ARGENTINA:
Silent Extinction of Mbya Guaraní People
Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Nov 2 (IPS) - Mbya Guaraní children living in the subtropical rainforests of Argentina's northeastern province of Misiones are dying from preventable illnesses, and extra provision by the government of money, medicine and food seems unable to halt the catastrophe.

In the last two months, 21 Mbya children have died from respiratory problems or malnutrition, and another 13 are in the hospital. These are large numbers in proportion to the size of the ethnic group -- 4,083 people according to the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC), or just over 3,000 according to private counts.

Indigenous people and environmentalists say that the root cause of this crisis is deforestation, which is making inroads into Mbya Guaraní territory and destroying their livelihood. Logging, to these people, also means the loss of their "natural pharmacy", which counts some 150 medicinal plants.

Timber companies and pulp mills are intensely active in Misiones. In addition, tobacco and "yerba mate" (a crop used to make a beverage) plantations are expanding at the expense of the rainforest, 1,300 kilometres from Buenos Aires, in the northeast corner of the country which borders on Brazil.

Preliminary data from the Complementary Survey of Indigenous Peoples, carried out by INDEC in 2004 and 2005 and released in September, indicate there are 450,000 people who belong to, or are first generation descendants from, 25 indigenous groups in this country with a population of nearly 39 million. Earlier independent estimates gave a figure of over one million.

National and provincial officials have expressed concern about child mortality among the Mbya Guaraní, but have avoided making any connection to the impoverishment and loss of their habitat.

"There may have been more deaths, but 21 is the number recorded in two months," the head of the Social Department of the Directorate of Guaraní Affairs in Misiones, Claudia Martínez, confirmed to IPS. "There have always been deaths, but this shook us up because it's happening in marginalised (urban) areas, in the rainforest, in different places," she said.

The only case that received nationwide attention by the media was that of Julián Acuña, aged two, who was seriously ill. His relatives, trusting to the wisdom of their spiritual guides, had refused permission for an operation to remove a congenital heart tumour.

The Mbya spiritual healer, an elderly 105-year-old, had made a categorical diagnosis of the child: "He has gravel in his heart, and his heart is giving out." That is exactly what happened after a year of hospitalisation and a surgical operation.

Through the intervention of the courts, Julián was operated on in 2005 in a Buenos Aires hospital, and discharged this year. In June he perished in the jungle. That same afternoon, his brother Agustín, two months old, also died, possibly of pneumonia. Their parents buried them together, and Martínez traveled to the village specially to give them her condolences.

The Mbya belong to the great Guaraní nation that occupied vast South American territories before the European conquest, in what is today Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Martínez is afraid that the Mbya people, who numbered 100,000 in the 15th century, might disappear completely.

Their communities have an average life expectancy of 40 years, and the greatest number of deaths is among children. "They have lost their self-esteem, and now hardly have a future to look forward to," Martínez said.

The Ministry of Health has a programme for indigenous people's health, and its funds for Misiones were doubled at the beginning of this year. The Directorate of Guaraní Affairs distributes plots of land, tools, food supplies; the indigenous people are given training in agriculture, livestock raising and handcrafts like basketwork, but all is apparently in vain.

The Chamber of Deputies asked the health ministry for information on the causes of the string of Mbya Guaraní deaths in nearly every village, and on "the general deterioration in the health" of these people, as there have been cases of adults admitted to hospitals, suffering from symptoms of tuberculosis.

Martínez thought that it was a difficult job to "assimilate" indigenous people who have been expelled from their territories into a consumer society.

"It's as though they copied our worst vices, they got used to living off handouts, and many became alcoholics or beggars. They don't want to plant crops," she said. "Some emigrate to Brazil or Paraguay, but many die," Martínez said.

Alejandro Méndez, headman of the Mbya community of Yraká Mirí, has another explanation for the demographic decline and the loss of vitality of his people. Their parents and grandparents lived off the forest. But "with the clearance of the forest, the game and the fruits that kept us healthy can no longer be found," he told IPS.

Where Méndez and 36 other people live, there is still some forest, but very few animals. Traditionally, they hunted wild boar, coatí (a raccoon-like mammal), deer and pacú (a type of robust oval) fish, but now the chainsaws frighten the animals away. "When we lose our forest, we also lose our natural medicines, and we have to rely on the hospital, which isn't always close by," he explained.

Méndez said that in their world, their spiritual guides diagnose illnesses and prescribe medicine. "We have always had illnesses, but now there are some that are new to us," and the outside "assistance" sometimes makes things worse. "This year they sent us expired milk," he said.

The non-governmental Foundation for the Defence of the Environment (FUNAM) calls the agony of this people a "covert genocide", biologist Raúl Montenegro, its director, told IPS. Montenegro was awarded the Swedish parliament's Right Livelihood Award, an alternative Nobel Prize, in 2004.

That same year, FUNAM reported that the Moconá Forestry company had felled 120 trees in common use by the Mbya in the Yabotí biosphere reserve, in the east of Misiones, with the permission of the provincial ministry of the environment.

"Further illnesses and deaths caused by the lack of medicinal trees will be the responsibility of Moconá and the ministry. They did irreparable damage, and they don't care about putting children's and adults' lives in danger," Montenegro said at the time.

In 2004, dozens of indigenous leaders, together with FUNAM and the Catholic Church's national Indigenous Pastorate team, organised a protest lasting several months. After accusing Governor Carlos Rovira and his officials -- including the head of the Directorate of Guaraní Affairs -- of genocide, they managed to stop the logging.

Over a period of eight months, 10 Mbya children had died, and it caused a major scandal.

"There is no need for them to threaten us in order to get us to leave the jungle. They know that if they clear the forest, we'll leave, and that's exactly what they're doing," Artemio Benítez, one of the chiefs who led the protests, said at the time. In the Yabotí reserve, disaster was averted, but another conflict sprang up in a nearby area.

Mbya communities are in litigation with the National University of La Plata, which received a donation of land in the Misiones rainforest from the Celulosa Argentina company in 1995, comprising 6,500 hectares of land inhabited by Mbya people. The university, which uses the area as a field laboratory, has offered them 700 hectares to settle on.

"They don't understand that the semi-nomadic lifestyle of the Mbya, and their long, complex food chain, require much larger areas than that," said Montenegro. Much of their land is held in common, for hunting, gathering, fishing, and getting water and medicine.

Most of the tragedies suffered by the Mbya happened because white people took their lands, and with them all the resources they possessed, Montenegro has said. He published a report on indigenous people's health in Latin America with expert co-author Carolyn Stephens of London University in The Lancet, a British medical journal, in June.

Montenegro found that the Mbya use 240 plant species, 150 of which have medicinal properties, while 61 are used for fuel, 54 for building houses and making artefacts and 35 for food. The Mbya Guaraní people also recognise 229 species of birds, according to a study by the National University of Misiones.

Only a very ancient culture with a long history of living in and with the jungle could have such a complete and detailed knowledge of the biodiversity which surrounds it, and its beneficial properties for survival, Montenegro wrote in his article for The Lancet.

In his opinion, the Mbya people are highly susceptible to environmental variations. They live in harmony with the rainforest ecosystem, and the advance of the chainsaw puts them in danger of extinction. "They lost their environment, and their health system collapsed," he said.

"Forced to abandon their territories and crowded into the most miserable quarters of the cities, they have no access to their medicine," Montenegro said. (END/2006)

 Disney's Indian cannibals deserve boycott

Disney Pictures is premising its sequel to its film, "Pirates of the Caribbean" on the supposed cannibalism of Carib Indians. This is pretty disgusting. It is a bit beyond the time when the present-day children of the Carib people of the Antilles need to be hit in the face, one more time, with the wanton and highly disputed idea that they descend from cannibals.

Leaders from at least three communities of Caribs, Salybia in Dominica and Santa Rosa in Trinidad and a community in St. Vincent, have registered their strong objections to the Disney executives, who have not responded in any positive way to the critique. Scholars and others are adding their voices to the challenge. While the controversy over the alleged cannibalism of the Caribs is as old as the conquest of the Americas, most observers agree that the Disney movie, slated for worldwide audiences, is beyond the pale as a vehicle to inculcate the historical stereotype upon even more generations of Carib and Caribbean children.

The movie, starring Johnny Depp, is scheduled to begin filming in Dominica this month. Its predecessor, the first production in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series was a 2003 blockbuster that grossed 653 million dollars worldwide. Some 3,000 Caribs live in the Carib territory on the island of Dominica, which has a population of 70,000. Tens of thousands of Carib-descendents, now known as Garifuna, live on the coasts of Belize, Honduras and Guatemala, as well as in the North American Diaspora.

Chief Charles Williams of the Carib community in Dominica has denounced the concept of his people being depicted as cannibals. This old stereotype has "stigmatized" Caribs for 500 years and is still used both as a form of personal insult and as justification for mistreating his people, Chief Williams said. The movie will further "popularize" the historical insult against his people.

Among other Native leaders, the chief of the Carib community at Arima in Trinidad, Ricardo Bharath, also strongly condemned the planned movie. He was joined by Adonis Christo, the shaman or medicine man of the community. The oral tradition among their people doesn't support cannibalism as a historical fact, they asserted. "Do you want to know who the real cannibals are?" Bharath told the Inter-Press Service. "They are the ones in modern-day society who are eating down our mountains, raping the environment, polluting the waters," he said. Stated Christo: "Our people defended their families, and friends. They defended their homes. They defended their lands."

While there are early references by Europeans to ritual cannibalism among the first encounters with the Caribs, Brinsley Samaroo, head of the history department of the St. Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), among others believes the claim is largely a European invention of "manufactured history." In the historical record, one finds a letter from a Dr. Chanca, who accompanied Christopher Columbus during his second voyage to the Caribbean. Dr. Chanca speculates that some young men held prisoners by a Carib group were being fattened to the slaughter for feasting. Neither the wanton killing and rape by Spanish colonists of the first group of Caribs encountered, recorded during the same trip by others on the ship, nor the fierce, valiant defense of their territories and peoples, are apparently proper subjects for a Disney movie.

The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Historical and Archaeological Society has called for a boycott of the sequel by moviegoers if Disney does not modify the script. Paul Lewis, the society secretary, charges that perpetuating the image of Caribs as cannibals sets back a serious effort in the region to provide a more "honest share of [Caribbean] history" to the indigenous peoples.

The governments of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Dominica, who will benefit somewhat from the production activities in their countries, have not objected. In fact, the tourism minister of Dominica has defended the proposed film, which would bring some economic benefits to people on the island and which is, as he puts it, only a "work of fiction." Some Caribs, as can be expected, have applied for work as extras in the movie, a fact that has made some crow that this somehow exonerates Disney for its production. But that is all just public relations. Reality is that a huge company like Disney should know better in 2005 than to besmirch a living people with its most negative historical stereotype.

Clearly, Disney moviemakers need to consider the negative impacts of the dramatic story lines they chose to project to such a huge audience. It is not acceptable to create and recreate villains out of Native peoples while exulting and romanticizing the lives of pirates, who were in real life murderers and thieves without regard for anyone. Call it what you may, "fiction" or dramatic or poetic license, it smacks of racism to us.

                                         "Dear Sir's of the ethnic minorities..."

Siguen desapareciendo líderes indígenas en Colombia

Fuente: Radio Mundo Real

Viernes, 27 de mayo de 2005

Comunidad kogui Colombia - Los pueblos indígenas colombianos Kogui, Wiwa, Arhuaco y Kankuamo, que habitan en la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (al norte de Colombia), denunciaron este jueves la desaparición del líder kogui Pedro Zarabata Pinto. Las comunidades indígenas apelaron a la solidaridad del pueblo colombiano y de la comunidad internacional a raíz de los repetidos hechos de violencia cometidos contra sus integrantes. Zarabata desapareció el pasado día 16 de mayo. Los pueblos indígenas denunciantes, agrupados en el Consejo Territorial de Cabildos, dicen en el comunicado de denuncia que Zarabata es el líder de la Organización Gonawindúa Tayrona desde hace más de 15 años. El representante kogui trabaja en la organización como coordinador de tierras en el departamento de La Guajira. Los pueblos Kogui, Wiwa, Arhuaco y Kankuamo afirman en su denuncia que “este hecho es el más reciente de una serie de desapariciones, asesinatos y detenciones arbitrarias que ha sufrido el pueblo Kogui”. En este sentido, en el comunicado se estipula que “durante los años 2004 y 2005 han desaparecido en jurisdicción del municipio de Dibulla 7 miembros de esta etnia; igualmente un promotor de salud fue asesinado en su puesto de trabajo en la comunidad de Taminaka, cabecera del río Palomino”. Los indígenas de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta señalan también que sus diferentes pueblos han denunciado, siempre a su debido tiempo, los hechos violentos que han sufrido pero siempre esos acontecimientos han permanecido impunes. El comunicado agrega que “todos estos hechos reflejan la grave situación de violencia que vivimos los pueblos indígenas de la Sierra Nevada, quienes siempre hemos tenido como misión la práctica de la paz y la armonía entre los seres humanos y la naturaleza”. Los indígenas que habitan la zona de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta vienen sufriendo desapariciones de miembros de sus comunidades, muchas veces producto de la violencia de la confrontación militar entre el gobierno colombiano, la guerrilla y los paramilitares. Últimamente los indígenas de la zona también soportan las fumigaciones con el herbicida glifosato para las plantaciones de coca, por orden del gobierno colombiano, aunque los parques naturales de Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta sean una reserva ecológica. A comienzos de este mes el medio de prensa alternativo, Indymedia Colombia, informó que tres indígenas pertenecientes al pueblo kogui permanecían retenidos por presuntos paramilitares. Mientras tanto, pocos días atrás los pobladores indígenas y campesinos de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta denunciaron una grave crisis humanitaria en la región tras las fumigaciones con el glifosato. Radio Caracol de Colombia informó “que niños y adultos sufren extrañas infecciones cutáneas y problemas respiratorios”. Los campesinos e indígenas denunciaron que sus huertas fueron arrasadas por el glifosato llevando a que perdieran hasta las semillas, por lo que esperan una grave crisis de subsistencia.

Comunidades indígenas enfrentan saqueo

Por Soledad Jarquón

Fuente: Biodiversidad en América Latina

Martes, 19 de julio de 2005

México - Problemas de tierras y saqueo de los recursos naturales, enfrentan las comunidades indígenas oaxaqueñas, denunció el coordinador del área de Derechos Indígenas de la Unión de Organizaciones de la Sierra Juárez, Aldo González En entrevista con Cimacnoticias, apuntó que el gobierno federal "maicea" a los pueblos indígenas con programas como Alianza para el Campo y Oportunidades, los inmovilizan, lo que ocasiona que la gente emigre y se debilita así la estructura y las instituciones comunitarias. Sin embargo, advirtió que lo más grave es la desinformación entre los pueblos y comunidades indígenas, el avance del capitalismo que pone en riesgo la propiedad de la sabiduría ancestral y el avance "silencioso" del gobierno federal que pone estos recursos en la "mesa de las empresas trasnacionales". González explicó que el gobierno mexicano a través del Programa de Certificación de Derechos Ejidales y Titulares de Solares (Procede) favorece la privatización de la tierra comunal y ejidal, implementa mecanismos satelitales que propician el saqueo de información y, ambos instrumentos, hacen que las comunidades pierdan el control sobre su patrimonio y los bienes naturales. Con preocupación informó que ante la pobreza extrema que viven las comunidades oaxaqueñas y con los certificados de propiedad lo que hace la gente es vender las parcelas, de manera prioritaria a caciques locales, como ha sucedido en el estado de Veracruz y ahora en Oaxaca. Dijo que el gobierno federal vende a los pueblos y comunidades servicios ambientales, como los llamados planes de ordenamiento territorial con sistemas complicados que no permiten que la gente los entienda, son documentos para técnicos y geógrafos que van a parar al Banco Mundial. Este, apuntó González, es un sistema sofisticado de saqueo de la información sobre la flora y fauna, del conocimiento tradicional que la gente tiene del uso de plantas y es "la llave de entrada para la privatización de la sabiduría de los pueblos y comunidades indígenas". Advirtió que la Cámara de Diputados podría aprobar, luego de que el Senado ya las pasó, la Ley de Recursos Genéticos y la Ley de Propiedad Industrial, lo que implicará que personas ajenas puedan patentar el conocimiento de una comunidad, pero no serán los verdaderos propietarios de ese conocimiento. El activista por los derechos de los pueblos indígenas recordó que después de no aprobar, en 2001, las propuestas de la Cocopa, los legisladores mexicanos han hecho leyes que no protegen a los pueblos indígenas, pero que dan acceso a terceros para el aprovechamiento de los recursos. El problema es grave, señaló con preocupación el integrante de Unosjo, ya que entre las comunidades indígenas hay mucha desinformación; en tanto los gobiernos estatales y federales le abren la puerta al capitalismo salvaje, "debemos impedir que los legisladores federales aprueben estas leyes, el gran problema es que los representantes populares pocas veces escuchan a la gente". Ya lo vivimos antes, ejemplificó, cuando solicitamos a los diputados federales que no aprobaran la ley en materia de biodiversidad, "que no lo hicieran, les pedimos, como sucedió con Huberto Aldaz, del PAN, quien está visto que a pesar de que se dice indígena mixe se hizo cómplice de la ofensiva contra los pueblos indígenas". Por otro lado, el dirigente de Unosjo, señaló que el ex titular de la Semarnap, Alberto Cárdenas, fue premiado con la precandidatura del PAN en busca de la presidencia de México, "pues hizo bien su trabajo, lo hizo en silencio, al asumir las condiciones que demandan las empresas trasnacionales y exponer los recursos naturales como si fueran una mercancía. Fuente: Cimac - Oaxaca Guatemala Radio at Risk July 29, 2005 | Cultural Survival Article Radio Misión operator Edwin Calindo Sam in Pachaj, Cantel, Guatemala © A. Portalewska Guatemala’s indigenous peoples are at risk of being denied their right to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through the media. Immediate changes to Guatemala’s telecommunications law, now lagging in the legislature, are essential if the long-term survival of community radio is to be assured. The government currently charges radio stations $28,000 for bandwidth, an inordinate sum for community radio stations that are operated by volunteers and typically have a two-to-five mile broadcast range. Consequently, bandwidth is rapidly being bought up by commercial radio stations that broadcast only in Spanish and do not address themes of concern to the Maya population. The remaining bandwidth is often usurped by wealthy evangelical interest groups. Congressional promises to enact legislation to reserve bandwidth for the country’s 250 indigenous community radio stations—the primary source of news and information for over half of the country’s 14 million people—have not been delivered. Community radio is crucial to helping the Maya recover from the ravages of a 36-year civil war that destroyed innumerable indigenous communities. In 1996, the Guatemalan government signed peace accords that officially ended the conflict and guaranteed human rights protections, including access to local media and information, to all citizens. But Guatemala’s existing centralized Spanish language-based communications system does not serve the country’s indigenous majority. Indigenous Guatemalans speak 24 different languages, and many do not understand or read Spanish. Televisions are prohibitively expensive, and the country’s mountainous terrain inhibits long-range broadcasting capabilities. Aside from community radio, Maya have little to no access to news and other vital information. Community radio keeps Maya peoples informed about critical issues pertaining to the environment, human rights, health, sanitation, development, women’s rights, and national and international news. It also provides a venue for primary school education. Because battery-powered radios are abundant, their content is accessible to even the most isolated communities. Community radio stations serve both the public and private sectors: national police use them to broadcast health and safety alerts; municipal governments use them to announce public meetings; environmentalists use them to educate farmers about sustainable agricultural methods; educators use them to provide distance learning programs; and businesses, large and small, use them to advertise. Community radio stations are also committed to providing public service programming, but when MINUGUA, the U.N. peace-verification mission that disseminated information on the peace accords and human rights, withdrew from the region in 2004, the bulk of this programming was lost. In 2001, the nation’s community radio stations established an umbrella organization, Consejo Guatemalteco de Comunicacion Comunitaria (CGCC), to promote the passage and implementation of reforms to Guatemala’s telecommunications law that would protect community radio stations’ rights to broadcast. The CGCC is actively lobbying for protective legislation but faces an uphill battle against well-financed opponents. As indigenous community radio station operators recognize, democracy in Guatemala begins with democratizing the media. Guatemala needs community radio stations in order to ensure that its fledgling peace and democracy take root.

Violencia Contra Indígenas

Fuente: Adital

Miércoles, 3 de agosto de 2005

Photosynt Brasil - La violencia contra los pueblos indígenas crece de forma alarmante en Brasil, en un nivel solamente comparable al período de la dictadura militar (1964-1985), sostiene el mensaje de la XVI Asamblea General del Consejo Indigenista Misionero (CIMI). Solamente en el primer semestre del año fueron asesinados 23 indígenas, según datos del organismo vinculado a la Conferencia Nacional de los Obispos del Brasil (CNBB). "La política indigenista actualmente en curso se caracteriza por el retorno a la antigua tutela, al confinamiento, a la segregación y sumisión de las comunidades indígenas", dice el mensaje de la asamblea, reunida en Luziania, Goiás, del 25 al 29 de julio. Junto con la violencia, prosigue el texto, también crece la impunidad de los invasores de áreas indígenas, en su mayoría latifundistas ligados al agro-negocio. Según el CIMI, se tramita en el Congreso Nacional más de 50 proyectos de ley con el objetivo de anular derechos de los indígenas reconocidos en la Constitución de 1988. La asamblea del organismo de defensa de los pueblos indígenas concluyó que "la violencia, impunidad, corrupción y el autoritarismo forman parte de un mismo proceso, intrínsecamente vinculado al sistema capitalista neoliberal, que afecta a la sociedad brasileña y, particularmente, a los sectores populares y a los pueblos indígenas". Sin hacer mención directa al clima político en el país, donde una ola de denuncias de corrupción que involucra al Partido de los Trabajadores dejó perpleja a la nación, el CIMI destaca que los pueblos indígenas y los movimientos sociales saben que el proyecto histórico popular "es mucho más importante que aquellos que lo traicionan y tergiversan, deslumbrados con el poder de las elites que siempre, con base en la fuerza y en la cooptación, gobernaron este país". La asamblea del CIMI, reunida bajo el lema "La fuerza de los pequeños es luz para el mundo", destacó que los pueblos indígenas, a partir de sus formas de sociedad y concepción de poder, tienen mucho que contribuir para la construcción del proyecto de transformación social y de superación del modelo capitalista. Día internacional de los Pueblos Indígenas, un llamado a la justicia social Fuente: Adital Martes, 9 de agosto de 2005 Guatemala - Aprovechamos esta nueva celebración del Día Internacional de los Pueblos Indígenas para saludar y extender un reconocimiento por las luchas históricas en los distintos lugares del mundo a las hermanas y hermanos indígenas. Las culturas indígenas están más vivas que nunca. Sin contar con recursos financieros o institucionales, desde las comunidades se ha protegido y transmitido los saberes, heredados de generación a generación. Los Pueblos Indígenas han demostrado el valor y la fuerza de la cultura, y fortalecido el respeto por la memoria de los antepasados. Los Pueblos Indígenas han aportado a la humanidad sus valores ancestrales, su espiritualidad, su respeto por la vida y sus conocimientos. La humanidad puede aprender muchísimo de los Pueblos Indígenas, en momentos en que asedian al planeta catástrofes naturales, guerras y pobreza. Este nuevo Día Internacional de los Pueblos Indígenas llega en momentos en que nos enfrentamos a la marginación, la discriminación y la inequidad, que aún con los avances recientes no se ha podido superar. En Guatemala ha avanzado la lucha contra la discriminación mediante dos juicios con fallos condenatorios en contra de los acusados. Pero en los inicios de un nuevo Decenio Internacional de los Pueblos Indígenas y a pesar de los importantes esfuerzos atestiguados, las comunidades indígenas continúan, como efecto de la discriminación, entre las más pobres y las más marginadas en el mundo. En la Organización de Naciones Unidas continúa estancado el proyecto de Declaración de los Derechos Universales de los Pueblos Indígenas, por falta de voluntad política de un grupo de naciones para aprobarla y que podría considerarse una postura racista. Aprovechamos esta ocasión para enfatizar en que la fuerza de una cultura radica, especialmente, en la conservación, la defensa y la transmisión de la memoria histórica. En tanto que un pueblo sea capaz de preservar su pasado de manera coherente y respetuosa, asegurará el futuro de su cultura. En esta fecha instamos a las organizaciones indígenas y otros colectivos sociales a impulsar legislaciones que penalicen la discriminación en todas sus formas. Como lo prueban las experiencias recientes en Guatemala, la vía judicial aparece como un recurso fundamental para combatir este flagelo. Las condiciones a las que se enfrentan los Pueblos Indígenas no admiten postergaciones, pues, de lo contrario, continuarán engrosando las filas de los más desprotegidos, los más excluidos y los más olvidados. Comunidades mapuches preparan movilizaciones en Chile Fuente: Radio Mundo Real  Jueves, 11 de agosto de 2005 Chile - Comunidades mapuches de las regiones Octava y Novena de Chile realizarán manifestaciones de rechazo ante la posibilidad de que la empresa Celulosa Arauco y Constitución (CELCO) descargue los desechos químicos de su planta Valdivia sobre el Océano Pacífico. La medida fue avalada por el presidente Ricardo Lagos y afectará territorios donde se encuentran asentadas comunidades mapuches Lafkenche dedicadas a la pesca artesanal. El portal Ecoceanos News informó que Lagos dijo durante un encuentro con la organización ambientalista Acción por los Cisnes, que “debe ser solucionado el tema de la evacuación de residuos industriales de CELCO, para lo cual se ha estudiado la posibilidad de construir un ducto hasta Queule de Toltén, en la Novena Región”. Por su parte, representantes mapuches señalaron que las plantas de celulosa representan “la punta del Iceberg de un modelo forestal destructor de la naturaleza y que afecta la vida de las familias indígenas”. Luego de los daños ambientales provocados por la planta Valdivia sobre el río Cruces, las poblaciones costeras temen que los efectos de los deshechos afecten ahora sus recursos naturales. Un comunicado firmado por varias organizaciones mapuches expresa que, “rechazamos cualquier práctica que atente a nuestra territorialidad, sus recursos y que excluya a nuestras comunidades”. Alfredo Seguel, de la Agrupación Konapewman, opinó que la posibilidad de descargar residuos en el Pacífico fue tratada en una reunión realizada en enero entre Lagos y el empresario forestal Anacleto Angelini, principal ejecutivo de CELCO. Por su parte, Adolfo Millabur, dirigente de la coordinadora Lafkenche, señaló que el anuncio de Lagos tiene que ver con “las presiones económicas y los intereses que están en juego”. “En este país no hay conciencia que no sólo las divisas son importantes, sino que también es fundamental la sustentabilidad de los recursos naturales”, concluyó Millabur. Fuente: Ecoceanos News Explorer Says Lost Peru City Is Plundered By MONTE HAYES Associated Press Writer September 05, 2005 In this photo released by the Andean Explorer Foundation shows a stone head in the wall of a Chachapoyas ruins of Gran Saposoa, located 335 miles (some 540 kilometers) north of Lima, Peru in this Aug. 2005 photo. An American explorer says an ancient metropolis discovered by his father in Peru's remote cloud forest on an earlier expedition has been plundered by tomb robbers. Sean Savoy, 32, urged the government to take steps to protect the city and similar sites.(AP Photo/Andean Explorer Foundation, HO)  An American explorer says an ancient, pre-Incan metropolis discovered by his father in Peru's remote cloud forest on an earlier expedition has been plundered by tomb robbers. Sean Savoy, 32, urged the government to take steps to protect the city, which he estimated housed 20,000 people and had hundreds of circular stone buildings in the 7th century. "It is time for the government to take note. Something has to be done. These places are in danger of destruction," he said. Savoy, just back from leading a 23-day expedition to the site, described it as a massive metropolitan complex spread along a river valley high in Peru's rain forest on the eastern slopes of the Peruvian Andes. The expedition to the Gran Saposoa ruins, located 335 miles north of Lima, included more than 50 people, counting government archaeologists, architects, a stonemason, an expert on Andean art, armed police and 30 mule drivers. Savoy, son of famed 78-year-old explorer Gene Savoy, who has discovered more than 40 lost cities in Peru since the 1960s, said in an interview with The Associated Press Saturday that the city is much bigger than his father had calculated. He estimated the metropolitan area covers more than 80 square miles. The elder Savoy discovered it in 1999, naming it Gran Saposoa, and concluded it was one of the cities of the Chachapoyas kingdom. Spanish chronicles from the 16th century tell of a network of seven Chachapoyas cities strung like a necklace along the heights of the high jungle of northern Peru. Savoy described the Chachapoyas as tall, fierce warriors who were defeated in the late 15th century by Inca ruler Tupac Yupanqui just decades before the Spanish conquest of Peru. This year's trip marked the fifth time the site has been explored since the Savoys first trekked over a wind-swept, 14,500-foot-high Andean pass and hacked their way down into the overgrown mountainous jungle to discover it. Sean Savoy said members of this year's expedition were stunned to find that a sculptured stone head at the most important set of ruins had been ripped from its place in a stone wall. But they were in for an even more unpleasant surprise. "We encountered a site, previously unknown to us, but obviously to others, where over 50 cliffside tombs were destroyed. Not just sacked and looted, the tombs themselves destroyed. Torn apart with picks and axes," he said. He said the latest expedition discovered a sixth citadel, located at 12,000 feet with a 64-foot-wide avenue. He said the six interconnected districts discovered during five expeditions contain hundreds of circular stone buildings. "I had no idea of the scale of the ruins. The scale was humongous, mind-boggling," said Patrick Manning, an Irish architect who took part in the expedition. "There are hundreds of buildings." He said he understands how hard it is for a poor nation like Peru to protect its many pre-Columbian ruins. "The big problem is the lack of funding," Manning said. The Savoys live most of the year in Reno, Nev., where Gene Savoy directs the Andean Explorers Foundation. After his last trip to Gran Saposoa en 2001, the elder Savoy has dedicated his time to writing a book about his last 15 years of exploration, his son said. He has already authored three books on his expeditions. The elder Savoy is credited with finding three of Peru's most important ruins: Vilcabamba, the last refuge of the Incas; Gran Pajaten, a citadel city atop a jungle-shrouded peak; and Gran Vilaya, a complex of more than 20,000 stone buildings. Much of his work has focused on the Chachapoyas, whose empire extended along a 135-mile stretch of the Andes' fogbound eastern slopes. He has now found six of the seven fabled Chachapoyas cities. "The exploration must continue. My father will be back," the younger Savoy said. "We have to find the last city."   Fuente Proyecto Bioseguridad/Puerto Rico/Carmelo Ruiz Impactos potenciales de la tecnología Terminator en pueblos indígenas, comunidades locales y agricultores   Consejo de Pueblos Indios sobre Biocolonialismo y Campaña Terminar Terminator Organizaciones de pueblos indígenas, comunidades locales, campesinos, productores de pequeña escala y otros tienen la oportunidad de enviar al Convenio de Naciones Unidas sobre Diversidad Biológica (CDB) comentarios escritos sobre los impactos potenciales de Terminator antes del 30 de septiembre de 2005. Terminator (apodo para la Tecnología de Restricción del Uso Genético, TRUG) se refiere a las plantas modificadas genéticamente para producir semillas estériles, diseñadas con el fin de que los agricultores ya no puedan guardar y sembrar nuevamente la semilla de sus cosechas Acción necesaria para detener las semillas Terminator - 30 de septiembre Favor de enviar sus comentarios escritos sobre los impactos potenciales de la tecnología Terminator en los pueblos indígenas, las comunidades locales, los campesinos y productores de pequeña escala ¿Cuál es su punto de vista? según su experiencia ¿cuáles podrían ser los impactos de que se introdujeran las semillas Terminator? ¿Qué aspectos de su cultura o formas de vida de su comunidad podrían ser dañados y cómo? QUÉ SE REQUIERE: Se requieren comentarios escritos sobre los impactos potenciales de la tecnología Terminator en los pueblos indígenas, las comunidades locales y los agricultores de pequeña escala. Las semillas Terminator aún no están comercialmente disponibles, pero la industria de las semillas sigue perfeccionando la tecnología y está presionando mucho para comercializarla. A QUIÉNES INTERESA: A Organizaciones de pueblos indígenas, comunidades locales, agricultores de pequeña escala y otros “grupos de interés.”   Impactos sociales y culturales: • La productividad y fertilidad de las semillas es la base de la supervivencia material y cultural de los pueblos indígenas y las comunidades locales. Muchos sistemas espirituales (incluyendo rituales y ceremonias específicas) y cosmovisiones honran la fertilidad de la semilla pues significa la continuidad de la vida. Al diseñar semillas estériles, la tecnología Terminator ofende esa espiritualidad pues atenta directamente contra la continuidad de la vida. Muchos sistemas de conocimiento tradicional están construidos en torno a la conservación de las semillas. Los pueblos indígenas, las comunidades locales y los agricultores de pequeña escala comparten e intercambian las semillas que conservan mediante prácticas que permiten continuas innovaciones en el mejoramiento de los cultivos y que también son un medio para mantener el conocimiento y las prácticas tradicionales. • En muchas culturas y comunidades las mujeres son las cuidadoras y mejoradoras de las semillas y los cultivos. Si la práctica de conservar las semillas se interrumpe o se elimina con la introducción de las semillas Terminator, el papel de las mujeres dentro de los sistemas tradicionales de conocimiento y la vida social de las comunidades podría dañarse profundamente. Soberanía alimentaria y autodeterminación: • La biodiversidad es la base de la seguridad y la soberanía alimentaria de comunidades y pueblos en todo el mundo. La biodiversidad provee de medicamentos, energéticos, forrajes y alimentos, tanto a partir de especies cultivadas como silvestres. La relación de los pueblos con esta biodiversidad mantiene y preserva el conocimiento tradicional, que incluye la conservación de las semillas. • Los pueblos indígenas, las comunidades locales y los agricultores de pequeña escala dependen de compartir e intercambiar las semillas conservadas de la cosecha para su supervivencia. Los pueblos conservan las semillas para adaptarlas continuamente a las condiciones locales, pero también para resolver necesidades específicas alimenticias y terapéuticas. La pérdida de variedades locales y tradicionales incrementaría la inseguridad alimentaria e impactaría en la salud general de los pueblos y comunidades indígenas, tribales y rurales. • El uso no intencional de semillas Terminator resultaría en pérdida del rendimiento para los productores y podría incrementar de inmediato la inseguridad alimentaria y erosionar la economía y el grado de independencia que tienen las comunidades. • Cualquier prueba de campo, uso comercial u otro tipo de liberación de TRUGs es una violación fundamental de los derechos de los pueblos indígenas, un golpe al derecho a la autodeterminación y una amenaza a la soberanía y seguridad alimentarias. • Y es que la a autodeterminación de los pueblos indígenas implica el derecho a la soberanía y la seguridad alimentarias. • Los pueblos indígenas, las comunidades locales y los campesinos y productores de pequeña escala frecuentemente son hechos a un lado cuando hay debates sobre la introducción de nuevas tecnologías. Continuing Education & Public Programs, The Graduate Center, CUNY  in cooperation the Flying Eagle Woman Fund, and the American Indian Community House Invites you to attend   America Is Indian Country   Friday, November 4th 6:30PM $10; $5 students; Native Community Members Free The CUNY Graduate Center 365 Fifth Ave. @ 34th St.   Join us for a teach-out on contemporary issues and struggles confronting American Indian and global indigenous peoples. The event will include round table and panel discussions on both historical and contemporary themes relevant to American Indian peoples, including: Clear Concepts, Distortions, and Reflections of the Columbian Encounter; Media Representation of Native Language and Custom; Indian Lands, Culture, and Self- Governance; Rights of Aboriginal Indian Nations; and Native Peoples and Private Property in America.   Jose Barreiro, Ph.D., Senior Editor, Indian Country Today. Katsi Cook, Director, First Environment Program. John Mohawk, Ph.D., Director, Center for the Americas, SUNY-Buffalo. Tim Johnson, Executive Editor, Indian Country Today.   This program held in conjunction with the publishing of America is Indian Country: The Best of Indian Country Today published by Fulcrum Press.   To register or receive a FREE catalogue listing hundreds of programs, 212-817-8215 or continuinged@gc.cuny.edu, or check http://web.gc.cuny.edu/cepp