Intercontinental Cry

ArchivePage 21 of 173

Jul

Mexican Farmers say mine will destroy grazing land

Farmers from the Huizopa ejido (cooperative) in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua held a press conference last week, over concerns that a new gold mine will destroy 1,200 hectares (2,962 acres) of their cattle grazing land. Owned by Canada’s Minefinders Corporation Ltd, the mine will be using chemicals like cyanide to process the ore.

The ejido signed an agreement with Minefinders in November 2006, which gave the company 16 years of access to the land, in exchange for 39 million pesos ($3.7 million). However, they say the contract was fraudulent.

“They arrived deceiving the peasants and with deceptions they got us to sign a contract,” said Luis Peña, one of the leaders opposing the mine. “They didn’t tell us the consequences.” Now the land is facing permanent damage.

The Huizopans are also worried the company will over-exploit local aquifers, making it impossible for them to …

Published on

July 25, 2008

2 Comments 670 views

Jul

Anglogold refutes cyanide leak at Ghana mine

Urgent concerns have been raised by communities in the Wassa district of Ghana over a possible cyanide spill at a nearby mine.

According to a July 21 report by Public Agenda, the communities, who are supported by “the concerned Farmers Association of Teberebie” and “the Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining” (WACAM), say the cyanide containment pond for Anglogold Ashanti’s Iduapriem mine has overflowed, causing the highly poisonous chemical to leak into the local rivers and forest.

Speaking to Public Agenda, Ms. Emelia Amoateng, the Chairperson of the concerned Farmers, said “[the communities] suspected the leakage a few months ago when they noticed dead fish in nearby River Bromensu which flows into other rivers Anwonabe and Bonsa, the main source of drinking water for the Tarkwa Township.”

“She said when the community leaders informed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at Tarkwa, the EPA unfortunately …

Published on

July 23, 2008

1 Comment 688 views

Jul

China’s Colonizing Africa, While We Talk Charity

“From Nigeria in the north, to Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Angola in the west, across Chad and Sudan in the east, and south through Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique,” writes Andrew Malone, “China has seized a vice-like grip on a continent which officials have decided is crucial to the superpower’s long-term survival.”

In fact, it would seem China’s following the same model that Britain first employed to colonize Africa; particularly that expressed by the highly respected and equally racist cousin of Charles Darwin, Sir Francis Galton, just over 130 years ago.

In an 1873 letter to The Times, Galton wrote, ‘My proposal is to make the encouragement of Chinese settlements of Africa a part of our national policy, in the belief that the Chinese immigrants would not only maintain their position, but that they would multiply and their descendants supplant the inferior …

Published on

July 22, 2008

0 Comments 792 views

Jul

Popular Assembly Held to Prohibit Uranium Mining

The Indigenous Municipality of Tilcara, in northern Argentina’s Quebrada de Humahuaca district, has ratified legislation that prohibits open-pit metal mining, as well as the storage, use, sale, production, extraction and transportation of dangerous substances used in the mining process.

Tilcara announced its decision on July 8, in the final days of a popular assembly that convened in response to Argentina’s expanding uranium industry.

“July 10 marked the end of [the] popular assembly,” notes a recent report by El Libertario, “gathering autonomously organized neighbors, indigenous communities, social and environmental organizations, business groups, the Mayor, councilpersons of Tilcara, the president of the Ecology Commission of the legislature, as well as the Justice of Mining, the provincial Mining director and the secretary of Culture and Tourism of the province. In that meeting, the act was created that decided the total suspension of mining permits which had …

Published on

July 21, 2008

0 Comments 730 views

Jul

30 Days: Life on an Indian Reservation

Growing up in the US, the documentarian Morgan Spurlock wasn’t any different from most Americans (and Canadians); knowing very little about indigenous people, their history, or the problems they face today.

And so, for the season finale of his television series 30 Days, Morgan decided to “leave America as he knows it, without ever actually leaving US soil, to live with a people who many see as refugees in their own country:” the Navajo.

Hulu.com has the full 30 Days episode, “Life on an Indian Reservation”, available on their website. You can watch it below, however, only if you’re in the US. Hulu is a US-only video service.

If you’re outside the states and really want to watch it, you can download and install Hotspot Shield, then come back here (or go to hulu.)

Incidentally, Canada’s CPAC is currently running a related, multi-part documentary called Our Home on Native Land, …

Published on

July 19, 2008

1 Comment 1,201 views

Jul

Tohono O’odham Demand Halt to Construction of Border Wall

On Thursday, July 10, the O’odham Solidarity Project issued the following call to mobilize against the proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall, which will cut through the heart of the Tohono O’odham’s traditional territory (among others‘).

With the April 1st announcement by the Department of Homeland Security to suspend thirty six federal laws (list of laws found here) to finish the border wall by the end of 2008, the border threatens to destroy the O’odham way of life, their traditions, religious practices, sacred sites, and pilgrimage routes, notes the Washington times, USA Today. There are a host of environmental concerns aswell.

For more news and background please visit the O’odham Solidarity Project website and theNo Border Wall blog

CALL TO ACTION BY THE TOHONO O’ODHAM INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AGAINST THE US-MEXICO BORDER WALL

The Traditional Tohono O’odham Indigenous People Demand a

…

Published on

July 18, 2008

8 Comments 1,219 views

Jul

18 years after Oka, what’s changed?

With July 11 marking the 18th anniversary of Oka, we really have to ask ourselves: does Canada want history to repeat itself?

Looking at recent events in Caledonia, Deseronto, Brantford and at the US/CAN border, it’s seems absurd to ask that question. After all, the government is doing exactly what it did in the weeks and years leading up to Oka.

There’s just no difference between then and now. They still trivialize our rights and the treaties and agreements that we have always respected. They still molest us with policies that undermine our traditions, divide our communities, extinguish our livelihoods, erode our languages, and break our families. And they still maintain a passive-aggressive climate that leaves us no choice but to defend ourselves and pursue justice using every means available to us.

In the case of Oka, the latter played out with …

Published on

July 17, 2008

2 Comments 631 views