New York, NY – Amazon Watch stands with Ecuadorian communities in rejecting a misguided judgment delaying justice for some 30,000 indigenous people and farmers who continue to suffer from the company's toxic legacy in the Amazon rainforest.
All: 2014
US Oil and Gas Firm Hunt Urged to Suspend Amazon Exploration
Concerns over indigenous reserve and archaeological remains prompts call from local federation
The Guardian | "We request, in the name of Peru's indigenous peoples, that Hunt Oil, representatives of the national and regional government, the Ministry of Energy, and professionals from the extractive sector in general abandon, for ethical and moral reasons, opportunism, egoism and avarice, and respect the rights and territories of indigenous peoples."
China's "Going Out" Companies Must Tread the Earth More Lightly
Michelle Chan urges China's banking regulator to enforce green guidelines
South China Morning Post | Ensuring compliance with the Green Credit Directive is certainly no easy task. Chinese borrowers, such as resource extraction companies, are "late to the game" when it comes to developing international assets, and are loading up on environmentally, socially and politically risky projects.
Two Lawsuits to Stop Peru's Biggest Gas Project in Indigenous Reserve
Operations by gas consortium in Amazon reserve for vulnerable indigenous peoples met with legal action
The Guardian | Three Peruvian judges are scheduled to meet on April 1st following a lawsuit filed to stop a gas consortium from operating in a reserve in the Amazon created for indigenous peoples living in "initial contact" and "voluntary isolation."
"Rivers like the Klamath and the Xingu are the bloodlines of every human on the planet."
Indigenous youth unite for rivers
The Xikrin, Juruna and Arara are not alone in facing threats to their rights and environments. Many more monster dam and mining projects are on the chalkboard for the Amazon.
Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
Ecuador's Development Dilemma: Will Oil Win Out?
Ecuador's President Correa is resisting calls to reconsider a scrapped initiative to leave Amazon crude oil untouched.
The Christian Science Monitor | In Ecuador, his move has drawn the ire of environmental and indigenous rights groups and sparked a debate over an otherwise extremely popular administration. One organization, Yasunidos, is trying to collect 600,000 signatures by April to force a national referendum on whether to allow drilling.
Chevron Compensates Victims of PA Gas Explosion: With Pizza
After a fatal gas well explosion in Pennsylvania earlier this month, Chevron adds insult to injury by giving local families coupons for pizza and soda.
MintPress | The pizza coupons are the company's "token of appreciation" for residents after an explosion on Feb. 11 in the rural community of Bobtown, Penn., sparked a fire that burned for about five days, killed one employee and injured another.
Chevron: "Let Them Eat Pizza!"
In a move that would make Montgomery Burns proud, Chevron "apologized" to the community for the massive explosion of their fracking well in rural Pennsylvania by offering each affected family a coupon for a free pizza.
"We're on the Cusp of a New Oil Boom in the Ecuadorian Amazon"
Since announcing plans to drill for oil under Yasuni, Ecuador has vowed the national park will be left "99.9% intact". But this promise is not being reflected on the ground.
The Guardian | At the end of last year, Ecuador put 16 oil blocks in the Amazon jungle region to the south of Yasuni up for auction in an effort to drum up new joint-venture partners. "We're on the cusp of a new oil boom in the Ecuadorian Amazon the like of which we have never seen before," says Kevin Koenig, programme co-ordinator, at campaign group Amazon...
Belo Monte Construction Intensifies Conflicts with Indigenous Peoples
Requirements to mitigate impacts remain unmet; Indigenous peoples call for immediate suspension of construction
Altamira, Brazil – As the hurried construction of the controversial Belo Monte mega-dam nears 50% completion on the Amazon's Xingu River, a new report revealed that more than 80% of legally required actions to mitigate project impacts on indigenous peoples and their territories are mired in noncompliance.
Ecuador Pursued China Oil Deal While Pledging to Protect Yasuni
Negotiations took place while the country sought funds to forgo oil exploitation in pristine forest under the Yasuni-ITT scheme
The Guardian | The proposed behind-the-scenes deal, which traded drilling access in exchange for Chinese lending for Ecuadorian government projects, will dismay green and human rights groups who had praised Ecuador for its pioneering Yasuni-ITT Initiative to protect the forest. Yasuni is one of the most biodiverse places in the world and home to indigenous...
Chevron Claims Political Cartoons Are Extortion
"I'm honored they feel injured by the cartoon," the Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist said.
MintPress | Earlier this month, Pulitzer Prize winning political cartoonist Mark Fiore shared on his personal website that Chevron filed court documents saying it was "injured" by a cartoon Fiore had created with Amazon Watch.
Brazil Land Disputes Spread as Indians Take on Wildcat Miners
Reuters | As Brazil struggles to solve land disputes between Indians and farmers on the expanding frontier of its agricultural heartland, more tensions over forest and mineral resources are brewing in the remote Amazon.
In Ecuador, Oil Boom Creates Tension
The Washington Post | An unprecedented drilling push by Ecuador's government has brought new tensions to Yawepare and the country's Amazon lowlands. As the chain saws and bulldozers cut deeper into the forest, critics say the government is triggering brutal warfare between the Waorani and a smaller, breakaway tribe living in "voluntary isolation" beyond the oil...
Klamath River Youth Travel to Brazil to Join Belo Monte Dam Fight
"We want to show solidarity in the struggle to preserve and protect inherited cultures and natural resources from shortsighted projects like the proposed Belo Monte dam."
Pace of Global Land Rights Reform Is Slowing, Says New Report
Change is promised but land grabs continue and 61% of forests are still claimed by governments
The Guardian | The report features several case studies, including one on the growing "roll call of people killed for their land rights activism" and another on Peru where land conflicts are described as "reaching a crisis" and threatening to "undermine [the country's] status as an honest broker" as the host of the UN climate talks in December this year.
Oil Giant Chevron Abuses Anti-Mob Laws to Target Cartoonist
Chevron claims that a cartoon criticizing the oil company's lawsuit against Ecuadorian villagers is an extortion attempt.
AlterNet | “The nutshell version is this,” explains Fiore. “Chevron was sued by villagers in Ecuador for leaving toxic waste all over the jungle. Chevron lost the case and was hit with a multibillion-dollar judgment. Chevron appealed and lost that, too. Then Chevron filed RICO charges against the villagers and the lead attorney on the case....accusing them...
We Will Never Forget
3rd anniversary of judgment against Chevron In Ecuador
Justice delayed is justice denied. For the sake of Maria Aguinda and thousands more like her, let us today re-commit to fighting until the people of the Ecuadorian Amazon get the relief they have sought for too long already.
Voices of the Xingu: Antonia Melo, Amazon Warrior
Antonia is a visionary woman who sees what President Rousseff cannot seem to grasp: a sustainable future for Brazil that no longer harms the environment nor people's rights.
Klamath Activists Turn Toward Brazil
The Triplicate | American Indians of the Klamath River basin have been fighting for the removal of dams for years. More than 5,000 miles away in Brazil's Amazon basin, another battle between dams and the Indians' way of life is being waged, and a delegation of young Klamath River Indians and river activists is heading south this month to join forces.
Brazil: Munduruku People Kick Miners Off Indigenous Territory
Terra Magazine | The resolute action demonstrates that the Mundurukú have not been bowed by intimidation: they are taking matters into their own hands and will continue to do so in defense of their lands, rivers, and future generations.
Chevron Cries: "Please Your Honor, Make the Cartoons Stop!"
Cartoons are dangerous. In fact, Chevron wants a US Federal Court to believe cartoons are even more dangerous than dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste into the Ecuadorian Amazon and then suing the very people it poisoned.
Chevron's Now Going After Political Cartoonists
The oil conglomerate is claiming injuries from a satirical video
Salon.com | How desperate is Chevron to get out of paying billions in damages for oil contamination in Ecuador’s rainforest? Very, according to Mark Fiore. The Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist claims the company has filed court documents over a satirical video he made in conjunction with the environmental nonprofit Amazon Watch.
Gas Company To Drill in Manu National Park Buffer Zone
Mongabay.com | The Peruvian government has approved plans for gas company Pluspetrol to move deeper into a supposedly protected reserve for indigenous peoples and the buffer zone of the Manu National Park in the Amazon rainforest.
How Brazilian Taxpayer Money Finances Construction Projects in the Amazon
Agência Pública | In 2012, BNDES loaned 156 billion Brazilian reais (64 billion US dollars) of public money, much of it to finance investments in infrastructure in the Amazon where these public works are causing glaring social and environmental impacts.
From Altamira to Munich: Confronting Belo Monte's Corporate Profiteers
"The life of our river represents not only the health of our people, but our collective wellbeing. It's not only our future that's at stake but yours, and that of your grandchildren."
Gas Firm To Move Deeper into Reserve for Indigenous People in Peru
Culture ministry approves Pluspetrol's plans to explore for gas in Manu national park buffer zone
The Guardian | The expansion will involve drilling 18 wells, conducting seismic tests across hundreds of square kms, and building a 6.5 mile flowline in the supposedly protected Kugapakori-Nahua-Nanti Reserve for indigenous people in "voluntary isolation" and "initial contact."
Siemens Denounced for Damming Latin America's Future
German technology giant challenged at shareholder meeting
Munich, Germany – Dozens of protestors from a coalition of Brazilian, German, French, and American organizations staged a demonstration outside the shareholder meeting of a leading German corporation Siemens today, denouncing the company's controversial role in some of the world's most notorious hydroelectric projects.
Severe Oil Contamination Found in the Largest National Reserve in Peru
Alianza Arkana Blog | Last week Peruvian governmental authorities released test results that prove alarming levels of contamination in Peru's largest national reserve, Pacaya Samiria, part of Kukama Kukamilla indigenous territory.
