Real World Radio

A Real Debt. 22 people working under slavery conditions in Brazil released

Real World Radio — 2010-09-01T19:38:59Z

A joint operation by Brazilian agencies allowed the release of 22 workers from a cattle farm in Maranhao State, to the North-East of the country, who were found in slavery conditions.

According to Reporter Brasil, the inspection was carried out on August 13 in the agricultural establishment Boa Esperança, and officials from the Labour Ministry (MTE) and the Federal Police participated.

The workers had been hired to build fences and clean the field, which would be used for extensive cattle production.

It was reported that the workers were not allowed to leave the farm due to alleged debts they had with a sub-contractor, and that is why they had to work without receiving a salary.

“Working to pay debts and retention of documents are common practices in the universe of contemporary slave work”, according to Reporter Brasil.

Salaries lower than the minimum wage, sale of working tools (which should be provided by the employer), undignified housing and lack of access to drinking water are some of the irregularities found by the inspectors in Boa Esperança.

The levels of slave work in the North-East States of Brazil are worrying. This week, the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) published a report about the levels of conflicts related to the struggle for land, and it found that 54 per cent of conflicts took place in the North-East region.

Meanwhile, slave work was also documented in other States of the country, for instance in Mato Grosso do Sul, involving workers who come from the North-East, especially Maranhao, Piaui and Pernambuco States.

Reporter Brazil also denounced that on August 18-19 an investigation by governmental bodies allowed the release of 14 rural workers who had come from the North of the country and were working in slavery conditions in a field close to Campo Grande, capital of Mato Grosso do Sul State.

Photo: Repórter Brasil

Really Cooling the Planet . La Via Campesina will promote real solutions to climate change in Cancun

Real World Radio — 2010-09-01T19:28:33Z

Together with different social organizations and movements, La Via Campesina will set up a camp in Cancun at the 16 Conference of the Parties (COP 16) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which will take place from November 29th to December 10th, 2010.

The peasant organization issued a statement to express its position in terms of the climate change solutions that will be promoted by them in Cancun and to reject “false solutions”

“Climate negotiations have turned into a huge market place. Developed countries, historically responsible for most of the greenhouse gas emissions are inventing all possible tricks to avoid reducing their own emissions. For example, the "Clean Development Mechanism" (CDM) under the Kyoto protocol allows countries to continue polluting and consuming as usual, while paying low prices supposedly so that developing countries reduce their emissions. What actually occurs is that companies profit doubly: to contaminate and to sell false solutions”, reads the statement.

La Via Campesina also considers REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) as a false solution and rejects geoengineering, which involves large-scale proposals to deliberately alter the climate. It also rejects any participation of the World Bank in the management of funds and policies related to climate change.

“Many governments of developing countries, attracted by the potential profits, are betting on these false solutions and refusing to implement measures that effectively confront climate change, such as supporting sustainable peasant agriculture, orienting production towards internal markets, establishing effective energy saving policies for industry, etc”, states La Via Campesina.

Endorsing the proposals of the Cochabamba Peoples´ Agreement, celebrated by over 35,000 people gathered last April at the World Peoples´ Conference on Climate Change and for the Rights of Mother Earth in Bolivia, are among the solutions proposed.

“Scientific research shows that peasant and indigenous peoples could reduce current global emissions to 75% by increasing biodiversity, recuperating soil organic matter, replacing industrial meat production with small-scale diversified food production, expanding local markets, halting deforestation and practicing integrated forest management”, reads the statement.

Also “peasant agriculture not only contributes positively to the carbon balance of the planet, it also gives employment to 2.8 billion people, women and men around the world, and it remains the best way to combat hunger, malnutrition and the current food crisis.”

For these reasons, the solutions promoted by the peasant movement involve the right to land and the reclaiming of territories, food sovereignty, access to water as a common good and a human right, the right to use, conserve and exchange seeds, and the de-concentration and promotion of local markets. These are the proposals that the organization will take to Cancun, so that peasant and indigenous communities continue feeding the world and cooling the planet.

Photo: La Vía Campesina

Walking for Life. Interview with Lorenzo Cambronero from Via Campesina Costa Rica

Real World Radio — 2010-08-31T19:04:10Z

A group of peasant, environmentalist and student organizations travelled over 200 kms through Costa Rica to demand the end of operations of Crucitas mining company, and an end to other open-pit mining megaprojects that seriously affect rivers and communities.

The 2nd Walk for Life ended on Monday in San José, capital city of the country. Unfortunately, the demonstrators were not received by President Laura Chinchilla, despite the fact that they submitted a letter to the President with their demands to change the Costa Rican development model.

Crucitas, the gold extraction project located to the North of the country, was declared of national interest by former president Oscar Arias. Since then, many organizations have been protesting over the pollution of San Juan River´s basin.

Peasants, students and environmentalists walked during eight days under thunderstorms or the burning sun, organizing meetings and cultural performances in every city they visited and explaining the reasons of the walk.

Real World Radio interviewed Lorenzo Cambronero, member of the National Union of Costa Rican Farmers and Cattle Producers (UNAG), part of La Via Campesina Costa Rica. Cambronero highlighted the international feature of the mobilization, since Nicaraguan and Panamanian demonstrators participated, in addition to several organizations.

Even though President Chinchilla didn´t receive the demonstrators, Cambronero highlighted that some members of the House of Representatives were interested and supported the mobilization, such as MPs from the Accion Ciudadana and Frente Amplio parties.

Priority. Mobilizations in Panama to repeal Law 30

Real World Radio — 2010-08-31T19:02:41Z

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights strongly condemned the repression by National Police officers during the protests held in Bocas del Toro from July 7-11.

The Commission also demanded the government to carry out an investigation about the events. Panama´s President, Ricardo Martinelli, has not paid much attention to the need of discussing controversial Law 30, which resulted in the protests of workers, indigenous people and environmentalists.

This law, established with the excuse of favouring commercial aviation, resulted in changes to labour and environmental regulations, with negative consequences which have been denounced at international level by Panamanian organizations.

The report written by the IACHR was submitted to Kyung-wha Kang, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, during her recent visit to the country, and concludes that the protests of Bocas del Toro resulted in the death of 4 people. In addition, 405 people were injured and one person remains missing.

The Commission also denounced the excessive use of force by the police, lack of medical attention, unjustified arrests and torture.

“Panama joins countries such as Guatemala or Honduras, where the murders of social leaders are common”, said Victor Torres, Secretary General at Convergencia Sindical, in an interview with Real World Radio during the Americas Social Forum held in Paraguay.

Torres believes that a total repeal of Law 30 is a priority, and accuses Martinelli´s administration of serious human rights violations.

Workers from banana plantations were the protagonists of the protests at first, but other sectors and indigenous Ngabe communities joined later, blaming Martinelli for repression and murder.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bienve...

Speaking Up. AMARC denounces attacks against Zacate Grande and promotes action to support Honduran community radio

Real World Radio — 2010-08-31T19:00:29Z

The Latin American and the Caribbean Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC-ALC) denounced that last week, a group of people joined by police and military officers tried to appropriate a territory in Zacate Grande, Honduras, where the population has been living for over 100 years.

The group was demanding the population to give them ownership titles for their lands which had been promised by landowner Migue Facussé. As a result of the attacks, three people were injured.

According to a statement issued by AMARC-ALC this week, this has to be added to what happened on June 3rd, where approximately 300 police and military officers entered the community and tried to close a community radio called La Voz de Zacate Grande.

The radio gives advice to the peasant population, and supports land tenure for agriculture and housing. “The community is demanding land ownership titles”, states the press release. “According to Honduran legislation, lands belong to the people who have inhabited them for over ten years. This is the case of Zacate Grande. Nevertheless, a criminal action was brought against five community leaders who allegedly didn´t respect the judicial order to close the radio”.

To document human rights violations suffered by the members of this community radio, last week, a delegation made up by members of AMARC-ALC, Article 19 and the International Media Support visited Zacate Grande.

Also, AMARC-ALC is promoting an action to support the community, which includes sending letters to Honduran authorities in rejection to the criminalization of members of community radios in Honduras.

Photo: http://www.resistenciahonduras.net/

Prisoners of "Development". Report on the increasing amount of dams and their effects on indigenous communities

Real World Radio — 2010-08-31T01:43:43Z

Traditionally presented as “green” or “clean” energy projects, megadams continue to be built with the support of international financial institutions and governments of emerging powers, affecting hundreds of communities around the world.

The most recent report by Survival International on dams and their irreversible impacts shows that the promotion of hydroelectric projects does not take into account their consequences or the “lessons learned” in terms of consultation of communities. “Enthusiasm for large dams is resurfacing,

driven by the international dam lobby which is working hard to paint its industry as a panacea to climate change. The lessons learned last century are being ignored, and tribal peoples worldwide are again being sidelined, their rights violated, and their lands destroyed”, states the report.

The “new actors” of global economy have to be added to the traditional funders of these projects. China is currently the largest funder of dams, replacing the World Bank. “The China Three Gorges Project Corporation, builder of the controversial Three Gorges Dam which displaced more than a million people from around the Yangtze River, has been contracted to build a dam on the land of the

Penan tribe in Sarawak.” Also China´s biggest state bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, is considering funding Gibe III in Ethiopia, for instance. The report also states that this project will be Africa´s tallest dam and will destroy the livelihood of at least eight indigenous peoples.

China accounts for about half of they hydroelectric dams around the world, all of them financed by the government. These dams are the drivers of the rapid “development” that has put the Chinese economy in second place at world level, replacing Japan.

The World Bank has reverted from freezing several projects, and nowadays, its portfolio for hydropower and dam projects totals 11 billion dollars. Other governments claim that they no longer need loans from big international banks. Brazil, for instance, says it will build the controversial Belo Monte Dam, which would be the third world´s largest dam- with funding from the Brazilian State development bank (BNDES)and some form the private sector.

The report by Survival also states that “creating a dam's reservoir involves flooding land, potentially submerging crops, forests, houses, and forcing entire communities to be relocated”, giving way also to the propagation of diseases. In addition, although “it is not uncommon to build a series of dams

along a single river system, to maximize electricity production”, “cumulative impact assessments are not always carried out before construction begins”.

Although most projects claim to consult affected populations, previous dialogues between investors, the government and the affected peoples are nothing more than a symbolic exercise rather than true dialogue, states Survival International.

“Basic hindrances, including language barriers or a failure to recognize a tribe's particular needs and values, tend to result in a token exercise rather than genuine dialogue.”

The global trade of carbon credits and the concern over Climate Change have become an efficient space for the building of more hydroelectric dams. In fact, institutions such as the World Bank and the European Investment Bank are supporting the “green” credentials of hydropower, “stepping up investment in hydroelectric dams this century and littering project proposals with the dams' ‘sustainable' credentials.”

“The UN's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) allows countries to earn ‘carbon credits' by creating emission reduction or sequestration projects”, reads the report. Countries with lower greenhouse gas emissions can therefore attract investment in ‘green' development projects, while high-emission countries can purchase the credits generated through the projects to ‘offset' their own excessive emissions.

Rivers for life

In October, in Jalisco, Mexico, these issues and the voice of the affected people will be heard at the international meeting “Rivers for Life 3”. The people of Temacapulin, where the event will take place, are involved in a campaign to stop El Zapotillo dam and are welcoming the members of the international movements of dam in their town and homes for this important event.

Over 300 people affected by dams, representatives of civil organizations and experts from around the world will meet to share experiences and information, develop common strategies and strengthen the international movement to protect rivers and human rights.

The event will be covered by Real World Radio.

Photo: www.riosparalavida3.org

Feeding Cars. Friends of the Earth warns that agrofuels demand increases land grabbing

Real World Radio — 2010-08-31T01:12:30Z

A new report published on Monday by environmentalist federation Friends of the Earth International shows that the demand of agrofuels in Northern countries is causing the amount of lands owned by foreign companies in African countries to increase, which directly affects the rights of local communities.

The report studied the situation in 11 African countries, and found that at least five million hectares of land are being acquired by foreign companies, especially Chinese and European, to produce biofuels.

In a press release issued today by the federation, Mariann Bassey, food and agriculture coordinator for Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria said that the “expansion of agrofuels is transforming forests and natural vegetation into fuel crops, taking away food-growing farmland from communities, and creating conflicts with local people over land ownership. “

“We want real investment in agriculture that allows us to produce food and not fuel for foreign cars”, said Bassey.

The press release also makes reference to a leaked World Bank report on land grabbing which stated that the conflicts with local communities were common and were usually over land rights.

Friends of the Earth also warns that land grabbing could continue rising if the European Union is to meet its biofuel targets, which will have negative impacts on the poorest countries.

One Million Voices. Over 1 million signatures in favor of Constituent Assembly in Honduras

Real World Radio — 2010-08-31T00:54:53Z

On Monday, August 30th, the National Front of Popular Resistance reported that over 1 million Honduran people have signed to call a National Constituent Assembly that allows, among other things, the “safe and unconditional return” of President Manuel Zelaya and other 200 ousted leaders.

Now, they will work to get to the set goal of 1,250,000 signatures to begin the drafting of a new Constitution, before September 15th.

The next count will take place in Tegucigalpa, capital city of the country, on September 5th, according to the Front´s website.

The situation suffered by the Honduran people with illegitimate president Porfirio Lobo is being denounced at international level. In an interview with La Voz de los Movimientos, priest and activist Fausto Milla assessed the situation of the country, fourteen months after the coup d´etat.

Milla said that the attacks against the Honduran people are “permanent” and that the loss of job sources during Lobo´s administration has risen systematically. “The oligarchy is raising prices and ALBA and Petrocaribe´s agreements have been abandoned, that is, everything went back to square one”, said the leader, remembering Zelaya´s struggle against oil companies to lower prices.

The national resistance is present in the streets and the small media. Milla said that one of the main demands of the Front in the future will be to find the people responsible for the 200 murders of members of the resistance, which have been considered as common crimes.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cescomad/

For Freedom. Mapuche political prisoners reject court order allowing officers to force feed them

Real World Radio — 2010-08-26T19:41:09Z

This week, the conflict between Mapuches and the Chilean government had a new development, when a court authorized officers to force feed the 32 Mapuche political prisoners who are on hunger strike since last month.

In response to this decision, the Mapuche people imprisoned in El Manzano said that they will oppose the measure by all means, even if this means putting their own lives at risk.

“This is a clear political intervention to make us abandon the fair protest we are carrying out”, state the Mapuche prisoners, who were prosecuted by an Anti-Terriorist Law established under the Pinochet dictatorship, for claiming their right to land and their autonomy.

“With this resolution, the Court of Appeals gives way to the possibility of extracting blood samples to the prisoners, which is the ultimate reason of the political intervention. If they manipulate the blood samples, they could prefabricate evidence, and this way, they could frame the prisoners in technical-procedural terms and eventually they could achieve sentences against them”, they said.

In another statement published today by Mapuexpress, the Coordination of Families of the 32 Political Prisoners on Hunger Strike indicated that they were “against the resolution of the Concepción, Temuco and Valdivia courts that authorized officers to force feed our families, which is clearly against their decision to go on hunger strike, and we consider it physical and psychological torture. We also denounce the attitude of the Government to solve the demands of the Mapuche political prisoners without opening the doors to dialogue”.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel wrote a letter to Chilean President Sebastian Piñera, saying that he was surprised that the Anti-Terrorist law was being applied to the Mapuche prisoners, only for demanding their rights.

“I hope, Mr. President, that as you recently took office, you can recognize when a process is not being carried out the way it should be, and that the judicial system can operate in a transparent way, without arbitrariness. People have denounced that this is not the case, and that is why today, the Mapuche prisoners are on a hunger strike, since that is the only option they have to raise awareness and expect a change of attitude”, wrote Perez Esquivel.

The people who support the Mapuche political prisoners are calling a 3rd national and international mobilization to demand their release, to take place on September 1st.

Photo: http://www.mapuexpress.net/

Sustainable Future. Uruguay: proposal for a new GM crop exclusion zone

Real World Radio — 2010-08-26T19:35:59Z

In Canelones department, near the capital city of the country, Montevideo, social organizations proposed the creation of a GM crop exclusion zone, opening the doors to a highly necessary debate.

Located in the Santa Lucia River´s Basin, the source of drinking water for the capital city and the most populated area in Uruguay, Canelones is a territory of varied production and peasant agriculture.

This is why the arrival of GM crops, especially soy resistant to glyphosate, has caused the rejection of communities of small and family farmers.

This concern dates from 2008, when an airplane sprayed glyphosate to a field and a densely populated area in Totoral del Sauce, affecting children and people who were outdoors.

This was denounced through the local media and to local and national authorities, and the sprayings stopped. However, by the end of 2008, there were plans to grow 400 hectares of GM soy near Sauce city, in Cuchilla de Rocha.

The community, among them small-scale fruit and vegetable producers, opposed this. They informed about the effects on the environment, and many of the people who had let their fields to the production of soy took a step back.

There was a strong social pressure, and finally, the plans to grow soy in that part of the department did not succeed. But it was clear that without specific national or local regulations, nothing could prevent a local or foreign company to grow GM soy.

However, this concern went beyond Cuchilla de Rocha, and the negative impacts of growing soy on human communities, land, biodiversity and water were made public.

This resulted in the creation of an Advisory Commission, made up by citizens and local authorities, to work on the issue and draft criteria and recommendations.

The Commission, then, recommended a ban to sprayings in Canelones, and they raised the need to establish a GM exclusion zone as a pilot project in the Southern region of the department. After two years of consultations, the Commission decided to submit their recommendation.

The “concern” over the potential GM exclusion zone is not related to the loss of lands for this type of crops, but to the fact that such a decision could set a precedent to be implemented in other areas of the country, where the expansion of this monoculture has caused even more serious problems.

Today, GM soy and tree monoculture plantations occupy around 1 million hectares each, which changed the landscape, the land use and especially the availability of water in some regions of the country.

A “GM exclusion zone” wouldn´t be an exception at international level: in several European countries, such as Spain, Germany and France, these zones have been implemented in response to the demands of communities.

The demands of the Canelones communities concerned over the sustainability of their lives and the lives of their families in the countryside had their first victory: the start of a debate about a central issue which is not widely covered.

Photo: 5preguntas.blogspot.com