Tag Archive for 'Venezuela'Page 3 of 3

10
Feb

Bombing Venezuela’s Indians

Bombing Venezuela’s Indians - By Nikolas Kozloff, www.counterpunch.org

For Hugo Chavez, large, industrial mega projects could turn into a political mine field. The contradiction between Chavez’s rhetoric stressing social equality, on the one hand, and environmental abuses on the other, was driven home to me over this past summer when I attended the first ever environmental conference of Lake Maracaibo. The event was held in the city of Maracaibo itself, the capital of Zulia state, and organized by the government’s Institute for the Conservation of Lake Maracaibo (known by the Spanish acronym ICLAM).

Somewhat oddly, outside of the dining hall where conference participants ate lunch mining companies had set up promotional booths. Walking through an adjacent hallway, scantily clad women working for mining and oil companies plied me with glossy pamphlets and even candy. Later during the conference itself, one panelist, a representative from the local development agency Corpozulia, gave a …

Published on
February 10, 2007
  2 Comments 1,088 views

09
Jan

South America: Toward an alternative future

By Noam Chomsky - Last month a coincidence of birth and death signaled a transition for South America and indeed for the world.

The former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet died even as leaders of South American nations concluded a two-day summit meeting in Cochabamba, Bolivia, hosted by President Evo Morales, at which the participants and the agenda represented the antithesis of Pinochet and his era.

In the Cochabamba Declaration, the presidents and envoys of 12 countries agreed to study the idea of forming a continent-wide community similar to the European Union.

The declaration marks another stage toward regional integration in South America, 500 years after the European conquests. The subcontinent, from Venezuela to Argentina, may yet present an example to the world on how to create an alternative future from a legacy of empire and terror.

The United States has long dominated the region by two major methods: violence and economic strangulation. Quite generally, …

Published on
January 9, 2007
  0 Comments 969 views

11
Oct

Indigenous Summit Opens in Bolivia

The Push for South American Integration.
By Odeen Ishmael,
Guyana News

Leaders of the Community of South American Nations will meet later this year in Bolivia to assess the continental integration process and to finalise positions for their joint meeting with African leaders in Nigeria at year-end. The Government of Bolivia is also planning to convene a social summit to coincide with the meeting of the South American presidents. This forum is expected to focus heavily on the fight against poverty and social inequalities in the region.

One of the ways identified by the presidents to combat such inequalities is to hasten the integration process on the continent. This, they feel, will boost employment opportunities and encourage social and cultural contacts among the peoples of the countries.

Even before the Community of South American Nations was officially launched in December 2004, the leaders had established an action process centred on the integration …

Published on
October 11, 2006
  0 Comments 753 views

10
Oct

World Indigenous Empowerment Summit

World Indigenous Empowerment Summit
La Paz, Oct 9 (Prensa Latina) The multinational state, the Constituent Assembly, resistance and democracy are on Monday s agenda for delegates at the Continental Summit of the Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities of Abya Yala.

Over a thousand representatives from Bolivia, the US, Canada, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela and Uruguay are presenting their experiences with unity in native peoples.

They will discuss international rights, identity and coexistence as well as culture, education, language and historical social debts in work commissions.

The event ending October 12 will spurn Washington´s new colonization strategy through the Free Trade Area of the Americas and the Free Trade Agreements. I aims at creating a mechanism that consolidates brotherhood and complementary capacity among peoples.

Delegates will especially honor President Evo Morales, the first indigenous statesman.

Likewise, attendees will say no to interventionism, militarization and all policies and actions that damage sovereignty and …

Published on
October 10, 2006
  0 Comments 1,045 views

Eight Mayan Women

Eight Mayan Women is a story of continued resistance to the Canadian mining company Goldcorp.

For the past three years the company has been extracting gold and silver in the municipality of San Miguel Ixtahuacan, Guatemala. The people of San Miguel have been opposed the operation, primarily out of a concern that it is destroying the environment and draining the region of its water. Many also say they were deceived and forced into selling their lands, and that …


Underreported Struggles #20, November 2008

In the month’s Underreported Struggles: Talisman decides to ignore warning from the Achuar to “get out now”; A spontaneous tribal uprising forms in West Bengal; Vedanta Resources gets chased away by more than …


I Am A Defender of the Rainforest

Known as ‘Soy defensor de la selva’ in Spanish, I am a Defender of the Rainforest is an award-winning documentary that was filmed, edited, and directed by members of the Sarayaku community in southern Ecuador.

The film shows how the …


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