belo Horizonte, the participants handed out hundreds of flyers bearing a clear slogan: Enough of eucalyptus! We want Agrarian Reform! If rural areas are not sown, the cities will not eat!

In the letter (the complete text can be found at http://www.wrm.org.uy/countries/Brazil/claims.html ) addressed to the Government of the State of Minas Gerais, redress is demanded of a series of economic, social, cultural and environmental rights, directly violated by large-scale industrial tree plantations, both for pulp and for iron and steel works. Furthermore, guidelines for urgent measures that must be taken are provided, such as giving back to the communities 280,000 hectares of public lands (that were rented out to private companies), accompanied by an agroextractivist restructuring program.

In their “Statement against the green desert and in favour of life” (the complete text is available at http://www.wrm.org.uy/countries/Brazil/manifesto.html ), the communities take a stand over the socio-environmental disaster caused over the past 35 years by monoculture eucalyptus and pine plantations to supply iron and steel works and pulp mills, damaging diverse ecosystems and populations on their territory, their biological, social and cultural diversity, causing expropriation, unemployment, migration and hunger.

For this reason, the Network reaffirmed the concept that PLANTATIONS ARE NOT FORESTS!

The impacted populations asked the Government to establish public policies enabling them to restore this disastrous social and environmental liability, and to take action to strengthen biological, cultural and agro-ecological diversity.

Perhaps the most important thing that happened at the Meeting and the most difficult one to transmit in this article is the strength of conviction and the joy in the expressions of all the participants. The strength of the conviction that a true social change will not be possible without the elimination of large-scale monoculture tree plantations, and the joy of knowing that communities from Brazil and from many other parts of the world are working towards this aim.

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- Ecuador: Women from Sarayaku Against Terrorism Waged by the Army

On April 17, more than 400 special troops of the Ecuadorian army entered the detachment of Tigre, on the South Eastern border of the Province of Pastaza, frontier with Peru, allegedly to "capture, neutralize and annihilate armed elements" in the area. This territory belongs to the Kichwa Yana Yaku community, where the Pastaza Indigenous Peoples Organization (OPIP) is based. On that same date, 80 soldiers unexpectedly occupied its premises, accusing it of being the “centre of logistic support” for allegedly subversive groups.

Even though after 15 days of searching the whole area the army found no evidence, on 30 April, 60 elite soldiers heavily armed with rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, rocket launchers and other heavy weapons, violently assaulted the community of Yana Yaku accusing them of being the "key logistical support" of insurgent groups. They broke into the houses and other community facilities, threatening the women that opposed them both with weapons and verbal abuse, confiscating hunting tools, intruding into the family farms allegedly looking for coca plantations and overrunning the school causing panic and terror among the children. The community denounced that the army forced men of the community to take pictures carrying hunting guns, which later were showed as "evidence of subversive activities."

Concurrently with these operations, the army increased militarization of the Kichwa community in Sarayaku – a community that borders the Bobonaza River in Pastaza – who have been defending their rights against oil policies. The women of Sarayaku are voicing their deep concern and anger over these operations which they denounce are linked to the so called "Patriot Plan" --a controversial military operation that would deploy some 15,000 troops in the Colombian/Ecuadorian tropical forests as part of Plan Colombia, openly backed by the United States. The Sarayaku women also say that the increasingly violent militarization process of the indigenous territories of Pastaza subscribes to the oil policies launched in the province of Pastaza by the former army colonel, Lucio Gutierrez (now President of Ecuador).

The women denounce that on the one hand the military high command publicly proclaims respect for the Constitution and democracy while on the other hand it is threatening the lives of the communities in open violation of the collective rights of indigenous peoples set out in the Constitution and in the International Labour Organization’s Convention Nº 169.

Faced with this action, the Indigenous Women’s Association of Sarayaku (AMIS) has expressed its solidarity with the women and children of the Yana Yaku community, declaring: “We support the ideals of the Sumak Kausai (the Kichwa people’s philosophy of life) alternative development proposal. We also support the proposals submitted by the Kichwa people of Sarayaku to the National Government and Armed Forces:

1. Immediate withdrawal of the troops who are abusing and perpetrating actions against the psychological integrity, pacific cohabitation and productive activities of the Yana Yaku and Jatun Molino communities in the jurisdiction of Sarayaku.

2. That the communities of the Kichwa Peoples and other indigenous peoples who traditionally live in the Province of Pastaza will never allow any type of military occupation which, under the pretext of operations mounted by the armed forces themselves, is intended to support oil activities in the Indigenous territories of Pastaza.

3. Establishment of responsibilities and dismissal of Dr. Clara Fernandez, the Judge responsible for the Pastaza Attorney’s Office, who is involved in these shameful actions.

4. We demand impeachment by National Congress of the Joint Commander (General Octavio Romero) and the Commanders of the Amazonas Fourth Division (General Gonzalo Tapia) and the 17th Brigade of the Pastaza Forest (Colonel Fausto Rentaria), for attacking Indigenous peoples rights, women’s rights, children’s rights, creating a feeling of insecurity among the communities and for unnecessarily wasting vast economic and logistic resources, assets of the Ecuadorian people.

5. The establishment of an inter-institutional commission comprising the National Congress Commission for Amazon Affairs, Human Rights organizations, the Catholic Church, the Inter-American Human Rights Commission, CONAIE and media representatives to thoroughly investigate and make known to national and international public opinion this serious abuse of the morals, honesty, transparency and dignity of the Indigenous peoples of Pastaza.

6. To request the establishment of a commission comprising representatives of the UN, ILO and OAS to investigate directly the violation of the Indigenous rights in Pastaza.

7. To request the intervention of ALDHU and other Ecuadorian human rights organizations to ensure the peace and integrity of the Indigenous communities of Pastaza.

8. To lodge a complaint with the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples.

9. To hold an Assembly of the Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Pastaza in the community of Yana Yaku, with the presence of CONAIE, to give support to the inhabitants and adopt actions aimed at preserving the right to life and to peace of the Kichwa people of Pataza.

10. To compensate the Yana Yaku community for the economic and productive, psychological and moral damages caused by the raids that affected the community’s normal development.

11. As the Association of Indigenous Women of Sarayaku, (AMIS), in support of the women of the Yana Yaku community, we appeal to the Inter-American Court for Human Rights, against the violation of Women and Family Rights, set out in the Constitution of the Republic. We empower that Court to bring the corresponding action against Dr Clara Fernandez, the Judge responsible for the Public Attorney’s Office in Pastaza.

Furthermore, we affirm that the Sarayaku people’s struggle for their dignity, respect for their territory, their projects and dreams of alternative development is not an isolated one. It is the decision of all the Kichwa OPIP grass-roots communities and other sectors identifying themselves with this cause, and therefore OPIP will never accept any kind of abuse from any sector, be it oil, governmental or military.”

Article based on information from: “Manifiesto de la Asociación de Mujeres Indígenas de Sarayacu ‘AMIS’ frente a la acción terrorista de las Fuerzas Armadas del Ecuador en la comunidad Kichwa Yana Yaku, en Pastaza”; “Militarización sigue en las comunidades indígenas de Pastaza en Ecuador”, by the Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Patraza, http://www.earthrights.org/news/Yanayakuspanish.shtml ; “Acción terrorista de las Fuerzas Armadas del Ecuador en la comunidad Kichwa de Yana Yaku, Pastaza. Declaración de la Organización de los Pueblos Indígenas del Pastaza (OPIP), Consejo de Gobierno del Territorio Autonómo de la Nación Originaria del Pueblo Kichwa de Sarayaku (TAYJASARUTA)”, 1 May 2004, http://www.llacta.org/organiz/coms/com574.htm

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- Ecuador: Floresmilo Villalta has been freed!

We have just received the good news that on Friday, 21 May, Floresmilo Villalta regained his freedom and immediately travelled to the community of Las Golondrinas to be reunited with his family and friends.

Representatives of the Ecuadorian NGO Acción Ecológica made know their gratefulness, on behalf of Floresmilo, for the “incredible response” to the international campaign organized in favour of the 63-year old peasant, whose only “crime” was to try to defend the forests of his region against timber exploitation by the powerful BOTROSA company.

Our best wishes go to Floresmilo and we effusively thank all those, who with their support, collaborated towards his liberation. Many thanks!

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- Suriname: The Galibi People Speak Loud and Clear on Protected Areas

The Galibi Nature Reserve is world famous as a nesting site for four endangered sea turtles. Established in 1969, it covers about 400 hectares and receives a steady flow of tourists from the United States and elsewhere.

However, less highlighted is the fact that it is also an integral part of the ancestral territory of the Lower Marowijne River Kalinya people, who have been directly suffering the consequences of the establishment of the protected area.

Ricardo Pané, village chief of the Galibi, one of the largest indigenous villages in the northeast coast of the country, speaks loud and clear about it:

“The indigenous peoples are the first and original inhabitants of the country. We have a centuries-old relationship with our lands and with the environment in which we live. We have been managing nature and its natural resources for centuries. Thanks to sustainable management by the indigenous peoples we still have biodiversity and nature today. If we would have ‘developed’ the land as did the Western countries, we would be living now in a big, dry desert. Establishing protected areas was thus necessary to protect nature, not against the indigenous peoples who live there but against the greed of companies and the consumer society that want to have more and more goods all the time."

“Another important aspect of protected areas is that they have been established without our consent. In the case of the Galibi protected area, a governmental delegation came to Galibi for a few hours. They cheated and tricked the village leaders of the time, by saying that they intended only to do some research in the area. When they returned three months later, the area already had been declared a protected area by the government. The indigenous peoples had to relocate immediately and stop all activities in the area. The whole area was now claimed by government and the Forest Service (LBB). I saw all this happening as a young boy and saw how the LBB officials treated the local inhabitants very disrespectfully."

“We see these developments as one of the numerous violations of our rights to the lands that we have been living on and using for many, many centuries. One quick meeting by government officials with the people to announce that a protected area has been established does not count as real participation in decision-making. We have different traditions and structures that must be respected by government. It is only now that we have become well aware of the impacts of protected areas and other initiatives."

“During the interior war in Suriname (1987-92), all activities in the area came to a halt and, in 1989, we re-occupied the protected area. After economic life was restored in the early 1990s, under heavy national and international pressure we had to negotiate about the area."

“The government and certain environmental organizations have made profits and received a lot of funds in name of turtle protection. We, the indigenous peoples, were pictured as the bad guys, the people who poach eggs to sell them illegally. It is true that egg poaching was prevalent in the 1990s when the economic situation in the country was very bad and any form of income was jumped at with both hands in order to survive. But at the same time, the government did not take any measures against their military and customs officers who were buying and trading the eggs. They also did not act against local and foreign fishing companies who killed the sea turtles on sea and who drowned the turtles in their nets. At national and international podia we were the easiest group to portray as the evildoers."

“In the meantime we have become more aware, especially the younger generation, and we have organized ourselves. There is a community organization for environmental protection, the Foundation for Sustainable Nature Management in Alusiaka (STIDUNAL), which will manage the Galibi protected area in cooperation with STINASU. Our vision is that we will have the full management of the protected area in the future and this was agreed to when we formulated the terms of cooperation with STINASU. We want to include protection of the sea turtles as an integral part in our overall development plan for the community. We cannot, however, talk about protecting animals without talking about the well-being of people at the same time."

“International organizations need to take this into account. They cannot continue to deliver funding that will only benefit a small group of people and animals. On paper there are nice programs for combating issues such as poverty and environmental protection, but the community barely realizes any benefits and has no knowledge of what is happening with the money. Accountable management of environmental protection programs --an integrated, not a sectoral approach is needed. At present this is not the case."

“The same is true for the issue of land rights; if our land rights are not legally recognized and secure, we will not agree to government and international organizations getting more authority and control over our lands. With support from the Amerindian Peoples Association of Guyana and international non-governmental organizations, we made a map of our lands and resources. We have presented this map and a number of petitions to the government but have yet to receive an adequate response."

“We thus aim to secure greater participation, on the basis of equality and being fully informed about and involved in decision-making and in the execution, monitoring, and evaluation of environmental projects. We want co-management of protected areas and in the future full self-management in accordance with our own customs and traditions. We do not reject non-indigenous science and techniques, but we have developed management systems over hundreds of years and these must be the basis of managing the nature reserve and the rest of our lands. Environmental protection and protected area management must be an integrated approach that includes environment, development, and recognition of and respect for the rights of the indigenous peoples, including our ownership rights over our traditional lands, territories, and resources, and our knowledge systems. We want direct support from donor and environmental organizations instead of support through other agencies that keep these resources for their own benefit and which are not transparent. We, the indigenous peoples, are willing to cooperate on basis of mutual respect and equality, we ask only that others do the same.”

Article based on information excerpted and adapted from: “Protected Areas in Suriname: A Voice from Suriname's Galibi Nature Reserve”, Ricardo Pane, Cultural Survival, http://www.culturalsurvival.org , distributed by Amazon Alliance for Indigenous and Traditional Peoples of the Amazon Basin, e-mail: amazon@amazonalliance.org , http://www.amazonalliance.org