Maine EF!er stops a truck carrying a wind turbine, July 2010

On July 6, following the annual Earth First! Round River Rendezvous, about 50 protesters blockaded the access to a mega-wind project in the Maine North Woods, while others locked themselves to a truck carrying a massive turbine blade to the site.

The construction site was shut down for the entire morning, and the truck was blocked for several hours.

From the press release:

“At least fifty Earth First! activists blockaded … the access point to the Kibby Mountain wind project outside the town of Stratton, halting the construction of 22 industrial wind turbines on the delicate Alpine ecosystems of Maine’s western boundary mountains. The action comes just before the Land Use Regulation Commission’s (LURC) meeting July 7 to consider a proposal for a similar project on neighboring Sisk Mountain….

“TransCanada, the transnational corporation responsible for the devastating practice of tar sands oil extraction in Alberta, Canada, has already built 24 mammoth turbines on Kibby Mountain, and has begun construction of an additional 22 turbines, a process that includes significant road building and wide transmission line corridors. These projects are part of a trend that shifts from forest management to development in Maine, which threatens to permanently change the face of Maine’s North Woods, the largest undeveloped wilderness east of the Mississippi river.”

Offshore wind turbines

“These projects are a perfect example of how corporations and investors are taking advantage of the climate and energy crises to make profits while avoiding accountability,” said Meg Gilmartin of Maine Earth First! “We don’t view projects on this industrial scale as being the solution to our problems.”

“If we really want to look at how the North Woods can mitigate climate change, we should restore our forest and protect sensitive ecosystems, like those on Sisk and Kibby Mountain,” said Ryan Clark of Maine Earth First!

Critics of the project also note that it is intended to increase power capacity rather than fight global warming, as no fossil-fuel plants are being taken offline.

For more on why wind and solar power won’t solve our problems, see “‘Any Compromise in Defense of Civilization’? : Wind, Solar and the Great Climate Sellout.”

Coal River lockdown jul14-2010

On July 14, two protesters locked themselves to a highwall miner at the Bee Tree strip mine on Coal River Mountain, near the Brushy Fork Sludge Impoundment.

Four people were arrested, and three of them remain in jail.

Bagua, Peru police, June 2009

On June 5, protesters across Peru commemorated the anniversary of the government’s massacre last year of peaceful indigenous protesters who had blockaded a road in opposition to laws opening the Amazon up for large-scale resource exploitation. The official death toll was 33 (10 indigenous people plus 23 police officers later killed in retaliation), but local reports have contested this figure, alleging as many as 84 killed. One protester, Major Felipe Bazán Caballero, remains missing to this day. Following widespread social unrest in response to the massacre, the government eventually repealed four of the contested laws.

Early this summer, it appeared that the Peruvian government might be getting ready to soften its position on Amazon resource exploitation. A parliamentary commission on the Bagua conflict concluded that the indigenous people had been in the right, and on May 19, the Peruvian parliament approved the Consultation Law, requiring that locals be consulted as part of the approval process for any resource-exploiting projects. The law was hailed as a victory by indigenous social movements.

Ashanika warriors occupy oil boat May 2009

In the same week, however, the government announced a rash of new oil concessions across the Amazon. Representatives of the oil and gas ministry have begun touring European capitals, announcing 10.6 million ha (26 million acres) in new concessions.

“The Garcia administration does not seem to have learned the harsh lessons of Bagua,” said Atossa Soltani, executive director of Amazon Watch. “The government [has] intensified its assault on indigenous rights by offering yet more indigenous territory to foreign oil corporations so that half of all indigenous lands in the Peruvian Amazon now fall within oil concessions.”

Only days later, indigenous leader Alberto Pizango, who fled to Nicaragua during the Bagua uprising, returned to Peru in defiance of an outstanding warrant on sedition charges. He was immediately arrested, but was released on bail later that day. Pizango promptly issued a public statement condemning the government’s new oil push, especially condemning oil company Perenco for denying the existence of “uncontacted” indigenous nations in areas it has slated for a new oil pipeline.

Amazonian indigenous archers threatening a helicopter flyover, May 2008

According to an article published on GroundReport:

“Perenco recently revealed it has transported, by helicopter, ‘more than 50,000 tons of material and consumables, the equivalent of seven Eiffel Towers’ into the region. The company denies the tribes’ existence, although, in a ‘contingency plan’ presented to Peru’s Energy Ministry earlier this year, it recommended that its workers, in certain instances, ‘scare and repel’ the Indians if contact is made.”

On June 1, while Peruvian President Alan García was meeting with U.S. president Barack Obama, two women chained themselves to the White House fence, while protesters rallied across the street in support of their call for an end to resource extraction without indigenous consent.

Then on June 19, Argentinian company Pluspetrol spilled hundreds of barrels of oil into the Maranon river in the Peruvian Amazon, marking the company’s 78th spill in the region in the last four years.

Two days later, García announced his refusal to sign the Consultation Law, returning it to Congress with his objections. García is demanding that the law be modified to allow the government to override indigenous peoples’ objections to development projects. He also wishes to exclude Andean indigenous peoples from the consultation requirement.

“President García has missed a huge opportunity to show Peruvians and the world that his government is willing to respect indigenous peoples rights and willing to bring Peru closer in line with international norms,” Soltani said. “García has taken another step backwards in repairing relations with indigenous peoples and demonstrated yet again his administration’s deeply troubling policies towards the country’s original inhabitants.”

Congress can override García’s de facto veto by a majority vote. Indigenous, environmental, and civil society groups are encouraging it to do so.

The assault on the Amazon continues. On June 22, Garcia and Brazilian President “Lula” da Silva signed an agreement for the construction of six hydroelectric dams in the Peruvian Amazon to supply more than 6000 MW of electricity to Brazil.

According to International Rivers:

“One of the first projects to be built under the accord would be the Paquitzapango Dam on the Ene River, which would impact close to 17,000 Ashaninka indigenous people and threaten the Ashaninka Communal Reserve, as well as the Otishi National Park, both of which are legally protected areas. …

“The Inambari Dam on the Madre de Dios River is also likely to constructed under the bilateral accord signed yesterday… . Inambari would flood more than 46,000 hectares of land, which would leave more than 15,000 people without agricultural lands.”

The dams are likely to face legal as well as on-the-ground challenges in Peru.

Previous Articles on the Peruvian Amazon:

Temporary Resolution in Peru Conflict Following Government Reversal (June 19, 2009)

Week of Action in Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples in Peru (June 12, 2009)

Upcoming Peru Solidarity Protests (June 10, 2009)

Peru Update: Take Action! (June 7, 2009)

Action Alert: Stop Peruvian Infrastructure Push! (June 5, 2009)

Peruvian Police Murder Indigenous Protesters: Take Action! (June 5, 2009)

Peru Indigenous Holding Strong in Standoff (June 3, 2009)

Peru Indigenous In Standoff With Government (May 22, 2009)

Perenco to Drill for Oil in Territory of Uncontacted Indigenous (January 7, 2009)

Peru Indigenous Issue Oil Ultimatum (October 22, 2008)

Indigenous Victory in Peru! (August 24, 2008)

Temporary Truce in Indigenous Peru Standoff (August 21, 2008)

Peru Declares Martial Law Over Indigenous Protests (August 18, 2008)

Oil Pipeline Shut Down by Ongoing Peru Protests (August 17, 2008)

Indigenous Peruvians Seize Energy Infrastructure (August 12, 2008)

Kayapo Dancers at Xingu Encounter 2008

From a May 21 press release by International Rivers:

“A group of Kayapo indigenous people led by Chief Megaron Txukarramãe have been blockading the Xingu River crossing of the BR-80 – a major Amazon highway in Mato Grosso State – since April 23 in protest of the government’s plans to build the massive Belo Monte Dam. Dozens of Kayapo warriors have been blocking the ferry crossing over the Xingu River … and are determined to remain there. Their actions have disrupted a major transportation artery for commercial goods in the region. …

“Chief Megaron has been joined in these protests by Kayapo Chief Raoni Metuktire, an emblematic leader for over 20 years of indigenous resistance to the Brazilian government’s plans to dam the Xingu River. In a May 1st interview with the French channel TF1, Chief Raoni said ‘I have asked my warriors to prepare for war and I have spoken of this with other tribes from the Upper Xingu. We will not let them [build this dam].’

“Leaders of the Arara, Xipaia and Juruna indigenous peoples of the Lower Xingu echo the vociferous opposition of the Kayapo to the Belo Monte Dam, and have also vowed to lay down their lives to stop the project, which would destroy their communities and livelihoods.”

If built, the 11,000-megawatt Belo Monte hydroelectric dam would be the second-largest dam in Brazil and the third-largest in the world. It would divert more than 80 percent of the Xingu’s flow, flooding an area of 170 square miles and directly or indirectly affecting 66 communities and 11 indigenous reserves comprising more than 30,000 people.

International support is urgently needed; it helped stop the dam before, and can do so again. The time to put pressure on Brazil is now, before violence breaks out, lest we see a repeat of the massacre that took place in Peru’s Amazon last year. Call the Brazilian Embassy today and register your concern about the government’s support for Belo Monte Dam.

Border militarization is one of the more obvious examples of how the system uses violence to control people and the land, and is deeply tied to issues of global trade and perpetuating First World dominance in the Western Hemisphere.  For more of our analysis on this and related issues, please see:

Indigenous Sovereignty Factsheet
Border and Migration Factsheet
This article about the connection between free trade, infrastructure and border militarization (specifically in regard to Deep Integration and the SPP).

And now, the press release:

Friday, May 21, 2010
For Immediate Release

Media Contact:  Leilani Clark (520) 982-5687

OCCUPATION OF BORDER PATROL HEADQUARTERS DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, TUCSON, AZ

1st NATIONS AND MIGRANTS OPPOSE SB1070; DEMAND DIGNITY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND END TO BORDER MILITARIZATION

“The militarized border imposed by the U.S. has led only to cultural and environmental destruction of the indigenous peoples whose land is on or near the border. This militarization brings death and terror for indigenous peoples from other parts of the continent migrating to this land.”

Tucson, AZ – More than a dozen people occupied Border Patrol headquarters at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base today in an act of peaceful resistance. The group includes members of Indigenous Nations of Arizona, migrants, people of color and white allies. Six people used chains and other devices to lock themselves in the building. These Arizona residents disrupted the Border Patrol operations to demand that Border Patrol (BP), Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), their parent entity, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Obama administration end militarization of the border, end the criminalization of immigrant communities, and end their campaign of terror which tear families apart through increasing numbers of raids and deportations.

The protesters also call on the State of Arizona to repeal the racist Senate Bill 1070 that criminalizes immigrant communities on the state level, makes it illegal to transport or harbor an undocumented person regardless of family relationship, requires police agencies to engage in racial profiling, and ultimately is an attempt to ethnically cleanse Arizona of those with brown skin. This act of civil disobedience was only the latest in an increasing wave of direct action targeting the federal government’s terrorist immigration policies.

Border militarization destroys Indigenous communities.

The development of the border wall has lead to desecration of our ancestors’ graves, it has divided our communities and prevents us from accessing sacred places.

Troops and paramilitary law enforcement, detention camps, check points, and citizenship verification are not a solution to migration. We have existed here long before these imposed borders, my elders inform us that we always honored freedom of movement. Why our communities and the daily deaths at the border ignored? The impacts of border militarization are constantly made invisible in the media, the popular culture of this country and even the mainstream immigrants rights movement which has often pushed for “reform” that means further militarization of the border, which means increased suffering for our communities.

Indigenous communities such as the O’odham, the Pascua Yaqui, Laipan Apache, Kickapoo, and Cocopah along the US/Mexico border have been terrorized with laws and practices like SB1070 for decades. Indigenous people along the border have been forced by border patrol to carry and provide proof of tribal membership when moving across their traditional lands that have been bisected by this imposed border; a border that has been extremely damaging to the cultural and spiritual practices of these communities. Many people are not able to journey to sacred sites because the communities where people live are on the opposite side of the border from these sites. Since the creation of the current U.S./Mexico border, 45 O’odham villages on or near the border have been completely depopulated.

On this day people who are indigenous to Arizona join with migrants who are indigenous to other parts of the Western Hemisphere in demanding a return to traditional indigenous value of freedom of movement for all people. Prior to the colonization by European nations (Spaniards, English, French) and the establishment of the European settler state known as the United States and the artificial borders it and other European-inspired nation states have imposed; indigenous people migrated, traveled and traded with each other without regard to artificial black lines drawn on maps. U.S. immigration policies dehumanize and criminalize people simply because which side of these artificial lines they were born on. White settlers whose ancestors have only been here at most for a few hundred years have imposed these policies of terror and death on “immigrants” whose ancestors have lived in this hemisphere for tens of thousands of years, for time immemorial.

In addition, the migration that the U.S. government is attempting to stop is driven more than anything else by the economic policies of the U.S. Free trade agreements such as NAFTA have severely reduced the ability of Mexicans and others from the global south to sustain themselves by permitting corporations to extract huge amounts of wealth and resources from these countries into the U.S. This has led to millions of people risking the terror and death that so many face to cross into the U.S. looking for ways to better support their families. Thousand of women, men, children and elders have died crossing just in the last decade. If the U.S. really wants to reduce migration it should end its policies of exploitation and wealth extraction targeted at the global south and instead pursue policies of economic, environmental and social justice for all human beings on the planet, thus reducing the drive to immigrate.

The protesters are demanding:

·An end to border militarization
·The immediate repeal of SB1070 and 287g
·An end to all racial profiling and the criminalization of our communities
·No ethnic cleansing or cultural genocide
·No border patrol encroachment/sweeps on sovereign native land
·No Deportations
·No Raids
·No ID verification
·No Checkpoints
·Yes to immediate and unconditional regularization (“legalization”) of all people
·Yes to human rights
·Yes to dignity
·Yes to respect
·Yes to respecting Indigenous Peoples’ inherent right of migration

Fuck Dams!

If built, the 11,000-megawatt Belo Monte hydroelectric dam would be the second-largest dam in Brazil and the third-largest in the world. It would divert more than 80 percent of the Xingu’s flow, flooding an area of 170 square miles and directly or indirectly affecting 66 communities and 11 indigenous reserves comprising more than 30,000 people.

In February, after months of controversy, the Brazilian environment agency (IBAMA) finally issued its approval for the dam, but only after two employees resigned after complaining that they were being pressured to give the project the green light. Dam opponents immediately filed a lawsuit in opposition.

In the wake of the success of the blockbuster eco-science fiction thriller Avatar, director James Cameron and star Sigourney Weaver visited Brazil to join in a public protest against the dam, garnering international attention, including front-page coverage in the New York Times.

Cameron called the Belo Monte dam “a situation where a real-life Avatar confrontation is in progress. What’s happening in Avatar is happening in Brazil and places like India and China, where traditional villages are displaced by big infrastructure projects.”

We think that definitely qualifies as the celebrity infrastructure slam of the year; should we send James Cameron a “Fuck Dams” t-shirt?

Belo Monte was initially proposed in the 1970s, but plans for the dam were abandoned in the 1990s after a high-profile international pressure campaign supported by celebrities such as Sting. Sting has also visited Brazil in recent months to reiterate his support for indigenous dam resisters.

In early April, two major construction giants announced they would not participate in bidding for the dam. The next week, a federal court suspended Belo Monte’s license on the grounds that it violated constitutional protections for water resources on indigenous lands. Unfortunately, the President of the Appeals Court unilaterally overturned this decision the very next day, with no review of the evidence.

With the injunction lifted, bidding on the project was able to go forward. Greenpeace activists dumped several thousand pounds of manure outside the offices of National Electric Energy Agency in protest.

Kayapo Dancers at Xingu Encounter 2008

Back in November, 212 tribal leaders of 14 different indigenous groups sent Brazilian President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva a letter warning that if construction starts on the dam, their people will resist with armed struggle, and that the government would be responsible for any casualties among workers or Indians. They punctuated this message by blockading a ferry attempting to transport freight trucks along the Xingu.

With the dam now fully approved for construction, indigenous leaders reissued their warning.

“I think that today the war is about to start once more and the Indians will be forced to kill the white men again so they leave our lands alone,” said Kayapo leader Raoni Metuktire. “I think the white man wants too much, our water, our land. There will be a war so the white man cannot interfere in our lands again.”

There is every reason to believe that these warnings are genuine. In May, a representative of the Brazilian electric company Electrobras was rushed by a club- and machete-wielding indigenous women and men angry at his disregard for their concerns.

A group of 150 Kapayos has launched an occupation of the proposed construction site, and is planning to increase their numbers to 500 by the end of April and 1,000 after that. At least 10 other protests immediately broke out around the country, as well.

The struggle to stop Belo Monte remains vibrant both on the ground and in the halls of power. Another lawsuit to stop the dam on environmental grounds is pending, and members of the Brazilian congress have expressed increasing skepticism about the project.

International support is urgently needed; it helped stop the dam before, and can do so again. The time to put pressure on Brazil is now, before violence breaks out, lest we see a repeat of the massacre that took place in Peru’s Amazon last year.

International Rivers is calling for supporters to call the Brazilian Embassy today and register your concern about the government’s support for Belo Monte Dam. Don’t put off making a 10-minute call. Do it now.

Protester with Wiphala

“With the Global People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of the Mother Earth set to begin in Cochabamba, Bolivia, a group of Indigenous people have occupied the offices of a mining firm in the southeastern province of Potosi near the Chilean border.

“The occupation began several days ago, on April 12, with roughly 700 Qulla People blocking access to a key railway line that leads away from the San Cristobal silver-zinc-lead mine, owned by Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation.

“The Qulla say that Sumitomo is dumping mine waste directly into the Madera River, contaminating the land and threatening their water supplies; and constructing roads that are trampling on the rights of Mother Earth. They are demanding compensation for the environmental damage and calling on the Potosi government to honour their agreements, which includes providing help with some local infrastructure.

“‘Our demands are fair and must be met. The mine is ransacking our natural resources. We want compensation for the damage and … we want help with our development,’ says protest leader Mario Mamani. Since the protest began, some 80 containers loaded with ore have also been seized and they have occupied the company’s offices. According to latest reports, the Qulla set fire to the offices and they have started to overturn the containers.”

The Qulla have also expressed frustration that their request for a forum to discuss domestic environmental concerns at the Climate Conference was rejected by the Bolivian government, which said the conference is meant for international issues.

In an act of solidarity with Qulla protesters, activists from the U.K.’s Camp for Climate Action unfurled a banner reading “The World is Watching” in front of Sumitomo’s London office’s on April 22. They noted that although the government of Bolivian President Evo Morales has not taken any action against the Qulla yet, the hammer may come down after international attention leaves that country after the end of the Climate Conference.

“For this reason internationals plan to join protests on the ground and others have acted in solidarity not only to show the company that they risk direct action against their interests around the world, but also ensure that the Bolivian government is aware that there is a great interest in how they respond to the issue,” a report of the action read.

Another anti-mines banner, this one reading  “No New Mines on Apache Land! Ya Basta!” was hung in Tucson, AZ on October 16 (this time from the  “Snake Bridge” over Broadway Boulevard). It was in opposition to the proposed mine in Superior, Arizona on sacred Apache land.

Also in Tucson, activists held a Fair Trade fair. In Tucson and New York City, activists distributed information on the connection between the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and swine flu.

Prior Action Roundups:

More from the Week of Action (Oct 15)

Week of Action Continues (Oct 12)

tucson no mining banner oct14 09

More actions from the Minga (Global Mobilization in Defense of Mother Earth and the Peoples):

Phoenix, AZ — The week was kicked off with a protest at Arizona State University against the recognition of “Columbus Day,” along with education about the true  (genocidal) nature of Columbus. The rest of the week consists of a media initiative to spread the truth about Columbus Day. It will culminate on Friday with a mass march to protest the racist and human rights-abusing policies of Maricopa County Sherriff Joe Arpaio.

Tucson, AZ — A banner was suspended from a downtown bridge in opposition to mining (possibly a reference to planned copper mines in Arizona).

For earlier or upcoming actions and events, see below. The mobilization continues through Friday! Note also that infrastructure-related actions and events in this post and the one below are now highlighted. We will maintain this practice throughout the week.

Labrador, Canada: Inuu elder and activist Elizabeth Penashue launched a week-long walk along the Mitsa-Shipu (Churchill River) from Happy Valley-Goose Bay to Gull Island, in opposition to the proposed Lower Churchill Hydro Project. If built, the two dams would  cause vast environmental devastation and irreparable loss of Innu land, history and culture.

USA: The Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) is holding a weeklong mobilization against the North American and Central American Free Trade Agreements (NAFTA/CAFTA) and against gold mining in El Salvador. Events are planned for Seattle, Olympia, Portland (OR), San Francisco, Washington (DC), Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Boston, New York, Baltimore and Philadelphia. Find out more information here.

On October 16, the Durango, Colorado chapters of Earth First! and Root Force are presenting the Beehive Design Collective on their True Cost of Coal graphic tour.

London, England: Protests were held at the Colombian, Peruvian and Spanish embassies, the UK Foreign Office and the Department for Energy and Climate change, demanding and end to EU-Latin America free trade agreements and an end to UK agrofuel subsidies.

Melbourne, Australia:  A Latin American Solidarity Network space was launched at Trades Hall. A documentary film night will be held October 15.

Guatemala: Social movements marked the Minga with a nonviolent demonstration. An assassin dressed in  black fired on the crowd, killing a 19-year-old and seriously injuring a 16- and a 65-year-old.

Colombia: More than 25,000 indigenous People have begun to March to the city of Cali to protest for respect for their territory and against the harmful social policies maintained by the Uribe government. The protesters are expecting to arrive on October 16. 115 indigenous councils have ceased ongoing dialogues with the government for the occasion. (For updates, keep an eye on: www.cric-colombia.org, www.onic.org.co). Approximately 2000 Uwa have also begun an “armed strike” in opposition to Ecopetrol, who has been exploiting natural resources from their ancestral sanctuary for the past 13 years.

Paris, France: Social groups have organized a week of solidarity actions for the Minga, including public debates, forums, a one-day festival, and protest rallies in support of Indigenous Peoples.

Argentina: A Global Week of Action against Debt and International Finance Institutions (IFI’s) is running in conjunction with the Minga. Opposing the new agreement between the Government and the International Monetary Fund, participants will be rallying for climate justice (October 13), rural women and the repudiation of debt (15 October), food sovereignty (16 October) and the eradication of poverty (October 17). A memorial was also held on October 11, honoring the martyrs of resistance.

Cuba: A one day event commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Cry of the Excluded was held in Havana.

Bolivia: The First hearing of the International Court of Climate Justice will be running at the Universidad Mayor de San Simón in Cochabamba, from October 13 to 17. The event will be transmitted LIVE on the internet. An Assembly of Social Movements will also be held in Cochabamba on the 15th, immediately followed by a Regional Meeting Against Climate Change.

Peru: Delegations from around the country marched to the headquarters of the UN in Lima on October 12, to present a series of demands and proposals by indigenous peoples to stop global warming. This will be followed by 3 days of workshops led by indigenous communities.

Other events, including festivals, workshops, protests, Ceremonies and other actions are taking place in Spain, Ecuador, Uruguay, Brazil, and elsewhere.

Via Campesina has also called for an International Day of Action Against Multinational Corporations for the final day of the Minga: October 16, 2009.

Defenders of the Land, a cross-Canada network of First Nations in land struggle, is also putting together a week of educational events on Indigenous Rights and struggles, from October 25-31, 2009.

More information and reports are available (in Spanish) here.

Got any more action reports or upcoming events? Let us know!

And remember, the mobilization goes through Friday, so there’s still time to plan an action.