James Cameron, Sigourney Weaver and Joel David Moore travel with members of Amazon Watch to the Xingu River basin.
All: 2010
BNDES Will Be Notified About Its Co-Responsibility for Impacts of the Belo Monte Dam
Amazônia | An extrajudicial notice will be delivered to the bank's headquarters in Rio de Janeiro at 11 am this Wednesday.The Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), which has already set out to become the largest funder of the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam on the Xingu River in Altamira (PA), will be notified of it's co-responsibilit
Indigenous Communities Protest the Belo Monte Dam
Amazonia.org.br | Indigenous leaders from more than 15 ethnic groups living in the Xingu River Basin (PA) promise to protest the Belo Monte dam on the 5th of April. According to the São Paulo newspaper O Estado, indigenous groups are worried about the rapidly approaching date of the auction due to take place on April 20th.
IDB Agrees to Reforms, But NGOs Will Keep Up Pressure
IPS | Although social organisations in the region got the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to agree to a process of internal reforms, there are still doubts about how the changes will be reflected in the multilateral lender's new strategy.At the end of the IDB's annual meeting Tuesday in the southeast Mexican resort of
Pungarayacu and the Environment: Response to Ivanhoe Press Release*
Ivanhoe's most recent press release on the progress of the Pungarayacu project, posted March 16, 2010, contradicts the truth from the ground about what is happening with the project and glorifies the HTL drilling technol
Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
Essential Reforms Still Necessary for an Effective Capital Increase at the Inter-American Development Bank
Concern Expressed about the Pelosi Amendment is a Red Herring – Reform Already Adopted by Other Multilateral Banks
(Cancun, Mexico) – The Inter-American Development Bank still needs to institute important reforms in the context of the proposed general capital increase, according to representatives of civil society organizations present at the Bank's annual meeting currently underway in Cancun."If any capital increase is going to
Tip Sheet: Inter-American Development Bank's 2010 Annual Meeting in Cancun Civil Society Delegation Arrives in Cancun to Challenge Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Bid for Capital Increase
Groups Call for Reforms on Climate, Sustainability, Regional Integration and Accountability for Results as Conditions for Any Capital Increase Media Briefing to be Held Saturday, March 20 at 4 pm CST
(Cancun, Mexico) – Civil society spokespeople representing a coalition of more than 100 organizations in 20 countries are arriving in Cancun this week for the Inter-American Development Bank's annual meeting, looking for answers from the Bank's governors and management on a 26-point reform agenda on which any capital increa
Ecuador natives push Chevron for settlement
San Francisco Bay Guardian | The Rainforest Action Network, a non-profit organization that protests the pollution and destruction of natural habitats around the world, recently gathered on a bio-diesel bus named Priscilla with Ecuadorian tribal representative Emergildo Criollo and drove to new Chevron CEO John Watson's home in Lafayette to deliver a peti
Indigenous leader confronts Chevron
Indian Country Today | Emergildo Criollo traveled to California recently from his indigenous village in Ecuador to the home of Chevron's new CEO John Watson and then to a meeting with state lawmakers, demanding that the oil giant Chevron "...
Government License for Belo Monte Dam Provokes International Outcry
Letter to President Lula Demands Cancellation of Massive Hydroelectric Project
Today, a coalition of 140 international organizations sent a letter to Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to demand that he immediately halt plans to build Belo Monte Dam on the Amazon's Xingu River due to its immense social and environmental impacts, and instead consider alternatives.
BID en la Mira (IDB Watch)
IDB Watch | A publication that exposes the failures of the Inter-American Bank.
Las tormentas extremas son más frecuentes
El Comercio (Ecuador) | El clima se vuelve cada vez más extremo y al mismo tiempo impredecible. La semana pasada, Francia fue golpeada por la tormenta Xynthia. En la historia del país no había precedente de tal calibre.La tormenta estuvo acompañada por vientos huracanados. Además de Francia, pasó por España y Portugal.
The Amazon vs. Chevron - An indigenous plea and a toxic legacy
Current TV | Priscilla Queen of the Dessert, the bio-diesel bus, is whizzing down the freeway in the drizzle. About 20 activists in sopping fleece jackets sit inside on lumpy cushion seats that have probably carried protesters since the late 1960s. It's about 7:30 a.m.
Exposed: Chevron's Cover-up of Gross Environmental Abuses in Ecuador Chevron claims it's not responsible for dumping 18 billion gallons of industrial wastewater into the Amazon. A local leader says otherwise.
AlterNet | What is a lost culture? Is it just some intangible time before? Is it an economy? Can you inventory a lost culture in the number of lives lost or rivers polluted?Those questions haunt the lawsuit brought by Ecuadorian indigenous groups against the U.S.
Peruvian Indigenous take on U.S. giant Occidental Petroleum
Digital Journal | In a battle that pits the 'little guy' against the 'big guy,' the Achuar, an Indigenous people from Peru have taken on Occidental Petroleum with the help of U.S. based group, Amazon Watch.Los Angeles, CA - Launched in 2007 in the United States, an American judge had decided the case should be heard in Peru.
Oil giant faces off with the Amazon California 9th Circuit Court hears landmark case against oil giant brought by Peruvian indigenous leaders. Oxy Petroleum claims 'inconvenience.'
Mother Nature Network | When a California-based oil corporation claims it would be "inconvenient" to defend an environmental lawsuit in California (just 10 miles away from their headquarters) one is likely to suspect ulterior motives...
Líder indígena pide a nuevo presidente de Chevron reparar daños en Ecuador
EFE | El líder indígena ecuatoriano Emergildo Criollo entregó en la sede de la petrolera estadounidense Chevron una carta firmada por 325.000 personas pidiendo al nuevo presidente que limpie los supuestos daños ambientales en la Amazonía que atribuyen a la compañía.Criollo, miembro de la comunidad cofán, se desplazó
Ecuadorean Indigenous Leader Asks CA Lawmakers for Support in Campaign to Demand Chevron Clean Up its Pollution in Amazon
Indigenous Ecuadorean leader travels from Amazon rainforest to California to gather support from lawmakers to push Chevron to clean up environmental disaster Senator Fran Pavley and Assemblymember Jared Huffman host reception for Emergildo Criollo
Sacramento, CA – Today, an Indigenous leader from Ecuador is meeting with California legislators and asking for their support in a 16+ year campaign to demand Chevron remediate massive oil contamination affecting over 30,000 people.
Appeals Court to Decide if Oil Giant Will Face Suit in U.S. for Massive Environmental Pollution in Amazon
Indigenous Achuar From the Peruvian Amazon Face Off Against Occidental Petroleum Over Destruction of Pristine Rainforest
Footage and Interviews with Plaintiffs and Legal Team Available in English & Spanish (Los Angeles, CA) – A key hearing was held this morning in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the landmark environmental and public health case brought by indigenous Peruvian Achuar and the U.S.
The Wrong Kind of Green
The Nation Magazine | Why did America's leading environmental groups jet to Copenhagen and lobby for policies that will lead to the faster death of the rainforests–and runaway global warming? Why are their lobbyists on Capitol Hill dismissing the only real solutions to climate change as "unworkable" and "unrealistic," as though they we
President of Brazilian Social and Economic Development Bank (BNDES) disregards resistance to Belo Monte dam and grants its financing
Rede Brazil | Despite vehement opposition against the construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam on the Xingu River from indigenous communities and local social movements; despite numerous warnings from scientists about the severe environmental impacts the dam will bring to the region; despite specialists from the Brazilian Environme
Pressure Grows for Chevron to Clean Up Ecuador
Indigenous Ecuadorean leader travels from Amazon rainforest to California to deliver 325,000+ letters urging Chevron's new CEO John Watson to clean up the oil giant's toxic legacy
San Francisco, CA – Today, an Indigenous Ecuadorean leader attempted to deliver letters from over 325,000 people urging Chevron's new CEO John Watson to clean up his company's toxic oil contamination in Ecuador.
Ecuador Petition Delivery to Chevron Headquarters
Emergildo Criollo traveled to California recently from his indigenous village in Ecuador to the home of Chevron's new CEO John Watson and then to a meeting with state lawmakers, demanding that the oil giant Chevron "... take responsibility for their actions and clean up our rivers and forests – our homes."
Ecuadorian Indians Call for "Uprising" against Government
Latin American Herald Tribune | AMBATO, Ecuador – Indigenous representatives and leaders issued a call for an "uprising" to protest the Ecuadorian government's development policies and press demands for a pluri-national state.The president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, or Conaie, Marlon Santi, speaking at a press conf
Indigenous Achuar From Peruvian Amazon Face Off Against Occidental Petroleum in Crucial Ninth Circuit Hearing
Hearing to Decide Whether Occidental Petroleum Should Face Charges in US Court For Massive Environmental Pollution Liability in Peruvian Amazon
(Los Angeles, CA) – A key hearing will be held in the Ninth Circuit Court on Wednesday, March 3, in the landmark environmental and public health case brought by the indigenous Peruvian Achuar community and the U.S.-based NGO Amazon Watch against oil giant Occidental Petroleum (OXY).
A Glimpse of Achuar Life
The Achuar are an indigenous people who live in the Pastaza, Corrientes and Morona river basins in the Amazon Rainforest on both sides of the Peru-Ecuador border. These photos give a glimpse of life in an Achuar community on the river Huasaga, in the Pastaza river basin.
Resolutions from the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) Assembly
EL GOBIERNO DE LAS NACIONALIDADES Y PUEBLOS DEL ECUADORLAS AUTORIDADES DE LOS PUEBLOS Y NACIONALIDADES INDIGENAS DEL ECUADOR, REUNIDAS EN LA CIUDAD DE AMBATO, ENTRE LOS DIAS 25 Y 26 DE FEBRERO DEL 2010, AMPARADOS EN SU PRESENCIA HISTORICA Y EN BASE DEL PRINCIPIO DEL ESTADO PLURINACIONAL CONSAGRADO EN LA CONSTITUCION D
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Bid for 200% Capital Increase in Jeopardy
IDB Board of Governors Urged to Address Civil Society Concerns During Upcoming March 2nd Meeting in Washington, DC
(Washington, DC) – As the Inter-American Development Bank's governors arrive for special meetings in Washington DC next week, the proposal to increase the Bank's callable capital by 200 percent appears to be in jeopardy, several non-governmental organizations said today."There appears to be no consensus between the B
Ecuador Native Group Breaks Off Dialogue With Government
Dow Jones | QUITO (Dow Jones)–The powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, or CONAIE, announced on Friday the rupture of the dialogue with the government of President Rafael Correa and said that it will call for protests and demonstrations.After two days of meetings, CONAIE heads blamed the government f
