earthfirst – Page 191

Panama: Campesinos arrested over gold mine

June 5, 2009

Late last month, a group of demonstrators were violently arrested by police at a roadblock in the northern Panamanian province of Cocle.

June 5, 2009

Late last month, a group of demonstrators were violently arrested by police at a roadblock in the northern Panamanian province of Cocle.

The roadblock was first set up on May 9, 2009 to resist the Petaquilla Gold mine project, which is owned by the Panama company Minera Petaquilla, and developed by two others: the Vancouver-based junior company, Petaquilla Minerals and the Toronto-based company, Inmet Mining.

As a many as 24 local communities are opposed to the project because of the “aberrant predation and destruction of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, where hundreds of hectares of virgin jungle and forest have been cut down, and where the mountain passes and rivers that made the area one of the most important in the world due to its rich biodiversity have been destroyed and polluted,” notes a May 14 report by La Estrella.

The communities also say “they have never been consulted, but rather deceived, and their lands have been taken from them unfairly in many ways, including the destruction and burning of ranches of indigenous peoples, without even indemnifying the local residents and without any authority of the PRD government fulfilling its constitutional obligation to defend the communities.”

Also reporting on the arrests, La Estrella says 12 demonstrators were arrested in total (other reports say it was 30 demonstrators), “among them the Chiriqui environmentalist Carmencita Tedman. A peasant who did not want to be identified, said that he was really afraid, because policemen were hitting the protestors mercilessly, even women and children. He added that when all this was happening Petaquilla Gold helicopters were surveying the scene.”

The police used rods, and shot pellets and tear gas to subdue the demonstrators.

For background on the Petaquilla Gold mine and local efforts to stop it, visit miningwatch.ca

EUROFLASHMOB: EUROPE UNITED AGAINST AIRPORT EXPANSION

Saturday 16 May 2009. The day of the Eurovision Song Contest.
12 noon on the dot at Heathrow Terminal 1 Departures.
www.euroflashmob.com.

Join Heathrow Flashmobbers in a Europe-wide Flash Mob – taking place on the same day at 6 airports across Europe.

Saturday 16 May 2009. The day of the Eurovision Song Contest.
12 noon on the dot at Heathrow Terminal 1 Departures.
www.euroflashmob.com.

Join Heathrow Flashmobbers in a Europe-wide Flash Mob – taking place on the same day at 6 airports across Europe.

Flash Heathrow! Flash Paris! Flash Frankfurt! Flash Schipol! Flash Brussels! Flash Dublin!

Each flashmob will be singing Eurovision classics (song-sheets provided), so download your favourite eurovision song onto your ipod or phone and bring your friends, instruments, hats, wigs, and your dancing shoes and let’s party.

Now for the serious bit: airport expansion is seriously bad for local people, increased noise, air pollution, and especially the climate. The aviation industry want to expand airports across the UK and Europe, but opposition is huge, and the scientists are telling us we have to drastically cut emissions if we are to beat climate change. Flashmobs are a fun way to highlight the real opposition there is to expansion at airports across Europe. Here’s another big chance to show our opposition to a 3rd runway at Heathrow.

See you in Heathrow Terminal 1 Departures at 12 noon on the dot!

Tell BAA to get in tune: No Third Runway.

www.euroflashmob.com

Perenco and armed forces break indigenous blockade (Peru)

6 May 2009
A gunboat belonging to Peru’s armed forces has broken through an Indian river blockade in the northern Peruvian Amazon.

The gunboat, together with at least one boat belonging to Anglo-French oil company Perenco, broke the blockade at 5:15 am on 4 May. The blockade, organised by local indigenous people, is on the Napo river, one of the main tributaries of the Amazon.

Peru’s indigenous organisation, AIDESEP, condemned the use of a boat belonging to the armed forces, describing it as a ‘use and abuse of their power’. The blockade forms part of Amazon-wide protests by Peru’s indigenous people against government policies and the invasion of their territories by multinational companies. The protests have been going on for almost a month.

Perenco holds the licence to work in a remote part of Peru known as Lot 67, accessible via the Napo River. It is an area inhabited by at least two of the world’s last uncontacted tribes – the company is under increasing pressure to withdraw from the project.

Less than a fortnight ago Perenco’s chairman, Francois Perrodo, met Peru’s president, Alan Garcia, in the presidential palace in Lima, pledging to invest US$2 billion in Lot 67. Just days later the government passed a law declaring Perenco’s work a ‘national necessity’.

SmashEDO protest in Brighton – links to timelines

May Day, 4th May 2009: Hundreds of people from all over the country met in Brighton today to protest against the war, capitalism, and the arms trade.

May Day, 4th May 2009: Hundreds of people from all over the country met in Brighton today to protest against the war, capitalism, and the arms trade. Organised by the Smash EDO movement, which for years has been campaigning against the EDO/ITT weapons factory based in Brighton, the protest started off very peacefully and remained generally positive throughout the day.

After meeting by the Palace Pier, the protest moved through the centre of Brighton cheering and chanting. Four young anarchists climbed to the top of the Barclays building, where they hung a banner reading “Arms Dealers Out Of Brighton’. Barclays is notorious for being one of the banks most complicit in the international arms trade. The people responsible for the banner were welcomed into the crowd as heroes, and avoided arrest.

After passing peacefully past the Clock tower, down Queens Road and through North Laine, the protest clashed with police on London Road. A heavy police presence blocked part of the road outside McDonalds, and minor scuffles quickly escalated as mounted and riot police forced through crowds to protect the building. A smoke-bomb lit by protesters, combined with a push forward from mounted police, frightened shoppers and nearly split the protest in two.

From then on, the protest became a game of cat-and-mouse – although it was sometimes hard to tell who was the cat and who the mouse. Protesters managed to force back mounted police several times, while police hastily re-grouped around the protest as it moved into residential districts and through Preston Park. However, neither protesters nor police seemed to have a plan as such, and after much walking and a few minor scuffles – including the arrest of one man by riot police – the protest moved back into the town centre.

On the seafront, for the first time in the day the police attempted to ‘kettle’ protesters by surrounding them on all sides. However, protesters quickly skirted down onto the beach and back onto the road behind police lines. The protest moved on peacefully and, after more skirting through narrow lanes and moving around police lines, settled on the grass outside St. Peter’s Church to dance and relax.

http://www.smashedo.org.uk/

Timelines:

Indymedia
The Brighton & Hove Argus

Last Hours twitter

Shell compound in glengad is currently being removed and Remove Shell’s Illegal Fences – National Day of Action 9 May – CALL OUT

May 3, 2009
Direct action against Shell in Mayo

May 3, 2009
Direct action against Shell in Mayo
Around 100 members of the Erris community are currently removing shell’s illegal fencing in Glengadd. Whilst some people have locked onto the fence more have thrown ropes over other sections of the fence and are attempting to pull the pallisade fencing down. The private security firm IRMS (with links to european fascists) have a heavy presence and are attempting to cut the ropes.
A garda presence is starting to assemble. The mood is positive.

This is the third time in ten days Shell’s compound has faced direct action from the community

—-

Saturday 9th May, 2009 at 6pm – Day of Action – Support Needed to Remove Shell Fences from Glengad.

Tearing Down the Barricades
This is a Call Out from the united community of Erris Co Mayo to all our national and international supporters, asking you to come to Glengad this coming Saturday 9th May at 6pm in the evening, on a Day of Action to help us remove Shell’s illegal fences from the area.

As you know, Shell returned to Glengad with fences and machinery on Wednesday 22nd April, with force and violence. Since then there have been a number of attempts at removing the fences and stopping the work, with a mixture of failure and success.

As you can see from the photos and footage below, the will is clearly there to fight Shell, in spite of the fact that large numbers of Shell security and Gardai have been drafted into the area. But what is also clear is that numbers are needed to achieve success. Numbers, People, Bodies. That means you. Please come.

Rossport Solidarity Camp Contact Details: Phone 085 1141170 or email rossportsolidaritycamp (at) gmail (dot) com
By way of background to the current mood in Erris, let’s remind ourselves of 2 key recent events.

In the early hours of Thursday 13rd April, Shell mercenaries viciously attacked Willie Corduff within the confines of the Shell compound.

On Thursday 30th April at a community meeting with Ministers Eamon Ryan and Eamon O’Cuiv, people realised that trying to ‘talk’ to these guys was a fruitless exercise. There were calls from all corners of the community for civil disobedience, the physical stopping of the project and the taking of the ‘law into our own hands’, when the ministers refused to invite Shell to pull back to allow breathing space to resolve the conflict.

This is serious stuff. The mood in Erris now is that people are willing to pay any price to Stop Shell, and to take action accordingly.

But we need support, in numbers, to achieve the critical mass of people required to be effective. To be effective in pulling down Shell fences in order to remove them.

This protest is about taking direct action against the Shell machine and removing it from Glengad.

The pictures and footage included in this article, which show local people attempting to remove fences today, demonstrate that Action has begun in earnest this Spring and will continue in the coming weeks and months. But it’s going to be a battle, when faced, like today, with strong fences and large numbers of Shell security and Gardai. A similar attempt was made last Friday by members of the local community which included Pobal Le Cheile, Pobal Cill Chomain, the Rossport Solidarity Camp and Shell to Sea, but numbers were limited. All groups agreed, at a meeting on the ground, that a National Day of Action next Saturday 9th May was required to build momentum. That is why local people are calling for support, in numbers, to build strength against the show of force against us.

The weather is improving steadily and The Rossport Solidarity Camp is being rebuilt near the shore. People are welcome to come and stay at the camp or the camp house. Phone 085 1141170 or email rossportsolidaritycamp (at) gmail (dot) com

Join us in taking action against Shell. Don’t come empty-handed. Please spread the word amongst your friends, groups and networks.

See you in Glengad.

http://www.shelltosea.com

Camp Bling announces ‘the end’ as road scheme stopped.

Press release:

Camp Bling ‘Save Priory Park!’ road campaign

Thursday 30th April 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

—————————————————————————————

Camp Bling announces ‘the end’ as road scheme stopped.

Press release:

Camp Bling ‘Save Priory Park!’ road campaign

Thursday 30th April 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

—————————————————————————————

Camp Bling announces ‘the end’ as road scheme stopped.

Long running road protest and counter-cultural campaign site Camp Bling, based in the middle of Southend-on-Sea, Essex, is set to be decommissioned by the summer, after the long awaited announcement that the controversial Priory Crescent road widening has now officially been cancelled. (1)

Members of the camp met with Council leaders last night with a view to resolving the situation, after the publication of an open letter from Transport Councillor Anna Waite, stating that £5m in central government funding would be spent solely on the Cuckoo Corner roundabout, with possible junction improvements – but no widening – to follow at the Prittle Brook industrial site at a later date. (2)

As a result, campaigners intend to honour their public pledge to clear and vacate the camp, now that their objective to stop the road has been met completely. It is expected that it will take a number of weeks to fully return the East Saxon king’s burial to its former condition, with all structures and materials on the site to be removed by the group, with the objective of incurring no cost to the local taxpayer.

Speaking from the camp Ginger said, ‘We would like to thank each and every one of the people who have been involved, not just with Camp Bling, but also with the ongoing campaign which ran from 2001 in opposition to the scheme. It’s not every day that you get to be part of an effort to stop a £25m road widening, with the added opportunity to warn people of the culmination of environmental and social crises that we now all face.’

‘For many of us this has been our first taste of an alternative, lower impact, and more compassionate lifestyle. We have shared our experiences – both good and bad – along the way, and often got people to acknowledge the real choices that we all have. It is time for everyone to confront reality, as western industrial society continues to overshoot the ecological limits of the Earth.’ (3)

People are still welcome to visit the camp whilst decommissioning is underway, and are also encouraged to check out some of the alternatives at: www.campbling.org

—————————————————————————————

ENDS.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

(1) Camp Bling was first set up by local activists on 23rd September 2005. For more info about both the camp, and the long running campaign, go to: www.campbling.org

(2) See full contents of letter at: http://www.southend.gov.uk/news/default.asp?id=2835

(3) Climate, Peak Oil, Overpopulation, Mass Extinction, Overconsumption, etc.

Camp Bling ‘Save Priory Park!’ road campaign
www.campbling.org

Contact Camp Bling directly on 07866 967601

Or e-mail camp.bling@yahoo.co.uk

McDonalds Protester Found “Not Guilty”!

An activist from Animal Rights Cambridge arrested under Section 5 of the Public Order Act for a protest inside the McDonalds restaurant in Cambridge in June 2008 was found ‘not guilty’ on 30th April 09.

See http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/cambridge/2008/06/401637.html for more on the case and to see a video of the protest in question.

The protest was in commemoration of the now famous Mclibel cases anniversary, that was a huge PR disaster for McDonalds. The protesters entered the restaurant and informed customers about issues regarding McDonalds corporate practices on a range of issues. One of the campaigners was then arrested under Section 5 of the Public Order Act.

This is a small victory for the animal rights movement that has been under increasing state repression. “Lets take this as a collective lift to our self-esteem” said the cleared activist “I’m Mcloving it!”.

The case has dragged on but it finally came to an end with the magistrate finding the defendant not guilty “Animal rights activism may have been covertly outlawed in the UK” said the activist “but it seems not everyone has read the memo yet!”.

The campaigners Barrister put forward an excellent case with the help of the brilliant defence witnesses. As the Not Guilty verdict was read out the supporters in the public gallery began to applaud!

Ravens Ait evicted!

1st May 2009
around 4.15am this morning around 100 commandos stormed Ravens Ait island

they arrived in 27 black zodiac inflatables

they were wearing helmets, balaclavas, and flackjackets, and carried sidearms

1st May 2009
around 4.15am this morning around 100 commandos stormed Ravens Ait island

they arrived in 27 black zodiac inflatables

they were wearing helmets, balaclavas, and flackjackets, and carried sidearms

overhead a low flying helicopter used thermal imaging to locate the approximately 20 residents who were sleeping at the time

the commandos kicked down doors and took people outside and off the island

the entrance to the tunnel and treehouse were guarded and nobody was in them at the time

most people left peacefully, but a few resisted eviction and were arrested

the last resister climbed on top of the outdoor marquee and the police pulled it down to arrest him

by 7.30am all residents were off the island, but lots of their posessions are still on the island

at least 50 more regular Kingston police have since arrived and are currently on the island

the former residents and their supporters are currently on the Surbiton riverbank in good spirits enjoying the sunshine, and request more supporters to join them to show local and national news crews how much support they have for their eco community centre plans

www.ravensait.org.uk

—

Local press coverage, photos & alternative version of numbers of police involved.

Mexico: Telmex van torched by Luddites and the ALF

During the early morning hours of April 23, in a municipality in the State of Mexico, the Luddites Against the Domestication of Wild Nature and the Frente de Liberación Animal joined together in an action, deciding to step up the fight against the biocidal company Telmex.

received anonymously by Bite Back Magazine (translation):

“During the early morning hours of April 23, in a municipality in the State of Mexico, the Luddites Against the Domestication of Wild Nature and the Frente de Liberación Animal joined together in an action, deciding that we should step up the fight against the biocidal company Telmex. This time we placed an incendiary device at one of the front tires of a van which was responsible for maintaining different phone lines; this incendiary device did the job for which it was made and left the truck owned by Telmex unusable; when we returned to the area of action only the burnt remains could be seen.

The direct action is now claimed by the LCDNS and the FLA; we have joined our efforts and have hit hard, for the liberation of animals and the earth, destructive sabotage.

We want to take the opportunity in this communique to send a greeting to the cells of the ALF and the ELF in Guadalajara, different individuals have decided on illegal action for the anti-speciesist offensive in Mexico which is a huge step for the movement, continue on!

‘And night by night when all is still / And the moon is hid behind the hill / We forward march to do our will / With hatchet, pike and gun!’
– Luddite Anthem

Against all that wants to dominate us LCDNS FLA – México”

The Coal caravan has arrived in West Yorkshire! AND daily blog

29.04.2009
The coal caravan is now in West Yorkshire and has visited Fairburn Ings which is threatened with open casting and Ferrbybridge power station which will burn the coal.

The Coal Caravan reaches Ferrybridge

29.04.2009
The coal caravan is now in West Yorkshire and has visited Fairburn Ings which is threatened with open casting and Ferrbybridge power station which will burn the coal.

The Coal Caravan reaches Ferrybridge

The Coal caravan has arrived in West Yorkshire! After a day of cycling 54 miles in the rain the caravan has set up in Pontefract.

Today activists and locals walked from Pontefract to Fairburn Ings, a site which will be devastated by open cast coal mining if HJ banks and the Ledstone Estate are given the go ahead to remove coal. On the way we passed the monstrosity which is Ferrybridge power station and were able to see exactly where the coal from the Fairburn Ings area will be burned. The coal taken from this area will only power the three local power stations for 11 days, yet it is predicted to take 50 years for the area to recover. The affects on global warming will be felt indefinitely if we don’t move away from a coal based power source, to renewable technology fast.

Last night the Caravan had an evening of discussion around the history of coal and the future of coal. The event was booked to take place at Pontefract New College, but the police leant on the college and then told the public the event had been cancelled. Thankfully we were still able to go ahead with the event in the Town Hall instead! The police have been overly present at some aspects of the caravan, but this has simply increased the public’s curiosity with our events and shown how much the police waste their time.

This evening the Caravan will show the Age of Stupid in Pontefract Library.

Tomorrow we cycle North, towards events in Durham and the North East. If you are interested in the caravan there is still time to come along. We have a full timetable over the bank holiday weekend with the local community and extra hands would be welcome. Please check out our website for details of accommodation and ring the caravan on 07729575582 to let us know you are coming.

caravan@climatecamp.org.uk
http://www.coalcaravan.org.uk

Daily blog during journey – http://coalcaravan.wordpress.com/