Indigenous Rights Leader shot, 2 family members killed in Yukpa territory, Venezuela
On Tuesday, the day after the national government granted more than 40,000 hectares of land to Yukpa indigenous communities in northwestern Venezuela, assassins attacked the community of Yukpa chief and indigenous rights activist Sabino Romero, killing two and injuring at least four. Romero’s son in law, Ever Garcia, and a young, pregnant Yukpa woman were shot dead in the attack. Romero received three bullet wounds and is currently in the hospital in stable condition, according to reports from the community. Romero’s daughter, grand daughter, and nephew were also hospitalized with bullet wounds, and are now in the hospital in stable condition. Romero was one of several Yukpa chiefs who led land occupations last year to demand that the government pay indemnity to the private estate owners and transfer the land to the Yukpa in the form of collective property, in accordance with the Venezuelan Constitution and indigenous rights laws passed by the government of President Hugo Chavez. Since the land occupations began in July 2008, the Yukpa communities involved have been subject to repeated death threats and attacks by thugs believed to have been hired by large estate owners and their local government allies. In August 2008, estate owner Alejandro Vargas participated in an attack on Romero’s community, during which Romero’s father, a community elder of more than one hundred years of age, was beaten and killed. Vargas, a cattle rancher, in an attempt to justify his deadly raid on the Yukpa, accused Romero of stealing several head of cattle. He also claimed on one occasion to have paid bribes to local legal authorities for protection against prosecution, according to the victims of the attacks. The Yukpa reported the attacks to local police, who said investigations were opened, but no suspects have been arrested. The National Guard maintains a heavy presence and the government plans to build a new military base in the sparsely populated and conflict-ridden border zone, which is rich in coal deposits and affected by the spillover of refugees, guerrilla insurgents, and paramilitaries from the civil war in Colombia. Romero and other Yukpa chiefs allied with him are openly opposed to the land grants issued by the government on Monday. They say the government did not effectively consult with the Yukpa communities about the proper demarcation of Yukpa land, and instead carved up Yukpa territory to protect large estate owners, preserve access to coal deposits, and preserve space for a military base in the region. Meanwhile, several other Yukpa chiefs have allied themselves with Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nicia Maldonado and supported the government’s plan for indigenous land demarcation. Housing and Credits Granted to Indigenous October 12th In addition to the land titles issued on October 12th in celebration of Columbus Day, which the Chavez government officially renamed Indigenous Resistance Day in 2004, the government also gave houses, transport vehicles, and a variety of small business credits to semi-rural indigenous communities in the states of Amazonas, Bolivar, Anzoátegui, and Zulia. Education Minister Hector Navarro and Agriculture and Land Minister Elias Jaua attended the inauguration of a bilingual public primary school in Anzoátegui state, where the local indigenous community will be able to study and learn in Spanish as well as their native language. In the Amazon region, Presidential Chief of Staff Luis Reyes visited a community of approximately one hundred Piaroa families who received small houses of uniform suburban design that were built by the government. The government also gave the community vehicles to transport fruit from their farms to the market. In previous years, the community received credits to build a fruit processing plant and a radio station, and the government built a primary school and a local health clinic as well. Venezuela’s indigenous population constitutes less than two percent of the national population. Indigenous communities have gained substantial constitutional, legal, and parliamentary recognition since President Chavez took office in 1999.
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Weekend Update #31: Indigenous Knowledges
October 16, 2009 by admin1
Filed under Featured, Weekend Update!
In this edition of Weekend Update, Russell Means sets the record straight about the land crossing over the arctic, as well as the creation stories and the myriad accomplishments of the Indigenous People. He speaks as well of the plague from the Vatican, and the 6,000 year war still raging in this 10 minute installment.
Weekend Update #29: Where are the Women?
October 2, 2009 by admin1
Filed under Featured, Weekend Update!
In this edition of Weekend Update, Russell Means gives voice to the
destructive conditions that women willingly undergo in society. From
those who inhibit their fertility, to those arguing for equal rights,
Russell Means speaks to the underying troubles facing women today, and
what can be done to bring the situation back into balance.
Weekend Update #29: Where are the Women? from Russell Means on Vimeo.
Chevron, Pollution and Misinformation – Andy Rooney Speaks Out
A fresh animation narrated by Andy Rooney, speaking truth to Chevron, phoney journalists and corporate executives concerning Ecuador and its Indigenous Population.
Ecuador, with its President, Rafael Corea, is a country at odds with itself. An amendment to the Constitution recently included the rights of the environment to exist, yet the Administration of Corea continues to push for expansion of oil and gas mining into the Ecuadorian Amazon, poisoning communities today and threatening to displace tens of thousands of Indigenous persons. The Indigenous People need and deserve our support, as they continue mobilizing communities to ensure their rights are not abused.
To find out more, visit chevroninecuador.com
http://www.chevroninecuador.com/2009/08/chevron-gets-no-love-from-andy-rooney.html
Urgent Action! Support Indigenous Radio in Guatemala
Urgent Action: Legalize Community Radio / Guatemala
Support Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in Guatemala: Legalize Community Radio
August 2009
Around the world, the press has become increasingly commercialized and consolidated. If we’re lucky, we have access to independent community radio stations where we can hear news from alternative sources and contribute our own views. For many of us, community radio is a great democratizing movement. For indigenous peoples, community radio may be a matter of life or death.
Actions Needed
(1) Urge the President of Guatemala to support a bill to legalize indigenous community radio stations
(2) Forward this alert to your community radio station and ask for their support!
Although Guatemala has a majority indigenous population, native peoples have historically been persecuted, stripped of their human rights, and massacred. Now, after a 36-year civil war, democracy is emerging in Guatemala, but indigenous people remain excluded from political representation and lack access to crucial information about healthcare and education. Community radio stations help fill this need, broadcasting in 15 indigenous languages and providing an alternative to commercial media.
For indigenous peoples, community radio may be the only source of information available in their language. It’s how they learn from external sources about civic elections, AIDS prevention, flood warnings and daily news. It’s how they share local information among themselves, celebrate their unique cultures, and organize community action.
Despite many promises, the legal use of radio frequencies remains inaccessible for indigenous communities in Guatemala – unless they can come up with as much as $125,000 to bid for a license. Some 600 stations operate without licenses, many of them working out of one-room offices with donated equipment. They are subject to police raids, fines, and closure, especially in regions where indigenous people are resisting mining and other assaults on their lands and their rights.
The stations and their communities are determined to win the right to operating licenses, a right that was promised in Guatemalan Peace Accords, Article 35 of the Guatemalan constitution, Article 16 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the International Labor Organization Convention 169.
On August 3, over a thousand rural people made the long trip to the capital to rally in support of a bill that was introduced to the Guatemalan Congress. The Community Media Act, or “Antiproyecto de Ley de Medios de Comunicacion Comunitaria,” would create a National Council of Community Media that would award licenses to community radio stations, with the participation of the local communities.
Indigenous organizations, community radio stations and NGOs that work for public health, the environment and human rights are calling on international citizens to support this bill by writing to the president of Guatemala. Please refer to the included sample letter and add your own personal reasons for supporting the bill if you wish. Letters may be sent to the following address:
Constitutional President of the Republic of Guatemala
Ingeniero Álvaro Colom Caballeros
Casa Presidencial
6 a. Avenida, 4-18 Zona 1
Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
Note: Postage from the US is 98 cents.
Sample Letter
Date
Constitutional President of the Republic of Guatemala
Ingeniero Álvaro Colom Caballeros
Casa Presidencial
6 a. Avenida, 4-18 Zona 1
Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
Dear President Colom,
As a supporter of human rights in my own country and around the world, I am very pleased to know that Guatemalans may soon enjoy the right to free expression via community radio stations. I am writing to encourage you to support the “Ley de Medios de Comunicacion Comunitaria,” which was introduced on August 3rd 2009 to the Guatemalan Congress. I feel strongly about the rights of indigenous peoples in Guatemala and urge you to take this step towards protecting their rights.
As you know, the passage of this law would provide a licensing process for community radio stations in Guatemala, ending the police raids and closures which have threatened the stations’ continued operation. This right is already embedded in Guatemalan Peace Accords, Article 35 of the Guatemalan constitution, Article 16 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, ILO Convention 169 and reinforced by the recommendations of the OAS in 2004.
Community radio stations are essential to indigenous peoples in Guatemala because they broadcast in indigenous languages, often providing the only means of access to important information about health, education, and current events.
I appreciate the work you have done to protect human rights and promote democracy in Guatemala, such as your anti-impunity measures and declassification of Civil War documents. I strongly urge you to continue to advocate for human rights by supporting the Ley de Medios de Comunicacion Comunitaria. Your immediate attention to this matter will ensure that community radio stations continue to operate as powerful tools for democracy and human rights.
Please do everything within your power to secure passage of this important bill. Human rights advocates around the world are eager to celebrate this important step forward for human rights in Guatemala.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS
*********************************
This action alert was requested by: Mujb’ab ‘l yol, Association of Guatemalan Community Radios (ARCG), National Coordinator of Indigenous Community Radio of Guatemala (CNRCIG), Community Media Association of Solola (AMECOS), Community Communications Association of South-Eastern Guatemala (ACECSOGUA)
Participating organizations: Cultural Survival, Health Unlimited, Guatemala Human Rights Commission USA, and Global Response.
For more information about indigenous community radio in Guatemala, see www.culturalsurvival.org.
Weekend Update #21: Gracias Para Peru
July 12, 2009 by admin1
Filed under Featured, Weekend Update!
Russell Means offers thanks and encouragement on the continuing struggle in Peru. Much has been accomplished thanks to you, and much more needs be done.
Weekend Update #21: Gracias Para Peru from Russell Means on Vimeo.
In June, the 400,000 indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon won a significant victory: after ten weeks of protests, strikes and bloodshed, they persuaded Peru’s President and Congress to repeal laws that ignored their rights and threatened the Amazon rainforest.
The struggle cost scores of lives (the exact number is yet to be established). The non-violent indigenous protesters gained broad support both nationally and internationally as military attacks on the protesters became more brutal and deadly.
“We felt that the laws annulled our existence. That’s why we rose up,” said Awajún leader Santiago Manuin, who was seriously wounded in the most deadly protest at Bagua.
Manuin continued: “Look at history, what’s happened to indigenous peoples, the deforestation, contaminated rivers…This is development? We don’t want this kind of development. Peru shouldn’t want this kind of development…But we are never consulted. They never tell us how they will assure that our children can continue to live in the forest, how they will protect the forest. We need a kind of development that starts from the forest and is for the forest; it will also be the best for Peru.”
What the protests gained:
– Two laws that would have opened the Amazon to unrestrained exploitation by logging, mining and oil companies were repealed by Congress.
- A process of negotiations was established.
- President Garcia will meet with Amazon indigenous leaders on July 20.
- The national Ombudsman introduced a bill that would require consultation with indigenous peoples, in compliance with ILO Convention 169 and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
- A Truth Commission will investigate the military attack on indigenous protesters at Bagua that cost at least 34 lives.
Why more international pressure is needed:
Labor, environmental and indigenous organizations continued strikes this week, pressing Congress to repeal the entire packet of 99 laws that were approved to facilitate a Free Trade Agreement with the US. President Garcia authorized a military response. The government issued arrest warrants on charges of sedition for indigenous leaders, forcing three leaders to seek political asylum in the Nicaraguan embassy.
Indigenous defenders of the Amazon rainforest are asking us to keep up the pressure on the President and Congress. Our letters should support indigenous peoples’ demands to:
– Cease the criminalization of protest
- Stop police and military actions against indigenous leaders and communities
- Align Peruvian laws with ILO Convention 169 and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- Guarantee indigenous peoples the right to free, prior and informed consent.
Please send letters to:
Excelentísimo Señor
Presidente Alan García
Despacho Presidencial
Jirón de la Unión S/N 1 cda
Lima 1
PERU
If possible, send copies of your letter to:
Rafael Vásquez Rodríguez, President of Congress
(rvasquezr@congreso.gob.pe, Fax +51 1- 311- 77- 03 )
Public Ombudsman Office of Peru
(centrodeatencionvirtual@defensoria.gob.pe)
Peruvian Ambassador in your country (for contact details – see http://www.embassiesabroad.com/embassies-of/Peru
UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
(indigenous@ohchr.org)
Photo courtesy of Servindi.org
Originally from Global Response:
–http://globalresponse.org/emailcampaigns.php?record=2318
