I-69 Treesit Platform

From www.mostlyeverything.net (links added):

“Indiana State Police [ISP] today [July 9] widened its case against I-69 resistance to target yet another individual. Apparently not content pinning years’ worth of diffuse intentions and attempts from myriad actors onto just Tiga and Hugh, the state served Philip Shelton a search warrant authorizing his forceful detainment for the purpose of obtaining photos, fingerprints, and DNA samples. Four officers (2 ISP detectives, a uniformed ISP officer and another from the Department of Natural Resources) surprised Philip at his near-westside Bloomington home early this morning and escorted him to the State Police post. There, they executed the search warrant while repeatedly offering to buy him soda, then invited him out to lunch. Despite their buoyant charm, Philip declined and was driven back home.

“Shortly thereafter, the probable cause affidavit requesting the search warrant was obtained from the Pike County Circuit Court, and the nature of the state’s interest in Philip further revealed. This document states that there are three reasons to believe that Philip ‘participated in the planning and/or execution of the July 9, 2007 office invasions’ (during which supplies in various I-69 planning offices throughout the state were moved outside, in protest of evictions along the proposed I-69 route). These are, rather explicitly, that Philip is alleged to live with Hugh Farrell, that he was last spring stopped by police while providing information about I-69 to residents living around its proposed corridor, and that someone in a car registered to Philip allegedly visited an I-69 planning office to inquire about the project.

“In posting this affidavit, we do mean to highlight the absurdity of the state’s legitimating a forceful seizure of a DNA sample with a list of quite clearly legal acts. But the accusations levied against Philip are consistent with those of the larger case against I-69 resistance (and the years of surveillance upon which it is based), trends which ought give greater pause than a run of the mill ‘breach of civil liberties.’ What is being actively pursued is the criminalization of those social relationships, relationships already existing between friends and those being sought after, which, in their struggle to constitute other existences, are threatening to the projects of the state. As its collection of surveillance records unfolds (while, we’re reminded today, being built up further), one can see this increasingly well. In the language of the court’s ‘discovery’ and the mutterings of the detectives, with their talk of conspiracy, their fixation on rooting out individuals as members of some group (‘roadblock earthfirst’ – rarely defined but through internet citings), and their targeting of attempts to communicate, their intentions are clear and not to be taken lightly.”

Disclaimer: Opinions, statements or any information contained in this or any other communication from Root Force should not be taken as reflecting the beliefs of the defendants in any criminal or civil legal action, nor upon their guilt or innocence. Root Force posts, emails, and web site content reflect the perspective of Root Force only, unless explicitly noted.

An electric tower topples

The contraction of the global economy caused U.S. infrastructure spending to decline by an estimated 4.3 percent in 2009, according to analysts from HIS Global Insight, in spite of the $48 billion given to the Department of Transportation as part of stimulus packages. Non-highway spending is expected to decrease by 10.2 percent. The only infrastructure sector that did not contract was the power sector.

State budget shortfalls are largely to blame for the effect, the report said. Infrastructure spending is projected to fall another 1.6 percent in 2010, with a growth of 2.4 percent in 2011 if the economy rebounds.

Hit ‘em while they’re down, and slow that rebound!

Root Force Logo

A couple of articles reminding us how our struggles can make a real difference for the big picture:

1. Check out this article analyzing some of the connections between the push for expanded liquefied natural gas infrastructure in the United States and the recent massacre of indigenous protesters in Peru. The writer points out how increased infrastructure in consuming (First World) countries places more pressure on Third World (producing) countries to expand their own extraction/transport infrastructure.

2. This article on the history of resistance to the Xalala Dam in Guatemala notes that “In November 2008, the government offered the project to private investors, but failed to receive a single bid. Investors reportedly shied away due to the community opposition and the global financial crisis.”

This is an example of how concerted, no compromise resistance can cause even international investors to back off. It’s also an important reminder of why we must keep working for the system’s collapse — because even the relatively minor hiccup that is the current depression has already had a real effect in providing extra breathing room to communities and ecologies worldwide.

Peruvian national protests July 2008

Unrest continues in Peru even after the government agreed two repeal two contested Free Trade laws and the indigenous mobilization in the Amazon came to a temporary halt.

On July 1, police attacked an ongoing road blockade being held by campesinos protesting mining concessions near their communities. In the resulting violence, a campesino was killed and the police commissioner received a head wound. Protesters swarmed the hospital to prevent the police commissioner from leaving for treatment at a specialized facility for 10 hours, until the government agreed to negotiate on their demands.

In response to the June 5 massacre of indigenous protesters in Bagua, the nation’s largest labor union called a general strike for July 7-9. The protesters are demanding the resignation of the cabinet, the repeal of all presidential Free Trade decrees and an independent investigation into the Bagua Massacre. The government has declared the strike illegal, authorized the military to take action against protests, and offered $7 to anyone who shows up for work.

banner at Jul 28 '08 DC I-69 protest

Hugh Farrell, who has been indicted on misdemeanor and felony charges of intimidation, improper use of property, and corrupt business influence for publicly organizing against the I-69 “NAFTA Superhighway”, has released an open letter to his supporters. In the letter he writes, among other things, about the significance of the fight against I-69:

“What the State really fears are collective dinners where many people can sit down together to begin, however awkwardly or painfully, making sense of a highway project that no layperson was ever meant to grasp. The State fears those moments when marginalized young people like me, from the cities or suburbs and seemingly disillusioned with everything, begin to break out of our imposed and self-imposed isolation. They fear it when we begin talking with people very different from ourselves, with farmers and others, about the different and similar ways I-69 will impact our lives.”

Hugh and his co-defendant Tiga face a maximum of 12 years in prison. Support is still needed, including funds, since less than a third of their total estimated legal costs of $30,000 has been raised so far. Please visit their support site at www.mostlyeverything.net.

Disclaimer: Opinions, statements or any information contained in this or any other communication from Root Force should not be taken as reflecting the beliefs of the defendants in any criminal or civil legal action, nor upon their guilt or innocence. Root Force posts, emails, and web site content reflect the perspective of Root Force only, unless explicitly noted.

Pascua River, Patagonia

Between 40 and 50 protesters from Earth First! and Cascadia Rising Tide descended on an Oregon Home Depot recently demanding that the company take action to protect Patagonia’s Wild Rivers. The protesters moved around store displays around and hoisted a banner reading, “Dam the Home Depot, Save Chile’s Rivers.”

Home Depot is under pressure from International Rivers and allies for its ongoing financial involvement with the main Chilean interest promoting 5 dams in Chilean Patagonia. Just over a month ago, two protesters were arrested after hanging a banner at a Home Depot in Colorado.

The Land is Not for Sale!

Mexican media have reported that plans for La Parota Dam have been placed on hold until 2018. The communities resisting the dam have responded that they will maintain their struggle until the dam is canceled outright.

Boston Rising Tide activists dropped a 25-foot banner from the city’s Environmental Protection Agency on June 29, reading, “Mountain Top Removal Kills Communities: EPA No New Permits. MountainJustice.org.”

There are more than 150 permits pending for new mountaintop removal coal mines in West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky.

mountaintop removal banner

Fuck Dams!

International Rivers has just published two good articles analyzing the recent massive push for new dams coming out of Chile and the Amazon. They make good reading for anyone wanting to follow these issues.

Supporter of Ousted Honduran President June 28 2009

The President of Honduras has been kidnapped by the military, in apparent collusion with the conservative Congress and Supreme Court. The coup occurred on the same day as a scheduled non-binding referendum on whether the people of El Salvador wanted a new constitution.

Zelaya was awakened by armed soldiers in the middle of the night and hustled off to Costa Rica. Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas was also abducted by security forces, and the ambassadors of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua were apparently beaten when they tried to interfere. Rodas is still missing.

Although most media outlets are reporting that the conflict between President Manuel Zelaya and the Congress/Court centered on Zelaya’s proposal that a new Constitution allow presidents to run for a second term, it seems much more like a power grab by a right-wing elite threatened by Zelaya’s left-leaning policies.

“Zelaya took a substantial turn from traditional Honduran politics by moving dramatically to the left,” said analyst Heather Berkman.

The current Constitution was written during the Reagan era of US-sponsored dirty wars in Central America.

Although the United States has now joined the rest of the international community in condemning the coup, it was one of the last nations to do so.

An estimated 25,000 protesters took to the streets Sunday demanding the return of Zelaya and attempting to carry out the referendum in spite of police and military violence. The government has imposed a curfew and cut off power and telephone service to nearly the entire capital city.