Race in Central Pa. between Rep. Scott Perry and Janelle Stelson could be close

Source: Race in Central Pa. between Rep. Scott Perry and Janelle Stelson could be close

21st Century COLONIALISM – implemented by Corporations and NGOs? Whose Survival is at stake here, Survival? The survival of the rainforests and Indigenous peoples or of Cartier and others in the gold and diamond jewelry industry? – If you plan to donate to an NGO, please read this first! – 2024! | Barbara Crane Navarro

“Gold or Nature?”  – © Fotolia/ Wikimedia/Collage: Mirela Hadzic for Rainforest Rescue

“Man’s folly hath enhanced the value of gold and silver because of their scarcity; whereas nature, like a kind parent, hath freely given us the best things, such as air, earth, and water, but hath hidden from us those which are vain and useless.” Thomas More, “Utopia”  book II – 1516

photo: Cartier publicity 

Systematic European conquest and colonization of the Americas began in 1492 and is ongoing. The compelling motivation was then, and continues to be, exploitation. The ascension of wealth in Europe depended on plundered gold, diamonds and other riches at the expense of the degradation of nature and the subjugation of Indigenous peoples…

photo: gold mining site: National Geographic – Emiliano Mancuso

The NGO Survival proclaims: “We fight for tribal peoples’ survival. We stop loggers, miners, and oil companies from destroying tribal lands, lives and livelihoods across the globe. We lobby governments to recognise indigenous land rights. We document and expose the atrocities committed against tribal people and take direct action to stop them.”

I did volunteer work for Survival France in the ’90s and early 2000s at periods when I had returned to France from time among the Yanomami in Venezuela and Brazil and thought at first that Survival was doing the right thing.

I encouraged people to sign on printouts of Survival petitions for Indigenous rights (before the era of internet petitions) in different parts of the world, including thumbprints from Yanomami.

       Yapacana tepui, Amazonas, Venezuela – photo: Barbara Crane Navarro

The Curripaco community in Guachapana, along the Orinoco, asked me to create a petition to get rid of the gold miners from Colombia who terrorized them on the way to illegal gold mining sites on the Yapacana tepui.

Now, in 2024, the village of Guachapana and the surrounding forests have been effectively wiped off the map; pillaged, excavated and contaminated with mercury by gold miners – the community totally devastated.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/06/venezuela-yapacana-gold-mining/

The situation has worsened and gold mining is now destroying Yapacana tepui, a sacred site, and contaminating the waterways, fish, soil, wildlife and Indigenous people in the region with mercury. But not only in this area. Venezuela is being deforested, poisoned and pillaged by gold mining even more than Brazil!

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2350663-deforestation-in-venezuela-surges-as-gold-miners-ransack-the-amazon/

« Deforestation in Venezuela surges as gold miners ransack the Amazon!

The loss of pristine forest is estimated to be increasing by around 170 per cent annually in Venezuela – an even faster rate than Brazil – as a result of a state-sanctioned boom in gold mining »

photo of Yanomami man with bow and arrow, Amazonas, Venezuela and photo montage – Barbara Crane Navarro / Result of Yanomami shaman summoning the Hekura  spirits to prevent intruders from destroying the forest – drawing on paper – Wacayowë Yanomami

I spent time with Survival France near the Brazilian embassy in Paris demonstrating against the governments of Brazil, starting with that of Fernando Collor de Mello.

I began to consider that perhaps informing global consumers about the ravages of gold mining, logging, and ranching in Indigenous territories could be a more effective approach than attempting to influence governments, too often influenced themselves by multinational corporations, to change their policies. Boycotting destructive industries seemed like a more proactive solution.

With the possibilities offered by the internet I focused on collaborating with SOS Orinoco and other Venezuelan associations who are trying to halt the devastation of the Arco Minero del Orinoco mining project as well as Apib, the Association of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil.

I later demonstrated with Survival France against GDF Suez’s involvement in the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam project, bringing with me several people who worked at GDF Suez who were also opposed to the inevitable destruction of the rainforest, the rivers and the lives of Indigenous peoples of the Xingu region the dam would represent.

Cacique Raoni Metuktire in Paris, holding the petition against the Belo Monte dam, which he launched with other Kayapo Indian chiefs.

Private investors involved in the project include mining giants Alcoa and Vale (to power new mines nearby like the Belo Sun gold mine), construction conglomerates Andrade Gutierrez, Votorantim, Grupo OAS, Queiroz  Galvão, Oldebrecht and Camargo Corrêa and energy companies GDF Suez (now ENGIE) and Neoenergia. The first turbines functioned in May 2016 at the Belo Monte dam. The dam was completed with the installation of its 18th turbine, in November 2019.

Canadian mining company Belo Sun continues to survey for gold inside Indigenous territories in the Brazilian state of Pará despite judicial actions brought against it. Here are the details from the NGO Mongabay: “Dammed, now mined: Indigenous Brazilians fight for the Xingu River’s future”:

Data shows that the legal gold mining company has 11 survey petitions filed with the National Mining Agency (NMA) that would directly affect the Arara da Volta Grande do Xingu and Trincheira Bacajá Indigenous Reserves in the state of Pará.

The project is slated to be the largest open-air gold mine in Latin America, with 74 tons of the gold expected to be mined over 20 years of operation.

photo: Xipaya man at the Jericoá waterfall, Volta Grande do Xingu – Verena Glass

In 2018, I was contacted on Twitter by Stephen Corry, who had been the director of Survival International, based in London, since 1984. He asked me to give him my opinion about who to contact in Venezuela when the Yanomami of the Alto Orinoco and Parima region in Venezuela were dying from malaria propagated by illegal gold miners.

We also had exchanges on Twitter and by email about other issues affecting Indigenous peoples. Corry suggested that I contact Fiore Longo, the current director of Survival France, and she and I exchanged e-mails concerning plans to eventually meet.

Corry also requested that I share Survival videos on rainforest issues on Twitter.

Wikipedia states that “Stephen Corry has worked as a member of Survival International with the perspective that indigenous people have both moral and legal rights to their lands. The protection of this right is considered essential for their survival. They believe that governments must acknowledge this and that this is only possible if they are made to by force of public opinion. Survival International believes that the culture of this people is of great value, and it is now put at great risk from a violent interference on their way of living.”

Wikipedia adds, with a large orange exclamation mark: “This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. This article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification.” (March 2019)

Concerning Davi Kopenawa, Wikipedia states: “Davi Kopenawa is a Portuguese-speaking spokesperson for the Yanomami Indians in Brazil. He became known for his advocacy regarding tribal issues and Amazon rainforest conservation when … Survival International invited him to accept the Right Livelihood Award on its behalf in 1989. …Davi Kopenawa spoke to both the British and Swedish parliaments about the catastrophic impact on Yanomami health as a consequence of the illegal invasion of their land by 40,000 ‘garimpeiros’ or gold miners.” Prince Charles publicly called the situation ‘genocide’. In a seven-year period from 1987-1993 one fifth of the Yanomami died from malaria and other diseases transmitted by the gold miners.

Photo: gold mining destruction in Yanomami territory, Roraima, Brazil – Getty images

I was disconcerted after proposing to Corry in January 2020 to join with me in “spreading the message below because I feel this is an issue that needs to be addressed. In the same way people are being encouraged to change eating habits to protect forests, shopping habits should be examined, especially so close to Valentine’s day, when conspicuous consumption is rampant…

Source: 21st Century COLONIALISM – implemented by Corporations and NGOs? Whose Survival is at stake here, Survival? The survival of the rainforests and Indigenous peoples or of Cartier and others in the gold and diamond jewelry industry? – If you plan to donate to an NGO, please read this first! – 2024! | Barbara Crane Navarro

Video: America’s Native Prisoners of War — Vox Populi | Barbara Crane Navarro

Aaron Huey’s effort to photograph poverty in America led him to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where the struggle of the native Lakota people — appalling, and largely ignored — compelled him to refocus. Five years of work later, his haunting photos intertwine with a shocking history lesson.

Video: America’s Native Prisoners of War — Vox Populi

Source: Video: America’s Native Prisoners of War — Vox Populi | Barbara Crane Navarro

RDP Saturday: Butterflies | Chronicles of an Anglo Swiss

Now I have a problem. Collecting butterfly photos is a bit of a hobby with me, so which one shall I choose. We have many where I live and when they are not fluttering they do sit still for a photo. I think my favourite locally is the swallow tail butterfly with its many colours. The caterpillars like to chew on carrot plants, so if you plant carrots you are bound to get a few somewhere.

Another favourite is the peacock buttrerfly. If you have a buddleia bush in the garden, you most definitely will have this visitor, although they are not calle buterfly bushes for nothing, and most of the fleuttering works of art decide to make a stop on this bush.

Source: RDP Saturday: Butterflies | Chronicles of an Anglo Swiss