Author: earthfirst

Monsanto takes double hit in January – who’s next?

Monsanto Admits Defeat in France, Biotech Corn Contaminates

26/1/12

Monsanto Admits Defeat in France, Biotech Corn Contaminates

26/1/12

France has held firm in its opposition to Monsanto’s genetically modified MON 810 maize – and the agri-chemical multinational has admitted defeat.

Monsanto had been putting legal pressure on the French government to lift its 2008 cultivation ban on MON 810, firstly with a successful appeal to the European Court of Justice, then with a follow-up case heard in France’s own highest court, the Council of State.

But despite both these institutions ruling that the ban was “insufficiently justified in law”, the French Government, backed by President Sarkozy, has insisted that it will still not allow cultivation of the biotech maize.

Now Monsanto has announced that it would not be selling seeds for MON810 in France this year.

France’s stand – and Monsanto’s capitulation – has been warmly welcomed by anti-GM lobbyists GM Freeze, whose campaign director Pete Riley said: “The decision by Monsanto not to market MON810 seeds in France in 2012 is yet another sign that Monsanto has failed to convince the public or policy makers that there is any benefit to growing to growing GM crops.

“This needs to be acknowledged by industry and politicians and there should be a big shift to agricultural research and development which addresses the future sustainability of farming in Europe. EU policy needs to forget about the bottom line of biotech corporations and focus on developing agro-ecological farming which provides for the needs of farmers, consumers, the environment and future generations.”

Five other EU countries – Germany, Greece, Austria, Luxembourg and Hungary – have current bans on MON810 cultivation in place, and the issue has recently been complicated by another European Court of Justice ruling requiring honey contaminated with GM pollen to be fully authorised as a novel product and labelled as such before it can be sold.

— And from earlier in the month: Monsanto attacked by Anonymous hackers! In a thread of hack events from the Anonymous group, the most recent target has been Monsanto.com. Anonymous, which briefly knocked the FBI and Justice Department websites offline as well as Music Industry websites in retaliation for the US shutdown of file-sharing site Megaupload, is a shadowy group of amazing international hackers. Anonymous Message To Monsanto: We fight for farmers! – Video Transcript (Cross-Posted from Organic Common Sense): “To the free-thinking citizens of the world: Anonymous stands with the farmers and food organizations denouncing the practices of Monsanto We applaud the bravery of the organizations and citizens who are standing up to Monsanto, and we stand united with you against this oppressive corporate abuse. Monsanto is contaminating the world with chemicals and genetically modified food crops for profit while claiming to feed the hungry and protect the environment. Anonymous is everyone, Anyone who can not stand for injustice and decides to do something about it, We are all over the Earth and here to stay. To Monsanto, we demand you STOP the following: * Contaminating the global food chain with GMO’s. * Intimidating small farmers with bullying and lawsuits. * Propagating the use of destructive pesticides and herbicides across the globe. * Using “Terminator Technology”, which renders plants sterile. * Attempting to hijack UN climate change negotiations for your own fiscal benefit. * Reducing farmland to desert through monoculture and the use of synthetic fertilizers. * Inspiring suicides of hundreds of thousands of Indian farmers. * Causing birth defects by continuing to produce the pesticide “Round-up” * Attempting to bribe foriegn officials * Infiltrating anti-GMO groups Monsanto, these crimes will not go unpunished. Anonymous will not spare you nor anyone in support of your oppressive illegal business practices. AGRA, a great example: In 2006, AGRA, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, was established with funding from Bill Gates and The Rockefeller Foundation. Among the other founding members of, AGRA, we find: Monsanto, Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis, GlaxoSmithKline, Procter and Gamble, Merck, Mosaic, Pfizer, Sumitomo Chemical and Yara. The fact that these corporations are either chemical or pharmaceutical manufacturers is no coincidence. The people of the world see you, Monsanto. Anonymous sees you. Seeds of Opportunism, Climate change offers these businesses a perfect excuse to prey on the poorest countries by swooping in to “rescue” the farmers and people with their GMO crops and chemical pesticides. These corporations eradicate the traditional ways of the country’s agriculture for the sake of enormous profits. The introduction of GMOs drastically affects a local farmers income, as the price of chemicals required for GMOs and seeds from Monsanto cripples the farmer’s meager profit margins. There are even many cases of Monsanto suing small farmers after pollen from their GMO crops accidentally cross with the farmer’s crops. Because Monsanto has a patent on theri brand of seed, they claim the farmer is in violation of patent laws. These disgusting and inhumane practices will not be tolerated. Anonymous urges all concerned citizens to stand up for these farmers, stand up for the future of your own food. Protest, organize, spread info to your friends! SAY NO TO POISONOUS CHEMICALS IN YOUR FOOD! SAY NO TO GMO! SAY NO TO MONSANTO! We are Anonymous We are legion We do not forgive We do not forget Expect us” Global Justice Ecology Project, an anti-biotech group founded by Earth First! activists, also noted in a post on the attack that Monsanto was also one of the original founders of the GE tree company ArborGen. The President and CEO of ArborGen, Barbara Wells, led Monsanto’s RoundUp Ready soy division in Brazil. GMO soy in Brazil and other parts of Latin America has taken over vast swaths of Amazon and other forest land, and has displaced or poisoned many communities there. Find out more about their campaign against ArborGen here. We fight for farmers video – http://youtu.be/Q1A-DYK4M4Q DOS attack on Monsanto – http://youtu.be/3XutsnEe4VY

Earth First! and Occupy protesters blockade bridge in front of GAIM conference

24th January 2012

24th January 2012

More arrests underway as conference is disrupted by activists inside the resort as well

Palm Beach County, Florida—Protesters from the Occupy movement and Everglades Earth First! blockaded a Boca Raton bridge yesterday, snarling rush hour traffic during a cocktail party of corporate investors at the GAIM USA 2012 conference. Among them was Ana Rodriguez, an editor of the Earth First! Journal, which is also published in Palm Beach County. 

Using colorful lockboxes, three activists, laid on the bridge effectively stopping rush hour traffic from 5-6:30.  Special operations police teams were called to the site to remove the lockdown devices that were linking the protesters together. The blockaders were cited with three charges, including: resisting without violence; obstructing a highway and violation of a municipal ordinance banning what the Boca police called “sleeping dragons.”

Two of the three arrested, Kevin Young and Don Carter from Occupy Miami, were released on their own recognizance. Ana Rodriguez was released today on a $1,500 bond, with the state attorney alleging that she was a flight risk to Venezuela, her country of origin.

“Every day we see corporate power destroying our communities.  From environmental disasters to private prisons, corporations are operating with impunity,” said Ana Rodriguez before being arrested. “While the bank leaders drink cocktails and toast to increased profits, people across the globe are being hurt by corporate greed.”

Another protester scaled a tree alongside the bridge and hung a large banner that read: “What Would Robin Hood Do?” The banner was taken down by a fire truck and confiscated by Boca police.

The protests against GAIM began on Sunday, January 22, with 100 people marching in front of the Boca Resort and a flotilla of boats and canoes along the resort’s waterfront.

More protesters returned this afternoon for day three of the GAIM conference, announced as a national day of action against private prisons and detention centers. At the time of this news post, there are reports of more arrests for immigrant solidarity activists disrupting the conference from the inside.

Sea Shepherd Chases the Japanese Whalers into Yesterday

22nd January 2012

The Japanese whaling fleet are not where they should be this time of year.

Last year the fleet was operating in the Ross Sea. This year their “scientific survey” was supposed to take place in the waters south and west of Tasmania, east and south of South Africa.

22nd January 2012

The Japanese whaling fleet are not where they should be this time of year.

Last year the fleet was operating in the Ross Sea. This year their “scientific survey” was supposed to take place in the waters south and west of Tasmania, east and south of South Africa.

Every year they alternate. But not this year! Although the whalers attempted to begin their killing operations in the waters southwest of Australia, the Sea Shepherd ships have chased the entire whaling fleet ever eastward. At 1700 hours AEST, the Bob Barker encountered the Yushin Maru No. 3 at 66 Degrees, 22 minutes South and 179 Degrees, 05 minutes West.

From being intercepted 500 miles west of Fremantle, Australia, the Japanese fleet has run over 4,500 nautical miles for the last 30 days, all the way into the Ross Sea, far to the East of Australia. This is an average of 150 miles a day, leaving very little time to kill whales with only one harpoon vessel. The other two harpoon vessels have either been tailing or searching for the Sea Shepherd ships.

“You can say we chased the whale killers into yesterday since we have crossed the International Date Line,” said Captain Paul Watson, of the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin. “This illustrates that they really have no scientific agenda at all since their so-called survey requires them to “sample” whales from the two different areas alternatively each year. This is not about science and it never has been. It’s not even about profit anymore because we have negated their profits. It’s simply about pride. Whaling in the Southern Ocean has become a heavily subsidized welfare project for an archaic industry that has no place in the twenty-first century.”

Sea Shepherd’s campaign, Operation Divine Wind, has been challenging this year due to the thirty million dollars allocated to the whaling fleet for added security. This money was taken from the tsunami and earthquake relief fund.

“They have ten million dollars for every one million dollars we have to finance our three ships,” said Captain Alex Cornelissen of the Bob Barker. “They have the full support of their government and literally have a license to kill because if any of us are injured or killed, their government will back them and justify their actions. Our governments condemn us just for tossing rotten butter on their decks.”

The chase across the bottom of the world involves five ships from the Japanese whaling fleet and two ships from Sea Shepherd. The third Sea Shepherd ship, the Brigitte Bardot, was damaged by heavy seas and had to return to Fremantle, Australia for repairs.

Never before has the Japanese whaling fleet abandoned one designated whaling “survey” area for another. Sea Shepherd has apparently seriously disrupted the Japanese whaling plan for this season and has cost them a huge amount in fuel costs. In addition, two of the three harpoon vessels have been taken away from killing whales in order to tail the Steve Irwin and the Bob Barker. The Yushin Maru No. 2 is tailing the Steve Irwin and the Yushin Maru No. 3 is tailing the Bob Barker. This has left only the Yushin Maru to hunt for whales.

Sea Shepherd has been able to keep the whaling fleet on the move and continues to track their movements by relying on drone operations and ten years of experience following the predictable movements of the whalers.

Last season the Bob Barker was able to chase the Nisshin Maru all the way to the tip of South America before they quit and returned to Japan in humiliation after taking only seventeen percent of their kill quota.

Protesters mount diggers in bid to save trees in Stuttgart

22nd January 2012

22nd January 2012

Demonstrators against the controversial "Stuttgart 21" rail project tried to block workers from felling more than 30 trees early on Sunday. Police removed protesters from trees and demolition equipment to allow teams to finish the work.

On Saturday, rally organisers said some 4,000 people gathered to protest the station's construction, while police estimated the number of demonstrators at 1,200.

About 40 protesters tried to block teams from clearing the trees, but a police spokesman said officers were able to disperse the crowd. The work was completed by 6 a.m. on Sunday but had to be stopped twice when two demonstrators climbed on top of demolition equipment.

A spokesperson for Parkschützer, an initiative that aims to preserve the park, criticised the action, saying the trees should not have been taken down due to wind and poor visibility.

Matthias von Herrmann of Parkschützer took aim at the state government in Baden-Württemberg.

"It is a travesty when (state) premier Kretschmann continues to preach about how the government has to adhere to the law, but then police are out at a construction site without a building permit," he said.

The multi-billion-euro project aims to transform the Baden-Württemberg capital into a major European transport hub. The station has sparked a wave of protests.

Deutsche Bahn wants to replace Stuttgart's existing train station with an underground one that it says would greatly improve links between Paris, Vienna and ultimately Budapest.

http://www.thelocal.de/tag/Stuttgart_21

Earth First! Winter Moot, what to expect

This years Earth First! Winter Moot takes place in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. In a months time environmentalists from across the UK and beyond will converge to discuss and debate. Below is an update from the organising collective who are working on the program.

This years Earth First! Winter Moot takes place in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. In a months time environmentalists from across the UK and beyond will converge to discuss and debate. Below is an update from the organising collective who are working on the program.

The Moot 2012 collective has felt that at previous EF! Gatherings groups have primarily attended to recruit for their respective campaigns. Yet those who attend EF! Gatherings are predominantly already active, making them good places for networking, but not necessarily for outright recruitment. We recognise the effort gathering organisers put into planning agendas but often the more discursive aspects of the gatherings focus on larger, abstract questions and debates have often been framed by self-appointed experts. We feel that these discussions ineffectively attempt to find answers or reach consensus where this is inappropriate.

For example at the first EF! Gathering 20 years ago the question was asked: 'What is EF!?' 20 years later in 2011 at the last Moot the same question was still being asked . . .

The answer is EF! is what we make it, and this year we are going to make it a space in which we can approach our campaigns both critically and analytically by asking more specific and practical questions. Our activism should be constantly evolving not stuck in a rut asking the same questions again and again.

The agenda will be designed to ask questions around four key issues: the tactics we use; the strategies that we employ in our campaigns; community solidarity; and sustainable activism. There will be no attempt to reach conclusions or consensus especially about what EF! is. Instead we want to have discussions that lead to new ideas that could evolve ongoing campaigns or give creative inspiration to ones that are just getting started.

A free space will be provided in which campaigns will be able to hold meetings and have further discussions if they wish, and there will also be some space given for campaign updates with an emphasis on honest analysis rather than promotion.

For updates and more info check the website or email us.

EF!WM Crew
e-mail: efwintermoot@noflag.org.uk
Homepage: http://earthfirstgathering.org.uk

Canadian environmentalists block logging operations for one week and running

18.1.12

18.1.12

Environmentalists in Alberta, Canada have been blocking logging operations in the Castle Wilderness Area for over a week despite below freezing temperatures. On January 11 several dozen environmentalists, including local residents, set up tents on the access road for the logging operations. Spray Lakes Sawmills wants to log 300 acres of land in the wilderness area.

 ”If we keep people there and the machinery idle until spring, that might be a good time — come spring, they won’t be able to do any logging. I hope it doesn’t take that long, but we have a lot of committed people, people coming from all over,” said Gordon Peterson of the Castle-Crown Wilderness Coalition (CCWC) told CBC News.

 According to CCWC the, “Castle Region is an important part of the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem which covers approximately 27,000 square miles of Alberta, BC, and Montana and includes Waterton Lakes National Park, Glacier National Park, and the Bob Marshall Wilderness.” It also serves as an important wildlife corridor and is critical habitat for grizzly bears. In addition to logging the Castle Wilderness is threatened by oil and gas projects in the area.

30 days of actions at Faslane

30 Days of Action at Faslane

30 Days of Action at Faslane

Faslane Peace Camp are announcing 30 days of non-violent direct action against the Faslane Naval Base to mark the 30th birthday of the Peace Camp. Over the last year, a small group of us have been endeavouring to make Peace Camp a healthy and happy place to facilitate direct action against Trident. We are ready for action! The birthday celebrations will commence on Saturday 9th of June 2012 and continue until the 9th of July.

This week the First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond announced that an independent Scotland would be a nuclear free Scotland. Whilst these are welcome words, the response is that the MOD are reportedly looking into new venues south of the border in the fear that Scotland will win independence. We need to give a clear and unmitigated message that simply moving them is not enough. We are in a unique position to make this potential removal from Scotland mean an ipso facto end to nuclear weapons in the UK but our message needs to be full volume!

We are inviting local, national and international groups to take responsibility for a day of anti-nuclear activities, this can be a march to the base,  a demo at the gates, a blockade, a mass trespass, a die-in… get creative! If you are a small group or an individual and want to team up with others, we can help choreograph partnerships. We can also facilitate workshops on direct action at Faslane so no activist experience is necessary. There will be lots to be done day to day and plenty of roles to fulfil during the 30 Days campaign and the time leading up to it so enthusiastic helpers (and donations) will be welcomed with open arms! Communal meals will be provided and there will be plenty of sleeping and camping spaces.

For more information, legal stuff and for details of our safer spaces, residency and alcohol agreements please contact Faslane30@riseup.net or write to us at: 30Days, Faslane Peace Camp, Shandon, Helensburgh, G84 8NN.

 

More nails in the GM coffin – bye bye BASF / amaranth fights back against GM menace / Take the Flour Back

18 January 2012

BASF, the last firm still developing genetically modified crops in Germany is stopping its work, admitting defeat in the face of widespread European opposition to to the idea.

18 January 2012

BASF, the last firm still developing genetically modified crops in Germany is stopping its work, admitting defeat in the face of widespread European opposition to to the idea.

This follows decisions by Bayer and Syngenta to stop their genetically modified (GM) crop work in Germany over the last few years.

German chemical giant BASF has announced that it will halt the development or commercialisation of genetically modified (GM) crops in Europe, and move its biotech R&D operations to the US. The firm cited consumer and political resistance to transgenic plants in Europe for its decision. 

BASF will now concentrate its plant biotechnology activities in North and South America, and the headquarters of BASF Plant Science will be moved from Limburgerhof, Germany, to Raleigh, North Carolina, US. BASF expects that this will result in the loss of 140 jobs in Europe.

'We are convinced that plant biotechnology is a key technology for the 21st century,' said Stefan Marcinowski, a member of BASF's executive board. 'However, there is still a lack of acceptance for this technology in many parts of Europe – from the majority of consumers, farmers and politicians. Therefore, it does not make business sense to continue investing in products exclusively for cultivation in this market.' 

BASF's decision was met with warnings from industry representatives and lobbyists, but celebration by others, including environmental advocates and at least one former industry insider. 

Presently, only two GM crops are authorised for cultivation in the EU: MON810 maize, made by US-based Monsanto, and BASF's Amflora potato. MON810 is only approved for sale as an animal feed and starch from Amflora is used in industrial processes.

Maurice Moloney, the chief executive of Rothamsted Research in the UK, which has been engaged in GM work, said that moving the focus of crop science even further away from Europe is 'deeply regrettable'. Such a move will 'make innovative new technologies, including but not limited to GM, less available to European producers and consumers and carries the risk of denying them access to crops and foods with health and environmental benefits,' he added. 

BASF's decision is likely to adversely affect Europe's economic growth and food supply, Moloney warned. 'It is ironic that much of the science that created modern biotechnology came from Europe and yet Europeans have been deprived of the environmental benefits such as the reduction of the use of pesticides and improved soil quality as well as the more obvious economic benefits of cheaper food and agricultural products,' he said. 

In addition, Alan Dewar, an independent entomologist who directs Dewar Crop Protection and used to be head of entomology at a division of Rothamsted Research, called BASF's decision to quit Europe 'indicative of the ever increasing isolation that European scientists find themselves in'. Dewar highlighted 'inadequate sentences' handed down by judges in several European countries to protestors who have been 'caught red-handed' destroying GM field trials, saying it is not surprising that biotech crop research has stalled in Europe. 

But Ignacio Chapela, a microbial ecology professor at the University of California, Berkeley and senior researcher with the Centre for Biosafety in Norway, says that genetically modified organisms have been overhyped and that the industry needs to be significantly trimmed down. 

'The size of the GMO market should be much smaller, but it is being promoted very strongly with the full force of the US government,' Chapela says, who formerly worked for Swiss firm Sandoz, Sygenta's predecessor, developing new agrichemicals. He says much publicised claims that GM crops would cut levels of herbicides and insecticides in the food chain have failed to materialise and, in fact, many of these products have led to more of both. 

The environmental group Friends of the Earth (FoE) Europe also celebrated BASF's announcement. 'This is another nail in the coffin for genetically modified foods in Europe,' said Adrian Bebb, agrofuels campaign coordinator for FoE Europe. 'This is a good day for consumers and farmers and opens the door for the European Union to shift Europe to greener and more publicly acceptable farming.'

However, is this a real victory or a sleight of hand?  Read more

——

Amaranth, the Inca sacred plant, attacks GM soya crop

5,000 hectares trashed, 50,000 threatened! 

It first happened in 2004, when a farmer in Atlanta in the US found amaranth that had spread to his fields was resistant to Roundup – the herbicide much GM was bred to resist.  But since then, the 'weed' has spread widely, and according to the UK's Centre for Ecology and Hydrology there has been gene transfer. 

[note: this is an old article, excerpt taken from here.  There have been a rash recently of articles about GM reposted from the last years, that purport to be from 2012; this article about amaranth was not previously covered on this site, hence it's brief reposting]

——

Past action against BASF's UK HQ

Future action this May against GM wheat trial

Regional Strike Paralyzes Hydroelectric Project in Colombia

19 January 2012

19 January 2012

The Regional Movement for the Defense of the Territory launched a regional strike in Huila, Colombia on Jan. 3 to protest the destructive impacts of the Quimbo Hydroelectric Project and the entering of UK-based petroleum company Emerald Energy into the biodiverse mountaintop moor ecosystem of the Páramo of Miraflores. The movement, compromised of the Association of Affected by the Quimbo Hydroelectric Project (ASOQUIMBO), the Civic Committee of Western Huila, communities from the Páramo of Miraflores and the Regional Indigenous Council of Huila (CRIHU), has blocked the highway and bridge known as Paso del Colegio and has paralyzed the construction of the Quimbo Hydroelectric Project, courageously pushing the diverting of the Magdalena River behind schedule while facing violent evcitions by riot police and the military and a media blackout.

The three main demands of the strike are that the environmental licenses for the Quimbo Hydroelectric Project and Emerald Energy be immediately suspended, public environmental hearings be held for the project in affected communities and for multinational corporation Emgesa to immediately repair the Paso del Colegio Bridge and other highways that have been damaged while working on the Quimbo project. Last week Colombia's Comptroller´s Office responded by opening a “preliminary investigations” against the Ministry of Environment, the Regional Environmental Autonomous Corporation (CAM) and INVIAS- Highway Transportation Authority for violations of the environmental license of the Quimbo Hydroelectric Project. In addition, Govenor Cielo Gonalez of Huila, House Representative Consuelo Gonzalez de Perdomo and Senate Vice President Alexander Lopez have all come out in support of the regional strike and the demands of the movement.

After two weeks of paralyzing construction of the dam, constant confrontations with security from the construction site in blocking the entry of workers from both land and the river, the Minister of Environment finally agreed to meet for an hour and a half with the communities in a meeting mediated by the governor. January 25 through the 31 there will be public assemblies throughout the region where fisherpeople, agricultural workers, cattle ranchers, loggers, pick-up truck drivers, sand diggers and construction workers affected by the Quimbo will be able to present their grievances to representatives from the Comptroller’s Office and the Ombudsmen Offices followed by a day of presenting the environmental and archaeological impacts and the very serious tectonic risk in the area of the dam. Other presentations for the Paso de Colegio Bridge, the Paramo of Miraflores and other regions affected the bridge damage will be held. Furthermore, on Jan. 18 there was a Judicial Review of the Quimbo Hydroelectric Project as a result of Vice President of the Senate Alexander Lopez’s motion to the Ministry of Environment to suspend the diverting of the Magdalena River to prevent an “irreversible catastrophy” until the Ministry of Environment present its review and response to all the cases presented on February 3. If the Quimbo Dam is not suspended, ASOQUIMBO is prepared to risk lives to occupy the Dam Construction site and stop it indefinitely.

The region of the Quimbo is rich in biodiversity, including over 900 ha of Riparian forest ecosystem along the river´s edge, as well as extensive fertile agricultural lands. During the last four years the project has caused ecological destruction, increased cost of living, psychological traumas, and abuses against local communities. Over 2,000 people live in the region that would be covered by the 9,500 ha reservoir, though more than 15,000 people in central Huila depend on this region for employment and food production.

One of the sectors most affected by the Dam is the fishing industry. “The Quimbo construction site dumps a variety of liquid and other pollution into the river, before the Quimbo a family could catch up to 40lb. of fish a day now a family is lucky if they can catch 8 lb. ad there is no way to live with that” described Miriam Restrepo, a local fisherwoman from Hobo at the strike. “The fish we catch can only live and feed in running water and we fisherman do not own land, we live along the sand banks where we fish. Emgesa does not want to compensate us because they say we won´t be affected by the Quimbo.”

The movement against the Quimbo dates back to 2007 when the first environmental license for the project was given to the Spanish multinational energy company Emgesa (now a subsidiary of Italian Energy giant Enel) under questionable circumstances. At th time, then-President Alvaro Uribe made business deals with Emgesa and did not include any local government or the legislature from any say in the decision making process. It was then that the Magdalena River was handed over to company as a Public Utility indefinitely by the former president Uribe. Since then, the environmental license for the project has been changed multiple times in negotiations between Emgesa and the Ministry of Environment, always to cater to the demands of the company. When issues such as the numerous sensitive tectonic faults within the region noted by INGEOMINAS (the State Geological Institute) or the unique archeological findsthat were discovered by the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH), this caused the environmental license to be suspended until an accurate archeological survey of the area was completed. Those decisions were subsequently revoked by the President or the Ministry of Environment. In addition,Environmental Laws were changed by former President Uribe with less than 72 hours before his term ended to favor the company over the impacted communities in August 2010.

On November 29, 2011 the Ministry of Environment and Territorial Development through Resolution 123 revoked its prior suspending of the license through Resolution 1096 of June 14 which had been suspended for not appropriately compensating landowners and for displacing workers from productive farms. The new license was granted stating that prior violations had been rectified without the Ministry of Environment visiting the region to verify what actions Emgesa reported to the Ministry. The License states that Emgesa cannot buy out farms that are currently in production, though “numerous farms that we worked on such as La Virgina, La Güipa and others are abandoned in disarray when they previously employed up to 30 workers each,” explained farmworker Harold Segura, a resident from La Jagua.

During the last four years the farmers who grow tobacco, coffee, cacao, day laborers, fishermen, artisans, loggers, and other inhabitants of the region have grown and unified into ASOQUIMBO, recognized both regionally and nationally as a determined, effective and coherent social movement and as an example of community resistance against a hydroelectric dam project whom many believe will set precedents for other anti-dam struggles in Colombia and elsewhere. As part of National Movement for the Defense of Territories of theMovement Rios Vivos, ASOQUIMBO has grown to build ties with other communities affected by dams, such as Urra I & II en Cordoba, Hidrosogamoso in Santander and Hidroituango in Antioquia.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has placed mining and energy production as a vital “locomotive” of development for the country that seeks to be pivotal in the region´s infrastructure creation and resource extraction. Caught in the path of this locomotive are hundreds of indigenous, Afro-descendent and peasant communities whose territories rich in gold and other metals, coal, oil, hydrological resources and rich soils for agro-fuel production are caught in the middle of a battle between the State resource extraction policies and their human right to self-determination. In Colombia, the struggle against the Quimbo is the struggle against gold in Suarez, Cauca, which is also the struggle against oil Palm in the Montes de Maria, as it is the struggle against the Cerrejon Coal Mine in la Guajira.

Please Support the Regional Movement for the Defense of the Territory by contacting Colombian Minister of the Environment Dr. Frank Pearl of the Republic of Colombia and inform him that you support the Regional Strike and call for:

Minister Frank Pearl
fpearl@minambiente.gov.co
011 57 332 3400

-Immediate suspension of the Quimbo Hydroelectric Project´s Environmental License. Yes to Agro Ecological Food Security Campesino Reserve!
– Immediate suspension of the Emerald Energy´s Environmental License in the Cerro Paramo de Miraflores.
– Emgesa immediately repair of the Paso del Colegio Bridge and the highways connecting La Plata-Garzón, La Plata-Tesalia-Íquira and La Plata-Leticia.

For more information about the Quimbo Hydroelectric Project:
Damming Magdalena: Emgesa Threatens Colombian Communities
The History of the Quimbo in Colombia: Dammed or Damned?
Protests against the Quimbo Dam
Polinizaciones Blog

Three Sea Shepherd Crew Injured in Skirmish with Japanese Harpoon Vessel

January 18th, 2012

The Japanese whalers have escalated their aggression by throwing iron grappling hooks at Sea Shepherd boats.

Two Steve Irwin crew were struck in the shoulder with iron grappling hooks and one crewmember was struck twice in the face with a long bamboo pole.

January 18th, 2012

The Japanese whalers have escalated their aggression by throwing iron grappling hooks at Sea Shepherd boats.

Two Steve Irwin crew were struck in the shoulder with iron grappling hooks and one crewmember was struck twice in the face with a long bamboo pole.

The Yushin Maru No. 2 continues to tail the Steve Irwin. The incident occurred at 0400 Hours AEST at 64 degrees 17 minutes South and 155 degrees 41 minutes East. This is about 300 miles north of Mawson Peninsula off the George V Land coast of Antarctica.

“Our small boats were attempting to slow down the Japanese harpoon vessel Yushin Maru No. 2, which is aggressively tailing the Steve Irwin,” said Captain Paul Watson.

Yushin Maru sprays Delta boat with water cannonYushin Maru sprays Delta boat with water cannonAmerican crewmember Brian Race, (25) from New York, was jabbed twice in the face with a bamboo pole receiving lacerations above his right eye and on his nose.

Russell Bergh of South Africa, (35) a cameraman for Animal Planet, was struck in the right arm and shoulder with an iron grappling hook thrown from the harpoon vessel resulting in deep bruising.

Photographer Guillaume Collet of France, (27) was also struck in the right arm and shoulder by an iron grappling hook resulting in deep bruising.

There were no injuries incurred by any of the crew on the Japanese vessel.

Two of the three harpoon vessels have been assigned to tail Sea Shepherd ships, effectively knocking out two of the three killing boats.

“We are almost at the limit of the eastern boundary of their self assigned hunting area,” said Captain Watson. “We should be getting close.”