Amazonian Indians

BRAZIL: Indigenous Groups Defend Constitutional Right to Land

Submitted by FdN on Sun, 04/06/2008 - 21:49
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MIRANDA and ANTONIO JOAO, Brazil, Feb 29 (IPS) - Thousands of indigenous people in the west-central Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul are living in precarious camps or small overcrowded reservations, lacking the land they need to grow the food needed to overcome high levels of malnutrition.

But despite government recognition of their ancestral land, their claims are tied up in court. Meanwhile, their community leaders face the threat of being killed for attempting to secure respect for indigenous people’s constitutional right to their traditional lands.

Gloria Ushigua and Rosa Gualinga, two indigenous leaders, were attacked, in Puyo, Ecuador

Submitted by rains on Sun, 04/06/2008 - 21:24
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Thu, 09/06/2007 - 09:16 Urgent Action - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Puyo, Ecuador: Gloria Ushigua and Rosa Gualinga, two indigenous leaders, were attacked on Sunday August 26, after months of receiving death threats for their efforts to protect the territory of the Zapara people in the Ecuadorian Amazon. They were beaten until unconscious, thrown in the trunk of a car, and later, apparently, left for dead.

Peru's rainforest: oil and gas run through it

Submitted by rains on Sun, 04/06/2008 - 20:05
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Indigenous groups are threatened as Peru gears up for an energy boom.

POROTOBANGO, PERU

Raised in palm huts deep in the Peruvian Amazon, Gregorio Torres never imagined that below his home was something called natural gas.

Now his Machiguengua Indian settlement in this rain-forest river clearing has solar-powered radio gifted by an international oil company, corrugated tin roofs, T-shirts with company logos, and a shelf of Western medicine.

But this incipient natural-gas boom is bringing new worries, too.

Conflict between Cinta-Larga Indians and diamond diggers

Submitted by rains on Fri, 03/28/2008 - 15:30
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This time, however, the Indians are determined. Traditionally warriors, they are willing to fight to prevent their lands from being invaded once more by miners in search of diamonds. The Cinta-Larga are fed up. During the visit of the Human Rights Congressional Commission to Roosevelt village, in the State of Rondônia, this past October 9, they complained to the representatives of the harassment they have been subjected to for more than 20 years and of the violence to which they are exposed every day.

Campaign in support of the Cinta-Larga Indians...

Submitted by rains on Fri, 03/28/2008 - 15:26
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is a warning for the Brazilian government and for international entities. The guarantee of the security and integrity of the Cinta-Larga Indians and their lands, under the threat of being invaded again by diamond diggers, is the theme of a campaign launched on the Internet. The campaign's objective is to alert authorities and the Brazilian government, as well as the UN, the OAS and Amnesty International, of the recurrent violations against the rights of this indigenous people.