News

Source : Agência Brasil
A group of indigenous people, the Quilombolas and the Ribeirinhos alongside environmental campaigners, have occupied one of  the construction sites of the Belo Monte Dam since the beginning of May. They are asking for the suspension of works on all of the hydroelectric dams in Amazonia until prior consultation with the indigenous peoples is finally organized, as set out in the ILO Convention No. 169.

In 2003 a decree signed by the government and the firms operating on the Camisea site forbade the development of gas operations. In the next few days the government (should) will disregard that decision, thus jeopardizing local tribes, especially those living in complete isolation.

Source : Amazon Watch, International Rivers, CIMI
Tribes from Xingu and Tapajós rivers unite to protest violations of rights to prior consultations in construction of Amazon dams. Altamira, Brazil – Some 200 indigenous people affected by the construction of large hydroelectric dams in the Amazon launched an occupation today on one of the main construction sites of the Belo Monte dam complex on the Xingu River in the Brazilian Amazon. 

Source : opovo.com.fr
Some advisers of the Brazilian Minister of Justice, Eduardo Cardozo, declared that he had been informed of his participation in the ‘Warrior's dance’. Being on a war footing against the politicians, the Xavante people were successful in making the Minister join ‘The Dance Of The Ill Man’. The performance of Cardozo, who was gesticulating with his hands in a disco-style, occurred yesterday in the late morning following a Ceremony for Brazilian Indian Day in the Ministry of Justice, when some leaders complained about the government inaction regarding the defense of the aldeias (villages in indigenous land) and accused the federal police of killing and disrespecting the indigenous people.

The Indigenous April (Abril Indigena) gathering which is held in Brasilia from April 15 to April 19 2013, took the turn of a mini-revolution on Tuesday 16 of March when nearly 300 indigenous people, including Chief Raoni, invaded  the Chamber Of Deputies in Congress in the middle of the parliamentary debate. The event shook those in power in Brazil, who,  up to this point, had turned a deaf ear to the demands of the native people on their own lands. A working group,  including parliamentarians and indigenous leaders, was created urgently. On the 18th of April, Chief Raoni was to meet President Dilma Rousseff for the first time, with 9 other indigenous representatives, but the visit did not take place. The Head of the Brazilian state, whose palace also became the scene of demonstrations on the day of the meeting, seized the pretext of a last-minute reunion to fly to Venezuela. 

Source : ecoreserva.com.br
The vision of a young woman shows the reality of the Belo Monte dam. It was 7 a.m. when I started talking with Maini while she waited with me in line for four hours at the Altamira private hospital in the remote jungle boomtown deep in the Brazilian Amazon. Maini is the second oldest of Seu Sebastião's four children. Ten years ago, her father Seu Sebastião built his life as a farmer near the banks of the Xingu River. At that time he couldn't have predicted how much his life would change because of his country's desire for "progress." 

Source : The Guardian
Government reports high levels of barium, lead, chrome and petroleum-related compounds in region that is home to oil field. Peru has declared an environmental state of emergency in a remote part of its northern Amazon rainforest, home for decades to one of the country's biggest oil fields, currently operated by the Argentinian company Pluspetrol.

Fonte : globalvoicesonline.org
Brazilian riot police violently evicted a group of indigenous people from a former museum they had occupied in Rio de Janeiro to make way for 2014 World Cup construction. Baton-wielding police agents stormed the one-time Museum of the Indian building on 22 March, 2013, launching tear gas and tussling with the indigenous people and their supporters who had set up barricades overnight to repel the invasion.

Source : lab.org.uk
As the Brazilian government steps up its efforts to clear the way for the construction of new hydro-electric dams in the Amazon basin, three LAB correspondents travelled to the area to gather first-hand testimony of recent brutal attacks by the police on indigenous communities in Mato Grosso. Five dramatic videos (edited for LAB by Nayana Fernandez) illustrate the events.

Source : whitewolfpack.com
Indians in Brazil recently participated in a public hearing on Saturday with Federal Judge Wilson Witzel, at the headquarters of the Federal Court, regarding the issue of being allowed to stay on historical museum property adjacent to the Village Maracana.

Source : guardian.co.uk
Hosts of the 2014 World Cup react to threat of Maracanã stadium not being ready for June friendly with England. Brazilian riot police armed with batons, teargas and pepper spray have forcibly evicted an indigenous community from a dilapidated museum complex next to the Maracanã football stadium.

Source : lab.org.uk
A few minutes from Maracanã stadium, urban Indigenous village struggles to save an historical building in danger as Brazil's World Cup approaches.

"AMAZON EMERGENCY", a Planète Amazone campaign, in partnership with the Instituto Raoni
During his presentation at the "Amazon Emergency"press conference on November 30th 2012, french eco-activist Nicolas Hulot gave voice to what we have been thinking for a long time: an international symbol of the protection of nature and the culture of native peoples, Chief Raoni would undoubtedly deserve the Peace Nobel Prize.

"AMAZON EMERGENCY", a Planète Amazone campaign, in partnership with the Instituto Raoni
On November 29th 2012, Chief Raoni Metuktire, Chief Megaron Txucarramae, Bemoro Metuktire, three major Indian representatives from Brazil (Kayapo people), encompassing three generations, were received by the President of the Republic, with eco-activist Nicolas Hulot and Gert-Perter Bruch (president of Planète Amazone). François Hollande is now the third president, after François Mitterand and Jacques Chirac, to welcome the great Indian Chief at the Elysée palace. It was an opportunity to trace nearly a quarter of a century of diplomatic meetings between the highest French authorities and the most famous indigenous spokesman of the planet.

Introduction : It is like a cry of raging anger from Canada's First Nations people. The ‘Idle No More’ movement is about to enter history as one of the great protest movements to move humanity forward. It is a spontaneous movement which local authorities did not see coming; in this regard it is similar in its development to the ‘Arab Spring’ because it is inspired by the people and social networks.

Protest held in Paris on the 26th February 2013 at 11am against the Ecuatorian President Rafael Correa’s duplicity - "Oil or life? : that is the question" : such is the question we, at Planète Amazone, asked and chose to symbolise the protest we held against "Ronda Sur Oriente", an auction from the Ecuadorian government of an enormous swath of pristine Amazon rainforest equivalent to the Netherlands and mostly composed of indigenous lands. These oil concessions will allow buyers to extract oil which lies under a rainforest of exceptional biodiversity, much to the dismay of the indigenous populations and the environment.

"AMAZON EMERGENCY", a Planète Amazone campaign, in partnership with the Instituto Raoni
Known and respected throughout the world for his fight to protect the Amazon rainforest, Chief Raoni is now approximately 82 years of age. To ensure the continuity of his actions after his passing, he is eager to have his right-hand men accompany him on his visits to foreign lands. It is in this context that the strongest and most faithful among them was at his side during the recent “Urgence Amazonie” (Amazon Emergency) campaign in Europe – his nephew, Chief Megaron Txucarramãe.

"AMAZON EMERGENCY", a Planète Amazone campaign, in partnership with the Instituto Raoni
Chief Raoni chose to come back again to Europe six months after Rio +20 for several reasons. Firstly, it is due to the initial support of our 'country' and the special support of presidents such as François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac that Chief Raoni's people succeeded in delimiting and therefore protecting the major part of their territory. Logically, Chief Raoni and his delegation are seeking for Europe to complete the demarcation, which remains the largest of their concerns, as deforestation now reaches the limited indigenous lands.

Source : Amazoin Watch
Public Ministry warns against licensing for Canadian mining company gold operations.
Altamira, Brazil – Brazil's Federal Public Ministry (MPF) stunned Canadian Belo Sun Mining Corporation last week when it issued recommendations warning against the issuing of environmental licenses for a gold mine in the Brazilian Amazon.

"AMAZON EMERGENCY", a Planète Amazone campaign, in partnership with the Instituto Raoni
The operation « Amazon Emergency », directed by Amazon Planet in order to support Chief Raoni, was launched on November 30th, 2012 in Paris, at the « Grenier des Grands Augustins » (Picasso’s workshop). It took the shape of a European campaign of awareness, of lobbies and of a fund raising, in order to help to protect the endangered Kayapo territories.