Monday, April 30, 2007
President Rafael Correa shows his true colours:
“”We will not allow any more invasions of oil installations or the blockage of roads,” said Correa while visiting the Amazon, home to an array of unique species.
The U.S.-educated economist added he understood the plight of poor jungle residents but that the rule of law had to be respected to safeguard the main revenue source of South America’s No 5 oil producer.
He said he would sign a decree to increase the military and police presence around oil facilities and allow those forces to shift protesters by force, Correa said.”
So now we know – Correa has serious dictator potential, he strengthens the already excessive powers of the police and military apparatus to prevent the marginalised and indigenous peoples from speaking their voice through action – and what else does a largely illiterate population have to speak with, if not their bodies and their concerted actions as a multitude? What are their means of expression if not direct action?
And there is more to it…..
Read the rest of this entry »
5 Comments | 
Amazonia, Anarchism, Anti-capitalism, Anti-militarism, asamblea constituyente, Capitalism, chess, Collective Bio-Cultural Heritage, constitutent assembly, Direct Action, eco-socialism, Ecuador, Environmentalism, gambit, Globalisation, grass-roots, Green Politics, Neo-socialism, people power, Philosophy, police state, Politics, Rafael Correa, rain forest, Road Protest, South America, Tree Hugging | 
Permalink
Posted by colono
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Tonight there was a special energy in the air – something tranquil, quiet as the night it enveloped the movements of those awake and the dreams of those asleep. It had been raining – finally. The rainy season arrived for a day and a half, it rained.
The forest is dying of thirst, it cannot breathe; but tonight it lived for a moment. The rain had come and the rain forest sighed in relief – a deep breath and the half moon lit the night.
“We retire into our tents and into our dreams“, tomorrow we enter the future of our lives, so we better be ready!
Leave a Comment » | Amazonia, Ayahuasca, breathe, Capitalism, Collective Bio-Cultural Heritage, corridors, Environmentalism, Globalisation, grass-roots, la luna, rain forest, South America, the moon, Tree Hugging | Permalink
Posted by colono
Monday, April 23, 2007
The environmentally insensitive actions of Rafael Correa –that has been a blog subject for a while– opposed by social movements in the constituent assembly:
NO PERMITIRAN INGRESO DE PETROBRAS AL YASUNI
Cuestionan posición ambiental del Presidente Correa en Brasil
Los movimientos sociales, pueblos indígenas, organizaciones campesinas y poderes locales de la amazonía ecuatoriana no permitirán la explotación petrolera del ITT y bloque 31 y la entrada de Petrobrás al Yasuní, porque es una compañía transnacional acusada de violar las leyes del Ecuador, provocar graves perjuicios económicos en la explotación del campo Palo Azul e impactos ambientales, por lo cual enfrenta una solicitud de caducidad contractual en el Ministerio de Energía y Minas, informó Fernando Villavicencio, vocero del Frente “Somos Poder Constituyente”.
Los movimientos sociales cuestionan la afirmación del Presidente Correa realizada en Brasil de que “la pobreza es el principal peligro para el medio ambiente”, eso es desconocer una realidad inobjetable de la historia, de que la principal causa de la contaminación y del propio empobrecimiento es la voracidad extractivista de las transnacionales que privilegian la acumulación de capital sobre los intereses del ser humano y la naturaleza.
More information on Ecuador Indymedia
Leave a Comment » | Amazonia, Anarchism, Anti-capitalism, Anti-militarism, asamblea constituyente, Ayahuasca, bio-fuel, Bush meat, Capitalism, Chocolate, Collective Bio-Cultural Heritage, constitutent assembly, corridors, Direct Action, eco-socialism, Ecuador, Environmentalism, Globalisation, grass-roots, Green Politics, Neo-socialism, News, people power, Philosophy, Politics, Rafael Correa, rain forest, Rain Forest Flowers, revolution, Rio Napo, South America, Tree Hugging | Permalink
Posted by colono
Monday, April 23, 2007
Coming to a city near you soon! For example:
- 1 May, London MayDay 07: Dancing In The Streets | Autonomous Workers Bloc
-
- The Agitator writes:
-
- “As I mentioned in my previous post Precarity, or Why 69 is Pink, the EuroMayDay Network as a central organizing group was a bit slow getting things rolling this year, but local organizers in many countries, working autonomously, have put together an impressive array of events for EuroMayDay007. A rundown of the events I could find online, from Spain to Finland, from Britain to Greece, follows in the extended text.”
-
See also last year in Quito
Leave a Comment » | Anarchism, Anti-capitalism, Direct Action, Environmentalism, Globalisation, grass-roots, Politics, revolution | Permalink
Posted by colono
Sunday, April 22, 2007
I am using Thunderbird for email. Used to use Evolution, which has some nice features, but which is a serious hassle to migrate across system updates. Thunderbird is very easy to move between systems – whether across to a a new version of GNU/Linux or from Winblo$e or to/fro wherever (I should think?).
However, Feisty Fawn has seen the break of dawn without the new Thunderbird 2.0 (TB2), which is a shame. But just as it is easy to move your configuration, preferences and mail from one system to another, it is easy to run two versions of Thunderbird in parallel within the same system. So while we wait for a .deb of TB2 to appear, check this out…
Read the rest of this entry »
5 Comments | feisty fawn, Free Software, Thunderbird 2.0, ubuntu | Permalink
Posted by colono
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Just saw the film Mouth to Mouth
- a disconcerting piece of right-wing propaganda, some utterly unrealistic realism. This sums it up pretty well:
“We laughed on the way out that this movie is practically designed to innoculate the viewer against anything collective. If it’s a collective, it must really be an authoritarian cult. In that sense, it is a straightforward attack on the possibility of breaking free of this society, reinforcing the larger right-wing discourse of the past decades that argues the “sixties” were just a childish diversion, hopelessly trying to create false alternatives, that when really examined are actually authoritarian nightmares.“
The most disconcerting thing about the film is that it shows that Ms. Murray has insights into alternative environments – the clothes, the hair, the vans and the classic rave in Portugal, the connections between London and Berlin and so on.
She has been there, it seems, but then proceeds to present a completely distorted picture, vicious even:
Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | Anarchism, Anti-capitalism, Anti-militarism, Direct Action, film, Globalisation, grass-roots, Green Politics, Mouth to Mouth, Philosophy, Politics, revolution, Road Protest, Tree Hugging | Permalink
Posted by colono
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Cyberspace is like the rain forest – full of indigenous peoples. Tribes and groups, roaming about, creating spaces and exchanging ideas. Community.
Cyberspace and the software that makes it possible are like eco-systems, vast complex messinesses of interaction; and like the forests they threatened by hostile take-over. Companies like Micro$oft and Appl£ (which is really just another word for Disney) are to cyberspace what the oil and mining companies are to the rain forest (and Iraq!); but let’s not worry about those dinosaurs anymore – let’s be positive and instead go grab the new Ubuntu Feisty Fawn 7.04:
http://us.releases.ubuntu.com/7.04/ – for most users this is the .torrent to get (if you’re on 64 bit or other platforms, you’ll probably know what to do):
http://releases.ubuntu.com/7.04/ubuntu-7.04-desktop-i386.iso.torrent
Tune in to the world of Free Software – close the Windows! there is a storm front coming!
I leave you with this article called “Microsoft is Dead“…….
Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | cyberspace, feisty fawn, Free Software, rain forest, ubuntu | Permalink
Posted by colono
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
A new era in South America has formally commenced in the form of the “Union of South American Nations” (UNASUR). Agreed April 17, 2007, at the First South American Energy Summit being held on the Island of Margarita, Eastern Venezuela, UNASUR is a manifestation of a renewed attempt at South American integration.
“The South American presidents did agree to name their diplomatic mechanism Union of South American Nations (Unasur). The organization’s Executive Secretariat will be based in Quito, President Chávez said. He added that proposals would be disclosed later to designate the Permanent Secretary of Unasur -which is replacing the South American Community of Nations (CSN). This project is aimed at integrating the South American countries … This is what we decided by consensus today (Monday). We also addressed other issues such as the Bank of the South, and agreed to enter into a sort of energy accord guaranteeing energy supplies for 100 years. These meetings have been quite important,” the Venezuelan ruler added.”
But there are already some complex, political problems…..
Read the rest of this entry »
17 Comments | Amazonia, Anti-capitalism, bio-fuel, Capitalism, Collective Bio-Cultural Heritage, corridors, eco-socialism, Environmentalism, Globalisation, Green Politics, Neo-socialism, News, Philosophy, Politics, Rafael Correa, Rain Forest Flowers, South America, Tree Hugging, UNASUR | Permalink
Posted by colono
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
The same blog entry that brought the visitor number above 3000 also spawned the first critical, almost antagonistic comment. Great stuff – that means that we have reached someone beyond the immediate circles of friends, family and usual suspects with the same political frame of mind. A happy day. Thank You, Paulina!
I offer a response in English – since my Castellano simply is nowhere near good enough for a sensible reply and because the comment was obviously made on the basis of an English text, suggesting that the commenter can read English….
Read the rest of this entry »
4 Comments | Amazonia, Anarchism, Anti-capitalism, Anti-militarism, asamblea constituyente, constitutent assembly, corridors, eco-socialism, Ecuador, Environmentalism, Globalisation, grass-roots, Green Politics, Life, News, people power, Philosophy, Politics, rain forest, Rio Napo, South America, Tree Hugging | Permalink
Posted by colono
Monday, April 16, 2007
These are notes from an interview with a Kichwa Yachak – a traditional healer of Napo in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Fidel Andy is an “ayahuasquero“, who uses primarily the ayahuasca medicine to heal people. Read the rest of this entry »
3 Comments | Amazonia, Ayahuasca, constitutent assembly, Direct Action, eco-socialism, Ecuador, Environmentalism, Fidel Andy, Globalisation, Green Politics, healer, Life, Philosophy, Politics, Psychedelic, Psychedelics, rain forest, Rio Napo, shaman, South America, Spiritual, yachak | Permalink
Posted by colono
Monday, April 16, 2007
In the previous entry the result of the Ecuadorian referendum on Sunday, April 15, 2007, was covered and some implications or potential consequences were suggested. Business as usual was the message in that entry – deliberately clad in vulgar and ambiguous iconography (two wrongs make a left?).
(TWO PAWNS SACRIFICE LINE)
Now the game commences – not much of a prediction, though, init?
We look to Al Jazeera for a comment….
Read the rest of this entry »
3 Comments | Amazonia, Anti-capitalism, asamblea constituyente, atheism, Capitalism, chess, constitutent assembly, corridors, eco-socialism, Ecuador, Environmentalism, gambit, Globalisation, Life, molotov, Neo-socialism, Philosophy, Politics, Rafael Correa, revolution, South America | Permalink
Posted by colono
Monday, April 16, 2007
The people of Ecuador, a diverse crowd of indigenous nationalities, communities, tribes, mestizos, colonos, and old fashioned gentlemen and lady’s with Panamas, yesterday voted overwhelmingly in favour of a constituent assembly – popularly called the asamblea constituyente:
“SOMOS PODER CONSTITUYENTE”
Asamblea Nacional Constituyente Plurinacional y Popular
DECLARACION POLITICA:
TODO EL PODER A LA CONSTITUYENTE
Quito, 15 de marzo del 2007
Nuestra declaración es una voz colectiva que recoge el sentir de las organizaciones sociales, de los movimientos políticos, de las mujeres y hombres comprometidos con la transformación social y la liberación de nuestra Patria. Expresa la convicción de que es la hora de construir una sociedad justa, libre y soberana.”
Early Sunday evening the result was beyond dispute:
“An exit poll by CEDATOS-Gallup showed that 78.1 percent of voters approved the election of a constitutional assembly while 11.5 percent rejected the proposal and 10.4 spoiled their ballots or cast blank ones.” (AP)
So far so good; and well done Correa & Co. Good choice!
With such wind in the sails, Correa announced that the IMF can stuff it! Two days ago Venezuela rejected an IMF report, and Correa joined in on the chorus:
Check out what he said….
Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Amazonia, Anarchism, Anti-capitalism, Anti-militarism, asamblea constituyente, atheism, Capitalism, Collective Bio-Cultural Heritage, constitutent assembly, corridors, culture boat, Direct Action, eco-socialism, Ecuador, Environmentalism, Globalisation, Green Politics, Life, molotov, Neo-socialism, News, Philosophy, Politics, revolution, Rio Napo, Road Protest, seeds, South America, Tree Hugging, Wu Ming | Permalink
Posted by colono
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Just came across a comprehensive article about the current globalisation from above projects to, finally, cut the Amazon into pieces for profit. It is a good, useful addition to the corridor critique in this blog, and here I merely want to “parrot it”:
Arteries for Global Trade Threaten Amazonia…
Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | Amazonia, Anti-capitalism, Collective Bio-Cultural Heritage, corridors, culture boat, Direct Action, eco-socialism, Ecuador, Environmentalism, Globalisation, Life, Neo-socialism, Politics, rain forest, Rio Napo, South America | Permalink
Posted by colono
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Everywhere in the world people are dying. It has been characteristic of the capitalist revolution and the transition into the anti-social, market-only based mode of production that today control globalisation from above that people suffer tremendously. They suffer as land and ideas are enclosed to be brought under the private control of a self-interested, rational agent. The death of land and the death of ideas – the death of the people.
Yesterday a suicide note began circulating in cyberspace. Shri Govinda Zeetruji Junghare, an Indian farmer, had killed himself; no more seeds, only debts – no idea
His note concludes:
“I think over this crisis, lot of time and then decided, I should die instead of living.
Should I hang myself or take poison to die ?”
…. and he continues: Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Anarchism, Anti-capitalism, Capitalism, Collective Bio-Cultural Heritage, Direct Action, eco-socialism, Environmentalism, Globalisation, Green Politics, Neo-socialism, Philosophy, seeds | Permalink
Posted by colono
del.icio.us
