[IPSM] underreported indigenous struggles for May

[Ahni]

Hey all. Here's the new list of underreported indigenous struggles for
May...

http://intercontinentalcry.org/underreported-indigenous-struggles-for-may/

May 27 - Taino Nation: Amerindian groups call on Barama to cease Akawini
logging<http://uctp.blogspot.com/2007/05/amerindian-groups-call-on-barama-to.html>-A
release from the two groups said yesterday that Barama began logging
in
Akawini in February 2006 "ostensibly" on a subcontract it signed with the
IWPI. According to Akawini Toshao, David Wilson, the Akawini Village Council
has never seen this subcontract "and we were never consulted before IWP
entered into this subcontract with Barama."

Central Americans protest Canadian mining
cartel<http://ww4report.com/node/3953>- Busloads of people surrounded
the Salvador del Mundo monument in front of
the Canadian Embassy in San Salvador today to protest the Canadian
Government's role Central American mining, and specifically in the 29 mining
projects currently active in El Salvador. The event was the culmination of
the Central American Alliance against Metallic Mining conference held last
weekend in Cabañas, El Salvador, where the Canadian "Pacific Rim" company is
currently operating.

Poisoned by Pesticide, Bananeras rise
up!<http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-na-pesticide27may27,0,1262515.story?coll=la-home-local>-
Many had spent their lives toiling on banana plantations that
U.S. companies operated in this region some 30 years ago. By day, the
workers had harvested bunches of fruit to ship to North American tables. At
night, some had sprayed pesticide into the warm, humid air to protect the
trees from insects and rot. As the decades passed, the workers came to
believe that the pesticide, called DBCP, had cost them their health.

May 24 - Desert Rock power plant: BIA issues death certificate for
Navajos<http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2007/05/navajos-fight-power-plant-lords-and.html>-
The BIA's cozy relationship with Navajo politicians and the
corporation
Sithe Global was obvious in the BIA's recommendation to build the Desert
Rock power plant, the third power plant in the Four Corners area. Navajos
said the draft environmental impact statement is no more than another alien
document, another BIA-issued death certificate for the Navajo people.

"They already made their decision to approve the project and this DEIS is
just going to justify their decision," said the Navajo from Sanostee. "But
not if I can help it, our elders and our youth are ready to stand with us
against the Sithe Lords and their puppet DPA (Dine' Power Authority)."

May 23 - Indigenous Resistance Movement Defends Traditional
Beliefs<http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37862>- Twenty
indigenous people have been occupying the abandoned building of the
Museu do Indio in Rio de Janeiro since October, to call attention to "500
years of resistance to genocide," a view of their history that has acquired
new relevance in the light of the Vatican's latest position on Christian
evangelisation during the colonial era.

Borei Keila Community
Relocation<http://www.licadho.org/articles/20070523/53/index.html>- In
2003 it was touted as a great leap forward into developing a social
housing program, an alternative to the widespread forced land evictions in
Cambodia. Four years later, in May 2007, men, women and children are living
under tarpaulins amid the rubble of their demolished houses. This is the
plight of families living at Borei Keila in the heart of Cambodia's capital.

Chago win right to return home, for the third
time<http://intercontinentalcry.org/chago-win-right-to-return-home-for-the-third-time/>-
In 1966, the British Government leased Diego Garcia and the Chagossian
Islands to the US Government, for a strategic military base. But the US
government wanted a land free of people, and so in that same year until
1973, the British government secretly and systematically removed the entire
population... recently, the court once more reaffirmed the Chago's right of
return.

May 15 - 7 Peasants Arrested for Defending their
Land<http://www.radiomundoreal.fm/rmr/?q=en/node/22575>- Santiago del
Estero's Peasant Movement (MOCASE) issued a communique
informing that seven peasants were arrested in El Quebrachito town in
Santiago del Estero province, Argentina on Friday. According to MOCASE, the
peasants were arrested for protecting their territory from the interests of
local large estate owners.

Tibetan women take to the streets against Beijing
slavery<http://intercontinentalcry.org/tibetan-women-take-to-the-streets-against-beijing-slavery/>-
Thousands of Tibetan women met yesterday in Dharamsala, shouting that
they
would never accept Beijing's slavery. They gathered in the Indian city to
observe the 48th anniversary of the day when thousands of other Tibetan
women rose up against Chinese rule only to be forced into exile by the
invading People's Liberation Army.

Biofuels displace indigenous
people<http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0516-indigenous.html>- Indigenous
people are being pushed off their lands to make way for an
expansion of biofuel crops around the world, threatening to destroy their
cultures by forcing them into big cities, the head of a U.N. panel said
Monday.

West Papua: Police Surrounds Indigenous
Church<http://intercontinentalcry.org/west-papua-police-surrounds-indigenous-church/>-
On May 15, Indonesian Police occupied the Kingmi Church in the capital
of
Papua province, Jayapura... Six police trucks and a water canon were
stationed outside the church offices. Paramilitary police armed with rifles
occupied the roof of the building, and more than 50 policemen were
positioned outside. Following the police action, 200 members of the Kingmi
Church protested outside the headquarters, blocking one lane of traffic.

Burma: In the Name of
Development<http://intercontinentalcry.org/burma-in-the-name-of-development/>-
It is the latest bloody chapter in the world's longest-running civil
war
that has lasted nearly 60 years and sent millions fleeing into Thailand. The
conflict also displaced 500,000 people in Burma. But the newest offensive,
out of sight in the jungle, is driven by the Burmese junta's aim to control
resource-rich eastern Burma by enslaving some villages and destroying others
- killing, forcibly relocating or driving out the inhabitants.

May 12 - A Plea from the Marshall
Islands<http://intercontinentalcry.org/a-plea-from-the-marshall-islands/>-
During our struggle to get the US Navy to stop bombing our island
municipality of Vieques, people from all over the world gave us their
solidarity. A Land is Life Conference took place in Vieques. People from
Hawaii, the Marshall Islands, Guam and the Philippines came to share their
experiences and show solidarity for our struggle. The US no longer bombs
Vieques. But it has left its toxic wastes there to continue contaminating
the land. Its clean up operations are not careful of the islands eco system
nor do they use the best technology avalable to minimize the contamination.

May 4 - We Will not Let Any Development Plan Endanger our
Culture<http://www.radiomundoreal.fm/rmr/?q=en/node/22426>- Argentina
- "Pioneer operated for almost six years within the community.
During all these years there were conflicts because the company refused to
recognize the community invoking its right to operate under the contract
granted. The US company sold all its assets in Argentina to another US
transnational company, Apache Corporation. So it also sold the liabilities
and lawsuits of the previous company. What is more, there are over 10 oil
wells in our community that are not operating . Apache cannot exploit these
oil wells although the provincial government granted it a license to do so.
The community refused, and we will not allow another incursion in our
territory, so the oil wells are stopped. So now they want to know how this
situation will be solved."

Peru: Amazon indigenous warn Oxy over
toxins<http://ipsnews.org/news.asp?idnews=37620>- Members of the
indigenous Achuar communities in the Amazon basin in the
Peru-Ecuador border region have notified US Oil Company Occidental Petroleum
(Oxy) that they will bring a lawsuit against the company in the US if it
will not clean up toxic waste from drilling.

May 2 - Shell Disobeys Court Order; Continues Gas Flaring in
Nigeria<http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/shell_fails_to_obey_gas_fl_02052007.html>-
"While Shell and its shareholders count their profits, all we can
count
are the early graves that their toxic gas flares keep sending our people. It
is morally wrong for Shell to continue with gas flaring despite a ruling
that has ordered them to cease it. Shell continues not only to waste
Nigeria's natural resources in this way, but is criminally wasting the lives
of poor people in our communities who cannot avoid the impacts of gas
flaring."

Lawsuit against TotalFina for Crimes against Humanity Reopened in
Belgium<http://www.radiomundoreal.fm/rmr/?q=en/node/22444>- According
to the plaintiffs, the oil corporation is responsible for
providing logistical and financial support to the Burmese military junta
that seized power in the country, several decades ago. Burmese opposition
leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Ky supports the lawsuit and
said TotalFina is 'the cornerstone of the military regime'. The complicity
between corporations and the Burmese dictatorship has been pointed out in
several opportunities. The regime has pleased the company by allowing forced
labor, among other abuses.

International day of action against Barrick
Gold<http://intercontinentalcry.org/may-2-international-day-of-action-against-barrick-gold/>-
Yesterday over a dozen events were organized around the world in
protest
against the World's largest Gold Mining company - Toronto-based Barrick
Gold. (also see Barrick CEO admits
liability<http://www.protestbarrick.net/article.php?id=116>
)

May 1 - Tradtional Land owners overturn mine expansion
bid<http://intercontinentalcry.org/au-tradtional-land-owners-overturn-mine-expansion-bid/>-
Indigenous people of the Gurdanji, Mara, Garrawa and Yanyuwa language
groups in the Northern Territory have just had a victory in stopping the
expansion of the Macarthur River Mine, a proposal that would have diverted a
river that is of great importance to their dreaming: their identity.
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