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Groundswell shuts down Ta Ann veneer mill (Tasmania)

Grassroots environmental group Groundswell have today shut down operations at Ta Ann’s veneer mill in Smithton, with a peaceful protest. The group are highlighting the ongoing loss of Tasmania’s forests by Ta Ann, 2 protesters are locked onto a conveyor belt inside the mill, completely shutting down operations. A number of other members of the group are present and holding a banner in front of the mill, which reads; “TA ANN – SELLING TASMANIAN FOREST DESTRUCTION”. Ta Ann is a Malaysian-based timber company that has been accused of human rights violations and continues to destroy pristine rainforest in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Ta Ann has had logging contracts in Tasmania from 2006 and is the driving force behind the ongoing logging of old growth forests.

“Today’s protest is being held at the Ta Ann Smithton mill to oppose the ongoing devastation of Tasmania’s native forests just for the sake of a quick profit.” Groundswell spokesperson Dr Lisa Searle said.

“As the forest peace talks have carried on over the last 3 years, the destruction of Tasmania’s native forests has continued. The talks have so far failed to deliver any form of permanent protection and the future of these ecosystems hangs in the balance. .” Dr Searle continued.

“There is currently a very limited market for Tasmanian woodchips, and Ta Ann is driving the continuing destruction of huge tracts of forest. These forests are being clear-felled just to remove a few select logs for Ta Ann while low-grade sawlogs and woodchip-grade logs are being left behind to rot in these decimated areas.” Said Dr Searle.

The protesters will stay in place locked onto machinery until they are removed and Groundswell will continue standing up for the protection of our wild natural state.

*Update: ENVIRONNMENTAL activists have been removed from a conveyor belt at the Ta Ann veneer mill in Smithton.

Tasmania Police officers were called to the site earlier today after two protesters from green group Groundswell chained themselves to machinery inside the timber processing plant. Several other activists gathered outside the mill.

Groundswell said the “peaceful protest” was aimed at highlighting the ongoing loss of Tasmanian forests to provide the timber used in the mill.

Ta Ann Tasmania said it was disappointed the group was illegally protesting at its Smithton mill today.

“Ta Ann Tasmania also wishes to point out that it is not a logger, as falsely claimed, but a "timber processor",” a company spokesperson said.

Tasmania Police issued a short statement at 12.25pm, saying the Ta Ann demonstration had been cleared

Indigenous Communities in Oaxaca, Mexico Fight Corporate Wind Farms

More than five centuries after Colombus’ arrival in the Americas, the invasion of European powers continues to threaten traditional ways of life in indigenous communities in Mexico. The conflict against the corporate takeover of the ancestral lands of the Huave, or Ikoots people, in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca is just one of the struggles continuously being played out in the face of trans-national development policies such as Plan Puebla Panama (now known as Proyecto Mesoamerica).

The Ikoots people of Oaxaca have inhabited the Isthmus of Tehuantepec for more than 3000 years, pre-dating the better-known Zapotec culture in Oaxaca. They are a fishing society that depends on the ocean for their livelihood; the Ikoots peoples’ history is so integrated with the sea that they are also known as Mareños (“Oceaners”). Now Ikoots communities are struggling to defend their ancestral lands from multinational corporations who want to build wind turbines in the water along the coast, in the very ocean that has supported their way of life for centuries.

In April of 2004, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) sponsored a study to accelerate the development of wind projects in the state of Oaxaca, which found that the best area for wind project development was in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in the heart of the ancestral Ikoots territory. [1] The proposed Parque Eolico San Dionisio (San Dionisio Wind Park), a wind farm to be constructed in the ocean along the coast, would consist of 102 wind turbines in the water outside the town of San Dionisio del Mar (and 30 more outside neighboring Santa Maria del Mar), two electric transformer substations, six access paths and additional support structures. [2] It would take up 27 kilometers of coastline. The multinationals implementing the project have also informed the Mexican government that they will need to install 5 mooring docks in the Laguna Superior, a coastal lagoon that local communities heavily depend on for fishing. [3]

The construction of wind turbines would have a devastating effect on both Ikoots society and the environment. The community fears that the vibration from the machines would destroy the aquatic life in the area, which is the economic basis of survival for Ikoots communities such as San Dionisio del Mar, San Mateo del Mar and San Francisco del Mar. “This is the life of the poor: we fish so we can eat and have something to sell, to have a bit of money. They say that now that the wind project is here, they’ll give us money for our land and sea, but the money won’t last forever. We don’t agree with this. How are we going to live?” says Laura Celaya Altamirano, a resident of Isla Pueblo Viejo and the wife of a fisherman. [4] The wind turbines also present a threat to migratory birds and would damage the ecosystems of the local mangrove swamps. In addition, the proposed construction would desecrate Ikoots sacred territory, namely the Isla de San Dionisio and the Barra de Santa Teresa (known by the Ikoots communities as Tileme).

The proposed location for the aquatic wind farm is San Dionisio del Mar, a town of about 5000 residents. The project in San Dionisio is being implemented by a consortium called Mareña Renovable, which consists of the global investment bank Macquarie, based in Australia; the Dutch investment group PGGM; and the Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan. It includes turbines constructed by the Danish Company Vestas Wind Systems, and the involvement of two wind power companies: Grupo Preneal of Spain, and DEMEX of Mexico. The project also has funding from the Inter-American Development Bank. [5] The electricity from the farm would be used to power such corporate giants as FEMSA (based in Mexico, the largest beverage company in Latin America), Coca-Cola, Heineken, and other multinational corporations. [6]

A total disregard for the environment and the livelihoods of local people is par for the course when multinationals step in to take over communal lands for profit. In the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, wind power companies have been exploiting local communities for years, pressuring farmers (most with little formal education) to sign contracts they often don’t understand in order to give up their rights to land that has been held communally for generations. “Oaxaca is the center of communal landownership. There is probably no worse place to make a land deal in Mexico," says Ben Cokelet, founder of the Project on Organizing, Development, Education, and Research.[7] Developers held meetings with locals in which model windmills the size of dinner platters were shown; they were led to believe they could continue farming around them. Later they were shocked to see 15-to-20-story turbines constructed, taking up acres of their land. Developers pay the farmers a pittance in exchange for their land, often paying only 1/5^th of what they would pay for similar land in the US, or 1/7^th of what they would pay the Mexican government for the same land. And, in a move that exacerbates tension in the community, local leaders are given better deals for their land in order to make the process more appealing to the rest of the population: "The first guy or two that bites gets [$8] per square meter. That's a hundred times better contract than the other people," says Cokelet. “But the 98 percent of farmers who sign afterwards sign on for rock-bottom prices. Those one or two people who bite – they don't bite because they're lucky. They bite because they know someone. And their job … is to sell it to all their neighbors." [8]

There are currently 14 wind farms built on land in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, with 4 under construction in 2012 and 3 more scheduled for 2013. [9] According to the Declaración de San Dionisio del Mar, released on September 17 by the indigenous rights organization UCIZONI (La Unión de Comunidades de la Zona Norte del Istmo – The Union of Communities in the North Zone of the Isthmus), the communities affected by the 14 existing wind farms have not benefited from lower electricity rates; rather, the intention of the farms is clearly to serve the interests of transnational corporations such as Coca-Cola, Walmart, Nestle, Bimbo and others. [10] The wind turbines in San Dionisio are the first proposed turbines to be built in the sea. Ikoots communities would not even benefit from the jobs created by the wind turbines; the construction and maintenance of the wind turbines would most certainly be given to employees of the multinational corporations funding the project, not to local fishermen.

The Ikoots community of San Dionisio del Mar did not consent to this project, nor were they even informed that it was under consideration. The International Labour Organization, a United Nations agency dealing with labor rights, specifically states in its Convention 169 (Convention on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples) that “special measures… be adopted to safeguard the persons, institutions, property, labour, cultures and environment of these [indigenous] peoples. In addition, the Convention stipulates that these special measures should not go against the free wishes of indigenous peoples.” Mexico ratified this convention in 1990. [11] In this case, there was no public forum or announcement regarding the construction of the wind farms.

“A common practice of foreign businesses is to ‘buy’ [via bribes] the local PRIista authorities,” says Carlos Beas Torres, a leader and co-founder of UCIZONI and a well-known activist for indigenous rights. In 2004, Alvaro Sosa, the then-president of the “comisariado de bienes comunales” (essentially, the commissary for the territory held in common by the community), signed a preliminary contract renting a section of land to the Spanish corporation Preneal without the knowledge of the town’s residents. The 30-year contract that gave the multinationals access to 1643 hectares of land; Sosa did not inform the community of this action and accepted bribes in exchange for his consent.[12] The people of San Dionisio del Mar did not find out about the existence of this contract until late in 2011, when the municipal president, Miguel López Castellanos (a member of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional, or PRI), again without consulting the community gave his permission for the consortium Mareña Renovables to begin construction of wind turbines in exchange for a payment of between 14-20 million pesos (between $1-1.5 million USD). The multinationals claim to have given him 20 million pesos, but Lopez Castellanos only admits to receiving 14 million pesos. [13]

Upon this discovery, the residents of San Dionisio held a public assembly where they demanded that the municipal president revoke his consent for the wind farm, which he refused to do. In February, representatives from the community met with DEMEX in Mexico City to request that the contract process start over, but were turned down. [14] Thus the struggle for control of the Ikoots’ ancestral land began.

Not surprisingly, an intense resistance movement against the wind farm has surged in San Dionisio del Mar. The townspeople have initiated a legal battle in the Tribunal Unitario Agrario (Agrarian Unitary Tribunal), the government agency in charge of settling agrarian disputes, in an attempt to nullify the contract. However they are also taking direct action in an attempt to defend their land. In late January 2012, community members took possession of the municipal palace in San Dionisio in protest, ejecting municipal president Miguel López Castellanos, creating the Asamblea General del Pueblo de San Dionisio (General Assembly of the People of San Dionisio), and declaring themselves in resistance.[15] In April, the San Dionisio communal assembly prevented employees of the multinationals from laying out access roads in the Barra de Santa Teresa, and set up a permanent watch to make sure the contractors do not return. [16] In September, community members organized a national encuentro (or gathering) in San Dionisio, with the participation of around 300 people from 25 different indigenous and activist organizations from 6 different states in Mexico.[17] The intent of the encuentro was not only to raise awareness on what was happening on Ikoots land, but also to create a large-scale national plan of action to resist megaprojects such as the wind farms. “It’s practically a second Spanish Conquest; they’re coming again to snatch our land with a contract that is completely advantageous, draconian and in violation of our rights as indigenous people,” says Jesús García Sosa, a representative of the Asamblea General. [18]

The resistance movement continues to grow despite threats and intimidation, as well as actual physical attacks on community members committed by opposing political factions. The general consensus is that these factions are being paid by the multinationals involved to hamper resistance to the development project. On August 25, a representative of the Asamblea General named Moisés Juárez Muriel was brutally attacked while walking home in the evening by two men who beat him with stones. He was taken by two compañeros in resistance to the IMSS-Complamar clinic, where he was refused treatment because the clinic was under control of the municipal president. [19] In mid-September, immediately after the conclusion of the encuentro in support of the Ikoots community members in resistance, a group of heavily armed individuals surrounded the municipal palace that the community members were occupying, pointing guns at and intimidating the people who were guarding the building. [20]

Resistance movement leaders have also received public death threats from political parties and anonymous sources. On October 6, a group of PRI agitators marched through San Dionisio, making specific death threats against Bettina Cruz Velazquez, a well-known human rights activist and founder of the Asamblea de los Pueblos Indígenas del Istmo de Tehuantepec en Defensa de la Tierra y el Territorio (Assembly of Indigenous Peoples of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Defense of Land and Territory). Cruz Velazquez is deeply involved in the resistance movement against the wind project. Human rights groups in Mexico have formally asked the governor of Oaxaca, Gabino Cué Monteagudo, to guarantee her safety. [21] Carlos Beas Torres of UCIZONI has received threatening phone calls for his public stance in opposition of the project. [22]

In some cases, attempts to stop resistance support have led to clashess. In mid-October, two organizations, El Frente por la Defensa de la Tierra (The Front for the Defense of the Earth) and UCIZONI sent a caravan of support attempting to bring food and supplies to the community in resistance in San Dionisio. A blockade was set up by armed PRIista sympathizers of the municipal president, Miguel López Castellanos, to keep the caravan from passing. [23] A violent confrontation ensued.

“The store owners in San Dionisio belong to the PRI and refuse to sell food to the people resisting the wind project,” says Carlos Alberto Ocaña, whose father (a native of San Dionisio) was the driver of the first truck in the supply caravan. “When the caravan approached the town, it was stopped by a blockade of about 70 people. They had guns, machetes, and gasoline for setting the cars on fire. My father was in the first truck with five other people. They PRIistas in the blockade pulled them out of the truck and started beating them.” The police eventually arrived, but the caravan was unable to pass the barricade to reach San Dionisio and eventually it was forced to turn back without delivering the supplies.

On October 17 and 18, members of the Asamblea General of San Dionisio, UCIZONI, la Asamblea de Pueblos Indígenas del Istmo en Defensa de la Tierra y el Territorio, la Alianza Mexicana por la Autodeterminación de los Pueblos (Mexican Allaince for the Self-Determination of the People, AMAP), and a half dozen other groups held protests in Mexico City. They held rallies in front of the Interamerican Development Bank, Mitsubishi, Coca-Cola, Vestas, and the Danish embassy. Their goal was twofold: to impede the construction of the wind park in San Dionisio, but also to publicly denounce the environmental and cultural damage that threatens the Ikoots communities of the Isthmus. They were received and allowed to present written complaints at the Interamerican Development Bank, Vestas, and the Danish embassy. oca-Cola-FEMSA refused to meet with them. [24] As of this writing, the Ikoots communities’ struggle against corporate takeover continues; in November representatives of the community will travel to the Netherlands, with the support of Dutch unions, to present a letter of protest in person to the Dutch investment company PGGM. In the words of Asamblea General representative Jesús García Sosa, “We will not allow that business and government to yet again displace us from our territory, which symbolizes our very life, our mother, our father; we can’t sell it to them or put a price on it, much less in exchange for projects of death and plunder.” [25]

On October 30th, President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa, who was in Oaxaca to inaugurate a new highway, also travelled to inaugurate the Piedra Larga Wind Park. Calderon saluted the project, citing it as a solution to poverty and climate change, and mentioning the “additional income” the residents of the town Unión Hidalgo would receive for allowing the turbines to be installed on their communal land.

Meanwhile, 300 meters outside the park, theirn entrance blocked by national police, nearly 200 people from different communities in the region including San Mateo del Mar, San Dionisio del Mar, San Francisco del Mar, Unión Hidalgo, Juchitán, Santa María Xadani and the UCIZONI, protested the park’s opening. [26]

FOOTNOTES

1. Noticias de Oaxaca, Oct. 14 2012 .

2. Noticias de Oaxaca, Aug. 20 2012 .

3. Noticias de Oaxaca, Apr. 21 2012 .

4. Noticias de Oaxaca, Aug. 20 2012.

5. Recharge News, Mar. 12 2012.

6. Noticias de Oaxaca, Apr. 23 2012.

7. Christian Science Monitor, Jan. 26 2012.

8. Ibid

9. Noticias de Oaxaca, Oct. 11 2012.

10. UCIZONI statement, Sept. 17 2012.

11. International Labor Organization Convention 169.

12. La Jornada, Aug. 23 2012.

13. Noticias de Oaxaca, Aug. 20 2012.

14. Christian Science Monitor, Feb. 28 2012.

15. El Sol del Istmo, Jan. 30 2012.

16. Noticias de Oaxaca, Apr. 21 2012.

17. Despertar de Oaxaca, Sept. 28 2012.

18. Noticias de Oaxaca, Aug. 20 2012.

19. Quadratin Oaxaca, Oct. 9 2012.

20. Ibid.

21. E-Oaxaca, Oct. 15 2012.

22. Quadratin Oaxaca, Oct. 9 2012

23. E-Oaxaca, Oct. 11 2012.

24. La Jornada, Oct. 17 2012:

25. Noticias de Oaxaca, Aug. 20 2012.

26. Eco Noticias Huatulco. Oct 30, 2012.

TAMPAKAN MASSACRE: International solidarity requested against SMI-Xstrata corporation (Philippines, Switzerland)

SMI-Xstrata is a Swiss corporation which has a mining application in south Cotabato, Mindanao. despite the resistance of the community the Philippine government is backing-up the said application.

In order to silence the resistance the government use the military. 13 people were killed including an 8 years old boy and 3 months pregnant woman. The culprit is based in Switzerland. We are asking for your support to put pressure on the corporation to stop the destruction of natural resources and to seek justice for the victims.

At 6:30 a.m. on Oct. 18, in Datal Aliong, Kiblawan, Davao del Sur, Juvy, 27, wife of B’laan leader Daguil Capion, was shot in cold blood together with her two sons, Jordan, 13, and John, 8 by elements of the 27^th Infantry Battalion, led by 1^st Lt. Dante Jimenez. The youngest daughter Vicky, 4, escaped but was wounded.

When a relative of the victims said that it was better if the children were not harmed, a soldier replied “mas maayo nga tiwason ang mga bata para wala’y witness” (better to finish off the children, so there are no witnesses). Before Juvy was shot, the relative heard Juvy say, “tama na ayaw namo sige ug pabuto kay naigo nako” (please stop firing your guns, as I am already wounded). But the soldiers kept firing their guns.

Immediately after the incident, Colonel Alexis Bravo, commander of the 27^th Infantry Batallion, conducted press conferences for radio and print, claiming the incident was an ‘encounter’ with the NPA. Evidence however showed there was willful intent to kill innocent children and their mother. They even talked to the unarmed mother before killing her. How can that be an encounter? Juvy, the mother, together with her husband Daguil, are active leaders in opposing the mining project. Col. Bravo, Lt. Jimenez and seven other soldiers were relieved of duty immediately after the massacre.

Kiblawan Mayor Marivic Diamante, who is an active supporter of Xstrata-SMI and receives millions in ‘development’ funds from them, and who is often a guest speaker in mining conferences in Manila, attempted to take possession of two children who were vital witnesses, saying they would be brought to the hospital. The mother of Daguil refused, triggering a tug of war, pacified by Atty. Hawtay of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). The children are now safely in the hands of the Social Action Center of Marbel. (Sources – Task Force Detainee of the Philippines, Social Action Center Marbel, rappler.com, LILAK).

The military wants to convince everyone it is a counter-insurgency war. They do not see it as a people’s war against the multinational they protect. They talk of suspected communist rebels. That is the way they justify their presence. They say they are there because the rebels are there. They say they want to protect the people from the rebels. But they kill instead the people they say they protect. In truth, from their actions, they are there to support and protect the mining project. Before the multinationals came, there was peace in Tampakan. Now the domain of the B’laans has been mutilated.

For more details (WARNING: Contains graphic photo's of masacre) http://onsiteinfoshopphilippines.wordpress.com/newsupdate/

(USA) LOGGING COMPANY HIT AGAIN

anonymous report:

"Gilliardi Logging and Construction have not gotten the message. so we poisoned one of their semi-trucks, carrying a vicious wood-chipper. the evicted hawks and owls will be pleased."

anonymous report:

"Gilliardi Logging and Construction have not gotten the message. so we poisoned one of their semi-trucks, carrying a vicious wood-chipper. the evicted hawks and owls will be pleased."

(USA) LOGGING COMPANY TARGETED

anonymous report:

"puyallup wetlands are under attack by a private logging company that I and others have yet to identify. this attack was carried out on canyon rd. short-term damage was done to a hydraulic excavator, as a warning. if they continue – our attacks will increase."

anonymous report:

logging company hit again, USA

October 25, 2012
anonymous report:

"Gilliardi Logging and Construction have not gotten the message. so we poisoned one of their semi-trucks, carrying a vicious wood-chipper. the evicted hawks and owls will be pleased."

October 25, 2012
anonymous report:

"Gilliardi Logging and Construction have not gotten the message. so we poisoned one of their semi-trucks, carrying a vicious wood-chipper. the evicted hawks and owls will be pleased."

Wife of Gulf Coast Oilfield Worker Chains Herself to Keystone XL Pipeyard Gate

Drawing connections to all coastal communities threatened by toxic tar sands development, Cherri Foytlin, an indigenous South Louisiana mother of six and wife of a Gulf Coast oilfield worker, chained herself to the gate of a Keystone XL pipeyard. Effectively blocking pipe from being shipped to construction sites along the controversial pipeline’s route, Foytlin’s action coincides with the Defend Our Coast activities in British Columbia, where more than 60 Canadian communities are protesting a proposed tar sands pipeline through their region.

Yesterday the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation filed a legal challenge to Shell’s proposed expansion of the Jackpine Tar Sands Mine in Alberta, Canada. From It’s Getting Hot in Here:

“Following these projects, Council will continue on its six-day No Pipelines, No Tankers Speaking Tour, stopping in communities on or near the routes of the Pacific Trails, Enbridge Northern Gateway, and Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipelines.

” ‘The idea is to build solidarity between the different pipeline campaigns,’ says Harjap Grewal, Pacific Regional Organizer of the Council of Canadians. This includes campaigns to stop the pipelines at their source—in the Alberta Tar Sands and Fracking region in northeastern BC.”

Occupy the Pipeline activists in New York have been struggling against the Spectra Pipeline which will pump fuel hydraulically-fracked from Pennsylvania’s gas fields into New York City

Foytlin's arrest is the 32nd arrest since Tar Sands Blockade‘s actions began more than two months ago and today marks the 31st day of sustained protest at the Winnsboro tree blockade.

“This pipeline is a project of death. From destructive tar sands development that destroy indigenous sovereignty and health at the route’s start to the toxic emissions that will lay further burden on environmental justice communities along the Gulf of Mexico, this pipeline not only disproportionately affects indigenous frontline communities but its clear that it will bring death and disease to all in its path,” Foytlin declared.

Refusing to accept the Gulf Coast’s designation as the Nation’s Energy Sacrifice Zone, Foytlin, along with many Gulf Coast residents and indigenous activists are dismayed but not surprised to find the conversations regarding Keystone XL as a whole from national environmental groups to the Presidential campaigns have made little to no mention of the damage TransCanada’s Keystone XL Pipeline will heap upon Gulf Coast communities like Houston and Port Arthur, TX, where Keystone XL will terminate. Already overburdened with oil refineries and other dirty energy related industry, this neglectful attitude dovetails neatly with TransCanada’s reckless disregard for the health and safety of families in the refinery communities and elsewhere along the pipeline’s route.

The Rayne, Louisiana resident, who in the Spring of 2011 walked 1,243 miles from New Orleans to Washington DC as a call for action to stop the BP Drilling Disaster, has been a constant voice speaking out for the health and ecosystems of Gulf Coast communities.

She continued, “This fight is also about the personal freedoms given to us through the blood of all of our combined ancestry. Conservatives believe government is too big, that they are choking out our freedoms. The Occupy Movement believes corporations have kidnapped those same rights in the pursuit of profit over humanity. I believe both groups are right, and this pipeline and the use of eminent domain by a foreign company to seize and lay claim to American land, aided by the silence of the government, is an epic example of those truths.”

Tar Sands Blockade is a coalition of Texas and Oklahoma landowners and climate justice organizers using peaceful and sustained civil disobedience to stop the construction of TransCanada’s Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

“From the Pacific Coast to the Gulf Coast, Tar Sands Blockade acts in solidarity with all communities and indigenous people rising up to defend their homes from toxic tar sands pipelines. The refinery communities of the Gulf Coast have historically been and continue to be treated as collateral damage by industry and now landowners from Canada to Texas are learning that reality, too,” stated Ramsey Sprague, a Tar Sands Blockade spokesperson born in Houma, Louisiana to a Chitimacha family. “From start to finish, tar sands development only further endangers communities already at far greater risk for death and disease from toxic environmental exposure to human-made chemical pollutants than communities further away from the petroleum refineries and the unconscionable mining operations that define their origins.”

Indigenous Communities Rise Up in Mexico

For the second time in less than two years, an indigenous community in the southwestern Mexican state of Michoacan has erected barricades and seized control of security matters. Located in the Purepecha highlands of the Pacific coast state, the small community of Urapicho in the municipality of Paracho has been under the self-declared control of the people for about a month now.

The news was publicized this week with the posting of a video on YouTube that shows armed and masked men, some clothed in military-style camouflage clothing, attending a sand-bagged checkpoint, where motorists are searched. Two anonymous, masked spokespersons explain the reasons behind the uprising and the goals of their movement.

Residents say they have been under assault from criminal bands which have a strong foothold in the region. The Spanish-speaking spokesman mentions four people who were forcibly disappeared in 2009 and 2010, including a woman named Bautista. “We don’t know her whereabouts,” he says.

The Purepecha community is located between the towns of Paracho, long known for its locally produced guitars, and Cheran, a larger indigenous community that rose up in April 2011 and seized control of the local government. Still barricaded and under community guard, the Cheran rebellion broke out after locals grew frustrated by violence and government inaction in stopping the clear-cutting of the area’s remaining forests. Like Urapicho, numerous deaths and disappearances blamed on organized crime have been reported in Cheran.

The Urapicho uprising occurs amid escalating social conflicts that have political temperatures at the boiling point in Michoacan. In different parts of the state, multiple conflicts pit student, teacher and indigenous groups against the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)-led state government, as well as legislators from the PRI and allied Green Party against the center-left PRD, PT and MC parties.

On Sunday, October 14, tensions exploded when the Federal Police recovered buses that had been seized by protesting students from three rural teachers’ colleges. In the raid, scores of students were detained, buses burned and several officers injured.

In response, anywhere between 15,000 and 40,000 demonstrators, the estimates depending on the source, crowded the state capital of Morelia October 17 denouncing President Calderon and demanding the resignations of state Government Secretary Jesus Reyna Garcia and PRI Governor Fausto Vallejo, who was elected to office in a controversial November 2011 election.

Contingents representing the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE), the Purepecha Nation and other organizations participated in the mobilization. A large group of students encircled the state attorney general’s office, while a second group numbering in the hundreds blocked one of Morelia’s highway exits.

As the week ended, the CNTE vowed to continue protesting in Morelia until the remaining 8 students detained on October 14 were released. Outside the state capital, protesters reportedly occupied the town hall of Paracho and threatened to blockade access to other municipalities.

more ingo at http://fnsnews.nmsu.edu/2012/10/19/indigenous-communities-rise-up-in-mexico/

Under the watchful eye of engaged youth, Pangea and the PLA’s “City Concept” plan was halted by tribal council

Sacaton, AZ- At the October 17, 2012 Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) Tribal Council session, Pangea, LLC and the Pecos Landowners Association (PLA) attempted to rush forward their plans pertaining to the construction of a city and freeway within the reservation. Pangea sought the tribal council’s approval for a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which granted Pangea and its investors exclusive rights to develop over 5500 acres of tribal land on the reservation’s western end along the route of the proposed Loop 202 freeway, which GRIC voted against last February. The PLA attempted to pressure tribal council to approve the Pangea corporation’s initiative for yet another community vote on the Loop 202.

But to their surprise, Pangea and the PLA were confronted by young people wearing breathing masks and No Build 202 shirts who sought to hold both Pangea and the PLA accountable to last February’s Loop 202 vote. In that vote, GRIC voters voted in favor of the No Build option for the freeway. The Gila River youth, whose breathing masks symbolized the environmental toxins that freeways bring to the land and air, were at the tribal council meeting to demand that their elected officials uphold the No Build voice of the people.

“I can’t vote yet, but if I could, I would have voted No Build too. The people who want the freeway should think about what my generation will go through if all we have to inherit is freeway pollution”said 14 year old Lily Miles, of Komatke and Vah-ki, who was one of the twelve who wore medical breathing masks and No Build shirts in solidarity with the community’s No Build voice.

Since the historic Loop 202 vote, many GRIC members, especially the youth, have felt their tribal leadership has not fully upheld the community’s No Build stance. This suspicion is heightened since GRIC Governor Mendoza allowed Pangea to consult with GRIC’s Office of General Counsel for their City Concept and freeway plans. In addition, Governor Mendoza presented the PLA initiative that calls for another Loop 202 vote at the September 26th GRIC Legislative Standing Committee (LSC).

If approved by the GRIC Tribal Council, the massive Pangea City Concept, the size of over 5000 football fields, would be the largest construction project in the history of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Gila River Indian Community. The GRIC No Build supporters who attended the Wednesday council session were compelled to raise their voices against Pangea and the PLA in the tribal council chambers without saying one word. Their breathing masks and No Build 202 shirts, stating “Biohazard 202” spoke to the looming desecration of Muhadag Do’ag (South Mountain) and to the negative impacts the proposed freeway would bring to the environment and overall community health.

“Our tribal leaders must be held accountable for where their allegiances lie,” said Renee Jackson of Vah-ki, who was one of the No Build supporters who wore breathing masks and Biohazard 202 shirts during the meeting. “Our representatives must be transparent in where they stand on the issue of the freeway”.

While council went to executive session to decide the merit of Pangea’s MOU and the PLA voting initiative, the twelve youth engaged pro-freeway Gila River landowners in the hallways outside council chambers. The youth shared their concerns regarding the environmental, health and cultural impacts the City Concept would bring to their future while council was in executive session and closed to the public. The mere presence of these twelve helped give a voice to the 720 GRIC members who voted for No Build, and their breathing masks showed the potential danger the freeway would bring.

“Today we showed where the youth stand and we showed that there are youth who care. Pangea and the PLA’s city concept is a danger to our future and both are biohazards to the land and to the mountain,” said Andrew Pedro, 18 years old, from Sacaton, who printed the Biohazard shirts. “People were asking me for more t-shirts, and I believe that this is the first of more visual demonstrations to come.”

“I felt like it was my responsibility to be here and get informed about what is happening around me and in my community because I will be inheriting this land too.” said Karma Miles, 11 years old, from Komatke and Vah-ki.

Despite the differences the youth had with fellow GRIC landowners, the youth presented themselves in a respectful matter, and even helped PLA elders by setting up chairs during executive session.

After nearly an hour in executive session, Tribal Council decided that eleven key points needed to be met before any MOU regarding Pangea’s land use plans could be approved. The eleven points center around public safety, budgeting, jurisdiction, and land management issues that were not addressed within the MOU submitted by Pangea. Council clearly declared that all points must be met before Pangea’s MOU could be brought back before the council. Additionally, the misleading Save the Mountain initiative was held to standard GRIC Community Council Secretary’s Office (CCSO) procedure regarding signatures verification. The PLA submitted their Pangea-backed initiative to the GRIC Community Council Secretary’s Office (CCSO) on September 27 with the backing of 1,527 landowner signatures. Tribal council declared that each signature must be verified first before council would consider the initiative. As with the per capita initiative, a previous people’s initiative in Gila River, the signatures could take the CCSO four to six months to verify, especially with reports of missing tribal enrollment numbers with the signatures submitted, as reported by Community Council Secretary Linda Andrews at the council meeting. The Save the Mountain initiative, which Pangea and PLA deemed” first ever Peoples Initiative through the People’s rights under the GRIC Tribal Constitution”, does not save the mountain because it calls for the rejected freeway to be constructed on tribal lands along the foothills of Muhadag Do’ag (South Mountain).

Despite the steps that are legally required to approve a voter initiative, a Pangea representative pressured council to move forward and approve the pro-freeway initiative. GRIC member Joey Perez of Pangea attempted to have council set a much shorter time frame for approval, by citing the 14th amendment of the GRIC constitution, which declares council has 60 days to make a decision on any initiative bought forth to them. The Pangea corporation’s interpretation, as stated by Perez, was that the 60 days started on September 27, when the signatures were submitted, which would force council to possibly reconsider another Loop 202 vote by the end of the year. But Perez, Pangea and the PLA were soon confronted with standard GRIC procedures regarding initiatives: signatures must be verified before the initiative can be considered by the council.

The reason why the Pangea corporation and pro-build supporters disregard the No Build victory and are attempting to rush the tribal council to schedule another vote on the proposed freeway is because in 2013 federal land leasing regulations for tribal allotted lands become much more restrictive. Changes to Title 25 of the BIA’s Code of Federal Regulations will require 100 percent of landowner consents before the BIA will approve any new leases pertaining to the use of tribal allotted lands for businesses. This would make the Pangea City Concept, which is centered around the construction of the Loop 202, subject to heightened federal regulations.

The decision by Council to hold Pangea and the PLA transparent and accountable to the process was a long overdue first step in reversing its nine months of inaction regarding the No Build vote. Pangea and the PLA were expecting to walk out of the tribal council meeting with another Loop 202 vote scheduled, and their land development plans to be unopposed. But Pangea and the PLA left the October tribal council session in defeat when confronted with the gaping holes of their fraudulent campaign to bulldoze over 5500 acres for a Pangea city, and by the faces of the young people whose future health depends on the preservation and protection of Muhadag Do’ag, and their lands.

“It was a wonderful day, a small victory once again,” said Lori Thomas, of Gila River Alliance for a Clean Environment. “The youth who were present were awesome. It was good to see them engage in the issue. A small battle was won but the fight still rages on.”

For the youth who attended this round of the bigger fight to completely stop the Loop 202, it showed that their involvement will be crucial for the future of the community, and that a new form of expression is needed so that their voices can be heard by the Pangea corporation, the PLA, as well as by the GRIC tribal council and Governor Mendoza.

“We made an impact by representing all the No Build supporters who can’t be here, to go to these meetings and be heard,” said Ana Morago, 18 years old, of Stotonic. “We aren’t bused in, like the way Pangea brings in their people. And even though we didn’t speak, our actions and how we presented ourselves spoke louder”.

For more information regarding the struggle against the Loop 202, please contact us at: gricagainst202(at)gmail.com or at our Facebook page: Gila River Against the Loop 202

(USA) Croatan Earth First! Locks Down North Carolina DENR For Complicity In Fracking

Seven members of Croatan Earth First! and participants from our Piedmont Direct Action Camp locked together today, barricading the front of North Carolina’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) building in downtown Raleigh. Providing physical, active resistance against fracking in North Carolina, CEF! has chosen DENR for an action as they are responsible for helping legalize fracking, and will be responsible for regulating it. They have also hired a corrupt Mining and Energy Commission board, which includes people with vested interests in hydraulic fracturing occuring. We are letting them know that this farce won’t stand! No compromise in defense of Mother Earth!

In addition, a sizeable demonstration is being held around the lock down, with several large banners, signs, literature, etc. Police actively cleared the site, and have closed off the road, labeling the entire block a crime scene. Press was being prevented from approaching the site. In negotiation made with the police, press was allowed inside to do interviews and take photos if the blockaders agreed to unlock later. The protesters decided to unlock as a tactical decision to walk away without arrests and save our legal funds for future events.

Press Release

Croatan Earth First! Locks Down NC DENR For Complicity In Fracking

Raleigh, NC – This morning multiple people locked themselves to the front of the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources headquarters at 217 W. Jones St. in protest of the state’s continued path towards the legalization of hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) for natural gas. Environmentalists across the state have organized and campaigned against hydrofracking legislation for over a year, which resulted in a veto of SB 820 this past summer by Beverly Perdue. The legislature overrode the veto shortly after during a controversial vote in which a mistaken ballot was cast for legalization, and the voter was refused a recast.

“All legal channels of protest have been exhausted,” says Earth First!er Emily Smith at the rally outside the action. “We’ve learned that the legislature and regulators will not protect the water we drink and air we breathe. It’s time for the public to take other types of action to stop hydrofracking. “ This past Spring NC DENR released a report that grossly underestimated the possible environmental risks of fracking. Since then, they have been working with the newly formed Mining and Energy Commission which includes several members that are closely linked to oil & gas: Ray Covington, a partner at NC Oil & Gas, who profits financially from an increase in leased lands for fracking; Chairman Jim Womack, a Lee County Commissioner and an oil industry supporter who claimed at a DENR public meeting that you were more likely to be hit by a meteor than have water contaminated by fracking; and Charles Holbrook a former employee of Chevron Oil.

“Having people who support and benefit from oil and gas extraction on a regulatory commission is like a fox guarding the henhouse.” The EPA recently released a study that confirmed contamination of the water aquifer in Pavillion, Wyoming with fracking fluids, but DENR has done nothing to modify their report. “We’re not going to let industry destroy North Carolina like they have Pennsylvania,” says Smith referring to the numerous spills that have occurred in the highly fracked Marcellus Shale—including 4,700 gallons of hydrochloric acid spilled this year in Bradford County and a 30-foot methane geyser which erupted in Tioga county, PA. A blowout at one of Chesapeake Energy’s rigs in Wyoming this year burned escaping methane for several days and more than 70 residents had to be evacuated. “Fracking is not only contaminating our land and water irreversibly, but it’s spewing massive amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere.”