indigenous peoples and it continues today with industrial megaprojects like the Plan Puebla Panama.”
In Panama, indigenous activists are marching from Costa Rica to Panama City, a distance of over 200 miles, to protest the ecological destruction caused by mining on their lands. In Managua, Nicaragua, actions against the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will expose their role as a corporate welfare institution with activists their arguing that the IDB has never been interested in supporting grassroots initiatives for economic, environmental and social justice.
Andrea Carmen of Yaqui Indigenous Nation and Executive Director International Indigenous Treaty Council (IITC) says, “October 12, so called Columbus Day, is the day when terrorism began on our lands. Its ongoing legacy has continued for 510 years. We’ve seen our lands taken, cultures and sacred sites destroyed, treaties violated, families killed and imprisoned, and so-called ‘development’ imposed on us with no regards for our peoples’ ways of life. October 12, 2002 is a day not to despair about the past but to celebrate our continued resistance and survival as Peoples and Nations. We are coming together today to rededicate ourselves to the struggle for safeguarding our Mother Earth, the continued survival of our traditional cultures, and renewing bonds of solidarity with all peoples of this world who share our aspirations for a better life.”
Brendan O’Neill and Justin Francese ACERCA (Action for Community and Ecology in the Regions of Central America) 802-863-0571, [email protected] or [email protected]
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