2009 | Amazon Watch
Amazon Watch

All: 2009

Ecuador revokes Shuar radio broadcast license

Associated Press | QUITO, Ecuador - Ecuador has revoked the broadcast license for an indigenous radio station in the Amazon region over accusations it incited violence during protests in October.Station director Pepe Acacho said Wednesday that radio Arutam continues to broadcast to the Shuar Indian community in spite of the revocation.

Quizá nunca vamos a contar con gran acuerdo climático

El Comercio (Ecuador) | Andrew Miller, ambientalista de Amazon Watch, asistió a la cumbre de Copenhague.En Dinamarca no se les dio importancia a la voz de los países pobres ¿Por qué?
Las negociaciones sobre cambio climático se realizaron en un ambiente de tensión y de protestas como una marcha de 100 000 personas.

US sabotages negotiations on draft REDD text

by Chris Lang / www.redd-monitor.org(bellacenter-COP15-Copenhagen, Denmark)– Discussions late into the night on Monday (14 December 2009) in Copenhagen made the REDD text worse. The main culprits were the US and Colombia.

Peruvian Indians Deliver Ultimatum to U.S. Oil Firm

Latin American Herald Tribune | WASHINGTON – A Peruvian Amazon Indian federation is demanding that U.S.-based Hunt Oil Company leave a reserve where it has already begun laying the groundwork for exploration and production.The Native Federation of the Rio Madre de Dios, or Fenamad, sent a letter to the company's president, Ray Hunt, giving him unti

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Tension Persists in Amazon Land Grab

GlobalPost | BOGOTA – Six months ago, news of violence triggered by indigenous uprisings in the Peruvian hinterland grabbed headlines around the world for several days, then just as quickly disappeared.

Indigenous Peoples Raise Their Voice

IPS/TerraViva | COPENHAGEN - Indigenous peoples from many parts of the world are losing their lands and cultures due to climate change.

COP 15 / REDD TIP SHEET

Media Contacts: Copenhagen: Andrew Miller andrew@amazonwatch.org +45-53997413 (mobile)Kevin Koenig kevin@amazonwatch.org +45-53996824 (mobile)San Francisco: Ruxandra Guidi ruxandra@amazonwatch.org +1-512-704-3150 (mobile) Official del

On the Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP 15)

Position Statement

Amazon Watch, an organization dedicated to the protection of Amazonian indigenous peoples' rights and the Amazon rainforest calls on the Obama Administration, the Annex 1 countries, the Coalition of Rainforest Nations and all other Parties to explicitly recognize indigenous peoples' rights when designing a new climate change

BNDES: Brazil's powerhouse bank

Al Jazeera English | With his slicked-back hair, neatly trimmed, close-cropped beard, and impeccably pressed suits, Luciano Coutinho looks like any other obscure Brazilian banker.But he is anything but an average banking man.Coutinho is the president of the Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social - Brazil's national de

2009 Copenhagen UN Climate Summit

Amazon Watch accompanies Ecuadorian indigenous colleagues Tito Puanchir and Marlon Santi to the summit.

Brazil Bank Funds Destructive Projects, Say Activists

Interpress Service (IPS) | RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 26 (IPS) - Public money in Brazil is being used by the state development bank to finance deforestation projects and others that trample rights, concentrate wealth, and encourage "imperialist" expansion of large national companies, according to activists at a three-day meeting in this southeastern city.

Letter from Peoples Affected by Brazil's Development Bank

The following letter came out of a three-day meeting organized by the Plataforma BNDES, a group of Brazilian and South American civil society organizations and social movements pushing to reform Brazil's Development Bank (BNDES) from a highly questionable and destr

Looking ahead, Brazil's farmers take up reforestation

The Washington Post | LUCAS DO RIO VERDE, BRAZIL – For nearly 20 years, Luiz Alberto Bortolini cleared trees and planted soybeans as fast as he could, one of many pioneers who turned this barren outpost into prosperous farmland.Now, he and hundreds of other successful farmers are replanting trees as part of an ambitious initiative to

Indigenous people send ultimatum to Ray Hunt: "Get your oil company out of our protected areas"

As deadline approaches, tensions rise again in the Peruvian Amazon

San Francisco, CA-In a recent open letter to Hunt Oil Company President Ray Hunt, the Native Federation of the Río Madre de Dios (FENAMAD) gave Hunt until this week to leave the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve in the southern Peruvian Amazon as a condition to continuing any further talks with the indigenous communities living in

Peru Gov't and Indigenous Group Still Disagree on Bagua Clash

Energy Advisor | WASHINGTON-More than five months after a deadly clash between police and indigenous protesters in the Peruvian Amazon killed at least 34 people, leading the government to roll back efforts to open up the region for oil and gas development and other extractive industries, a Peruvian indigenous leader said native communities ar

Peru: Hunt Oil Contract to Reignite Amazon Uprising?

NACLA | After the indigenous uprising in Peru's Amazon region in June, the country is in many ways fundamentally changed. For the first time, indigenous leaders from the rainforest are in direct dialogue with the highest levels of government.

Civil Society Holds the First Meeting of Peoples Affected by BNDES Financed Projects

Plataforma BNDES | November 11, 2009 - From the 23rd to the 25th of November, the Plataforma BNDES, a representative body of more than thirty organizations, social movements and networks from Brazilian civil society, will be hosting the first annual 'Meeting of Populations Affected by BNDES Financed Projects' at the Circo Voador in Rio de Janei

La Conaie pide observadores de la OEA en las mesas de diálogo

El Comercio (Ecuador) | Los indígenas se quieren curar en salud y llegan a la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA) a pedir que ésta envíe una o más veedurías a las mesas de diálogo que mantienen con el gobierno del Presidente Rafael Correa.Desde el lado de los indígenas no fue precisamente una versión que al Gobierno podría agra

Indígenas de Ecuador levantan su voz El líder indígena expresó su preocupación por el hecho de que haya leyes que afecten a los territorios de los indígenas y a su espacio de vida.

Voice of America | El presidente de la Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas de Ecuador (CONAIE), Marlon Santi, llegó a la capital de Estados Unidos para hablar de la situación que viven las tribus indígenas de su país.Santi y otros indígenas se presentaron frente a la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH).

Indian Political Awakening Stirs Latin America

Associated Press | In Ecuador, the Shuar are blocking highways to defend their hunting grounds. In Chile, the Mapuche are occupying ranches to pressure for land, schools and clinics.

WashPost: Group attacks Chevron ally

The Washington Post | Two months ago, Chevron released statements and videotapes provided by two men that it said cast doubt on the integrity of a court in Ecuador, where the company is fighting demands that it pay billions of dollars to fix damage done years ago by oil exploration in the Ecuadoran Amazon.But on Thursday doubt was cast on t

NYTimes: Revelation Undermines Chevron Case In Ecuador

New York Times | HOUSTON - An American whose secret recordings have placed him at the center of a $27 billion lawsuit against Chevron in Ecuador is a convicted drug trafficker, records show, throwing another complication into a case already tainted by accusations of bribery and espionage.The lawsuit pits Ecuadorean peasants against Che

Incoming Chevron Chief Toes Company Line on Ecuador Oil Pollution Case During Debut in Nation's Capital

Supporters of Amazon Residents Who Are Suing Chevron for Environmental Cleanup Put $27 Billion Contamination Case Front and Center During CEO-to-be John Watson's Chamber of Commerce Visit

Washington DC – Incoming Chevron CEO John S. Watson's debut speech in the nation's capitol addressed a range of issues from the future of the world's energy economy to rising gas prices to the company's $27 billion litigation in Ecuador for massive environmental contamination.

Ecuadorian Indigenous Mobilization Results in Government Negotiations, Strengthened Movement

The Pachamama Alliance | The last few weeks in Ecuador, characterized by indigenous mass action and protests and which culminated in a formal agreement between the indigenous leaders and the president of Ecuador, have marked the beginning of a promising new phase in relations between the government and the country's indigenous populations.This

Hundreds form Human Banner in Peru to Draw Attention to Plight of the Amazon

Amo Amazonia Arts Festival in Lima Highlights Biological and Cultural Wealth and Diversity of Peruvian Amazon

High resolution aerial photographs are available here Broadcast quality b-roll available upon requestLima, Peru – Over 400 people spelled out "Amo Amazonia" ("I love the Amazon") across the

Miles de indígenas debatirán en Cali sobre la presencia militar y empresarial extranjera

EFE | Unos 25.000 indígenas llegaron hoy a la ciudad de Cali (suroeste) para debatir sobre la presencia de soldados estadounidenses en bases militares colombianas y la posibilidad de que aumente el número de multinacionales mineras interesadas en sus territorios.El consejero mayor del Consejo Regional Indígena del Cauca (