AS BUSH PREPARES TO ATTACK IRAQ TO PROTECT CORPORATE INTETESTS,
HEMISPHERE-WIDE DEMONSTRATIONS PROTEST CORPORATE GLOBALIZATION IN THE
AMERICAS. THOUSANDS OF ORGANIZATIONS FROM CANADA TO CHILE RISE UP
FOR INDIGENOUS RIGHTS AND AGAINST FREE TRADE
Saturday, 12 October--Over twenty U.S. cities held protests today on
the 510th anniversary of the first invasion of the Americas by
Christopher Columbus. These actions, called for by the Latin
American Solidarity Coalition (LASC) and the American Indian
Movement (AIM), occurred in solidarity with simultaneous
demonstrations from Mexico to Panama.
Thousands of indigenous activists, community organizations and
supporters from Canada to Chile, demanded basic human rights for all
native peoples and an end to free trade agreements like the Free
Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and corporate interests that
exploit native communities and their lands. They also called for an
end to the militarization that accompanies free trade. Some of
these actions are still in progress.
Protests from Mexico to Panama called for the total rejection of the
Plan Puebla Panama (PPP) and the FTAA. Solidarity statements were
read at protests in the U.S., Mexico and Central America.
Demonstrators blocked roads, borders, ports and bridges in some areas
while others held marches, cultural celebrations, rallies, and other
direct actions.
Brief Highlights: *In Washington, D.C, Vernon Bellecourt of the
American Indian Movement broke a vile of his own blood on a statue of
Christopher Columbus demanding the immediate release of AIM's Leonard
Peltier, wrongfully imprisoned for the deaths of two FBI agents.
*Hundreds from the Southwest Network for Environmental & Economic
Justice took over two bridges as activists converged from both sides
of the U.S./Mexico border at El Paso, TX and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
*One focus of the San Francisco, CA protest today connected the
effects of global capitalism on indigenous and immigrant communities.
"Both groups are negatively effected by globalization" said Alicia
Grogan-Brown of the Bay Area CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the
People of El Salvador). She continued, "Immigrants are forced to
leave their jobs and homes in the south to find work in US and when
they get here they are subject to discrimination, restricted access
to social services and starvation wages."
*The Pan-American Highway is currently being blockaded by activists
in Mexico near San Cristobal, Chiapas, and also in Jalapa de Marques
in Oaxaca.
*Also in Mexico, over one thousand citizens from the indigenous
rights group UCIZONI blocked the Trans-Isthmus Highway in the Isthmus
of Tehuantepec and the highway was also blockaded in Veracruz.
UCIZONI coordinator, Carlos Beas Torres said, " Plan Puebla Panama
means the construction of dams, highways and port expansion. In
other words, things that advance the expansion of transnational
corporations in the region and this means the immediate expulsion of
our communities from our lands."
*A network of over thirty organizations and 4000 people blockaded the
Honduran borders of Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua and
protested various governmental institutions.
*In Managua, Nicaragua, actions occurred against the Inter-American
Development Bank, a major institution that funds development schemes
that opponents say benefits only transnational corporations. The Pan
American Highway was also blocked in Esteli.
*Indigenous activists from Panama are reported to be marching from
Costa Rica to Panama City, a distance of over 200 miles, to protest
the ecological destruction caused by mining on their lands.
Other demonstrations happened today in New York City, Minneapolis,
Chicago, Boston, Burlington, VT and Columbus, OH among other cities.
LASC and AIM called for the actions in the U.S. today to focus on the
institutions of U.S. government and corporate colonization,
demanding: *No to the Free Trade Area of the Americas *No to Plan
Colombia/Andean Initiative *Close the School of the Americas (WHISC)
*Close US military bases in Vieques and throughout Latin America
*End the Drug War's assault on people of color and the poor *Free
Leonard Peltier and all indigenous political prisoners *Respect
indigenous treaty, land, and cultural rights *Bring to justice those
responsible for the genocide in Guatemala.
For updates or to reach local organizers in cities from Panama to
Canada please contact ACERCA (Action for Community and Ecology in the
Regions of Central America) at 802-863-0571 or 202-285-5977
<brendan@asej.org>. For more information and to see a list of U.S.
based actions visit www.lasolidarity.org and www.aimovement.org.
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ACERCA
Action for Community and Ecology in the Regions of Central America
Acción para La Comunidad y La Ecología en Las Regiones de
Centroamericana
POB 57
Burlington, VT 05402
(802) 863-0571
(802) 864-8203 Fax
Email: acerca at sover.net
www.acerca.org
ACERCA is a project of the Action for Social and Ecological Justice
(ASEJ) collective. www.asej.org |
BUSQUEDA / SEARCH