corridors

Corridors of destruction and other neo-socialist “progress”

Posted on Updated on

Six months before the colonos blog came into being the article below – here translated into English – was written in Castellano. It is about what we have been labelling corridors (or interoceanic corridors) or the Manta-Manaus commodity highway. In this article a much more comprehensive perspective is offered – and shows how big, concerted and damaging to the continent and the rest of the world that this global capitalist project is.

Get the whole article in .pdf format.

Re-mapping Latin America’s Future

IIRSA: Integration Custom-Made for International Markets (#1)

Raúl Zibechi | June 13, 2006

Translated from: IIRSA: la integración a la medida de los mercados
Translated by: Nick Henry

Americas Program, Center for International Policy (CIP)

The project for Integration of South American Regional Infrastructure (IIRSA, by its initials in Spanish), is swiftly but silently moving forward. IIRSA is the most ambitious and encompassing plan to integrate the region for international trade. If completed in full, the project would connect zones containing natural resources (natural gas, water, oil, biodiversity) with metropolitan areas, and both of these with the world’s largest markets.

Read the rest of this entry »

This entry was posted in Amazonia, Anti-capitalism, capitalism is murder, corridors, dark forces, deception, environmental destruction, human rights violation, indigenous movements, latin american integration, manta-manaus, Napo-Ucayali corridor, Rafael Correa, rain forest, South America, UNASUR and tagged , , , , , , , .

The struggle of the Achuar in Peru

Posted on

Dan Collyns for BBC News writes about the struggle of the Achuar in Peru that their “story is an emblematic case of resistance for indigenous Amazonians and is unprecedented in Peru“. The article provides a little bit of information, but it is not contexualised very well. There is a similar struggle fought by the Cofan in Ecuador which also only gets minimal time and attention in the mainstream media – and also generally only reported on in isolation. Between the territories of the Cofan and the Achuar lies the Yasuni National park, about which much has been written in this blog. While we keep compiling more comprehensive information and try to tie these obviously mutually relevant scenarios together, we seem to be waiting in vain for editors of the environmental sections of what is left of a critical voices in the corporately led world of media to bring stories that connect these struggles with the “leave the oil in the soil” proposal and the general discourse of climate change.

This entry was posted in achuar, Amazonia, capitalism is murder, Coca to Iquitos, cofan, Collective Bio-Cultural Heritage, corridors, eco-socialism, ecological justice, Ecuador, enclosure, environmental destruction, Environmentalism, Globalisation, grass-roots, Green Politics, indigenous movements, keep the oil in the soil, latin american integration, logging, Napo-Ucayali corridor, Neo-socialism, Peru, rain forest, South America, Tree Hugging, yasuni.

Correa’s idea of saving the Amazon: a new airport?

Posted on Updated on

Rafael Correa is being billed as a great hope for his own version of “21st century socialism”, for “his” proposal to leave the oil in the soil – and he talks about respect for the traditional culture of the people who live in the Ecuadorian Amazon. But the last thing the people who live traditionally in the Amazon they could possibly need is an airport; so that’s what they’ll have? But let us first take a look at the facts about the historical genocide and the current situation for the people at the receiving end of Correa’s revolution:

“Manuela Omari Ima, who is the new chairperson of Waorani women’s organization, Amwae, has first hand experience in the devastating consequences of oil exploration. “The indigenous peoples of the Ecuadorian Amazon have been decimated in just a few decades,” she says. “The Waorani people alone numbered around 16,000 at the end of the 1960s, when the oil exploration began. Today, there are no more than about a thousand of us left… I don’t know how much longer we can survive under the current conditions. Perhaps the industry will out-live us – judging by how it has wiped out other tribal peoples in the Amazon. Maybe the earth will have nothing left to give when the companies leave.” … Altogether, an estimated 90% of the indigenous peoples in the Amazon region of Ecuador have been wiped out over the past few decades”

An airport in the Ecuadorian Amazon can serve only people employed by the extractive industries, politicians and celebrities on photo shoots, cocaine gangsters, mercenaries and stupid tourists that should stay at home – it is total disrespect for the people of the Amazon, many of whom have serious financial problems getting on a 50 cent bus to take a dying child to the hospital in town. There is already one airport too many – in Tena.

“President Correa will seek Chinese investment in a major airport in the Ecuadorian Amazon, where construction is planned to start in 2008, the ministry said… Ecuador is seeking and enlarging cooperation with and investment from China, the ministry said. “The diplomatic relations between the two countries, since established in 1980, have witnessed more progress,” the ministry added… Ecuador has received 1.8 billion U.S. dollars of investment from China, making it the leading recipient of Chinese investment in Latin America. In the first nine months this year the bilateral trade volume has topped 669 million dollars.”

In the last ten years the Ecuadorian Amazon has been halved and towns like Tena doubled. Some peoples almost eradicated. Will it never stop? If Correa’s government is a socialist revolution, then what does it take to challenge the destruction of the Amazon rain forest?

This entry was posted in Amazonia, Anarchism, Anti-capitalism, asamblea constituyente, Capitalism, corridors, grass-roots, Green Politics, keep the oil in the soil, manta-manaus, Napo-Ucayali corridor, Neo-socialism, News, Politics, Rafael Correa, Rio Napo, South America, UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, UNASUR, with god on our side, world domination disorder, yachak, yasuni.

Esperanza Martinez on Yasuni and the ITT proposal.

Posted on

This article by CarbonWeb.org deserves to be reproduced in full:

Yasuni – Our Future in Their Hands?

Ecuador proposes to claim compensation in exchange for leaving crude oil in the ground. Esperanza Martinez examines what this means for resource sovereignty.

Oil, for countries that possess it, is often centre stage when it comes to issues of sovereignty. Invasions have been launched to access it and military and political interventions pushed through to control it, leaving the door wide open for corruption.

Read the rest of this entry »

This entry was posted in Amazonia, Anarchism, Anti-capitalism, Anti-militarism, asamblea constituyente, bio-fuel, bio-privateering, Capitalism, Coca to Iquitos, Collective Bio-Cultural Heritage, constitutent assembly, corridors, culture boat, deception, Direct Action, durban group for climate justice, eco-socialism, ecological justice, Ecuador, ecuador and china, enclosure, Environmentalism, Globalisation, grass-roots, Green Politics, greenwash, indigenous movements, Ishpingo, ITT, keep the oil in the soil, kichwa, latin american integration, Life, manta-manaus, Napo-Ucayali corridor, Neo-socialism, people power, Philosophy, Politics, rain forest, revolution, Rio Napo, Road Protest, shaman, South America, sub-empires, UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, UNASUR, Volunteering, we are winning, yachak, yasuni.

Leave the Oil in the Soil: Yasuni, ITT, the Huaorani people and the Amazon.

Posted on Updated on

There is a potentially radical process unfolding - keep the oil in the soil:

“In the heart of the Amazon basin lies the most biologically diverse forest on the planet, Yasuní. Yasuní National Park is home to the Waorani and some of the last indigenous peoples still living in isolation in the Amazon, whose ancestral lands sit atop Ecuador’s largest undeveloped oil reserves, the Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini (ITT) oil block … In 2007, the new government of President Correa has offered an unprecedented and historic proposal: Ecuador will not allow extraction of the ITT oil fields in Yasuní, if the world community can create a compensation trust to leave the oil permanently in the ground and fund Ecuador’s sustainable development into the future. The groups listed on this website portal, LiveYasuni.org, endorse this policy.“

For a general overview visit http://www.sosyasuni.org/ – which is part of the Amazonia por la Vida Campaign (which is incidentally also the subtitle of the colonos blog) – and which is a social movement to expand the “keep the oil in the soil” proposal to include not only the ITT blocks, but the whole region, which is home to one of the world’s greatest diversity of species (some of which are from before last ice age) and home also to the Huaorani people and along the Napo river there are many Kichwa communities as well. Missing from the proposal, then, are at least:

Read the rest of this entry »

This entry was posted in Amazonia, asamblea constituyente, Ayahuasca, bio-privateering, Capitalism, Collective Bio-Cultural Heritage, constitutent assembly, corridors, durban group for climate justice, eco-socialism, Ecuador, Globalisation, grass-roots, Green Politics, indigenous movements, keep the oil in the soil, latin american integration, manta-manaus, Napo-Ucayali corridor, Neo-socialism, News, patrick bond, people power, Philosophy, Politics, rain forest, revolution, Rio Napo, Road Protest, South America, UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, world domination disorder, yasuni.

A Network of Sub-Empires: Babylon Under Siege?

Posted on Updated on

Rafael Correa is in China – signing with Chinese President Hu Jintao “14 bilateral accords and memorandums of understanding on oil, mining, railroads, tourism, health, agriculture and other sectors“.

So what does Correa’s understanding with China mean? Firstly, it means annihilation of Taiwan and Tibet:

“Correa said China has a time-honored history and is full of vigor and vitality and it has made enormous achievements in embarking on the path of development suitable to its national realities. Ecuador shares brotherly friendship with China, he said, expressing hope that both sides will show mutual understanding and learn from each other so as to push bilateral ties for new progress. He reaffirmed Ecuador would adhere to the one-China policy.“

Well, you might say, this is a socialist revolution and takes time to build – the means justify the end – and you win some and you lose some. But is it really best understood as socialism, this “21st century socialism”?

Read the rest of this entry »

This entry was posted in Amazonia, Anti-capitalism, asamblea constituyente, Capitalism, china, constitutent assembly, corridors, eco-socialism, Ecuador, ecuador and china, Environmentalism, Globalisation, grass-roots, Green Politics, manta-manaus, media distortions, Napo-Ucayali corridor, Neo-socialism, people power, Politics, private property, rain forest, revolution, Rio Napo, Road Protest, South America, sub-empires, UNASUR, world domination disorder, yasuni.

Invitation to Expedition in the Napo-Ucayali Corridor: June/July 2008

Posted on Updated on

It is still early days of planning, but a small group of people are planning to travel, for the second time, down the Napo river – doing workshops relevant for indigenous peoples’ struggles, such as shamanic civil rights, and healing sessions in communities along the 1000km long and very exciting route from the beginning of the River Napo in Tena, Ecuador to Iquitos (where it meets the Amazon and the Ucayali rivers). The journey goes through one of the most biodiverse regions in the world – right past the Yasuni National Park, before crossing the border into Peru. After visiting The 4th International Amazonian Shamanism Conference: Magic, Myths and Miracles, which will be held in Iquitos, Peru – July 19th – 26th, 2008, we might continue to Pucallpa….

Sunrise on the River Napo

Contemporary developments in the global economy are very significant for the Amazon rain forest. While this might be said to be true for anywhere at any point in time there are nevertheless good reasons for paying special attention to what maybe the last battle for the survival of the largest rain forest in the world, the loss of which it should need no further justification to lament – and that is the basis upon which this invitation is written….

Read the rest of this entry »

This entry was posted in Amazonia, Anarchism, Anti-capitalism, Anti-militarism, Ayahuasca, bio-privateering, brewing ayahuasca, Bush meat, Capitalism, Coca to Iquitos, Collective Bio-Cultural Heritage, community based botanical gardens, corridors, culture boat, Direct Action, eco-socialism, Ecuador, enclosure, Environmentalism, Fidel Andy, film, flow, Globalisation, grass-roots, Green Politics, healer, indigenous movements, ITT, kichwa, latin american integration, Life, manta-manaus, Napo-Ucayali corridor, Neo-socialism, people power, Peru, Photos, Politics, Psychedelic, Psychedelics, Pucallpa, rain forest, Rain Forest Flowers, Rio Napo, Road Protest, shaman, shipibo, South America, Spiritual, Travel Info, Tree Hugging, UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, UNASUR, we are winning, world domination disorder, yachak, yasuni.

A summary of the Ecuadorian revolution: the rise of the Constituent Assembly

Posted on Updated on

Roger Burbach’s informative piece called “Ecuador’s Popular Revolt: Forging a New Nation“, although dated October 8 seems to be written before the landslide victory of Correa’s alliance became clear:

“Final results won’t be known until late October, however preliminary results indicate that Correa’s party, Alianza Pais, won around 70% of the vote, giving it some 80 of the 130 assembly delegates. Correa can also expect support in the assembly from representatives of the Socialist Party of Ecuador — Broad Front, the Movement for Popular Democracy and indigenous party Pachakutik — Nuevo Pais.

The outcome was a huge blow to the right-wing opposition, whose traditional parties all scored pitiful votes. The Social Christian Party, the country’s largest party, scored less than 4%. The “anti-corruption” PRIAN of Alvaro Noboa — Correa’s opponent in the presidential election run-offs last year and Ecuador’s richest man — scored around 6%.“

However, this does not make it any less valuable – it provides a summary of the Ecuadorian revolution that is well worth a read. Whether it quite warrants such a conclusion is another matter:

“In Ecuador, as well as in much of Latin America, we are witnessing a revolution from below, a popular awakening that is challenging the traditional political parties and demanding a new system of governance that responds to the interests and needs of the popular classes. It is this rich mixture of forces at the grass roots that is opening up new vistas as the 21st century advances.“

Read the rest of this entry »

This entry was posted in Amazonia, Anarchism, Anti-capitalism, Anti-militarism, asamblea constituyente, Capitalism, constitutent assembly, corridors, Direct Action, Ecuador, enclosure, Environmentalism, Globalisation, grass-roots, Green Politics, greenwash, indigenous movements, ITT, latin american integration, manta-manaus, Neo-socialism, Politics, Rafael Correa, rain forest, revolution, Rio Napo, South America, Tree Hugging, UNASUR.

Anarchism and Indigenous Struggles.

Posted on Updated on

INDIGENOUS ANARCHISM IN BOLIVIA – An Interview with Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui,

by Andalusia Knoll, Rustbelt Radio, Pittsburgh

“What happened in Bolivia is that there have been two official histories: the official history written by the [Revolutionary] Nationalist Party—MNR—that basically denies all the agency of both workers and peasants and indigenous peoples; and the official history of the left that forgets about anything that was not Marxist, thus eclipsing or distorting the autonomous history of anarchist unions,

Read the rest of this entry »

This entry was posted in Amazonia, Anarchism, Anti-capitalism, Anti-militarism, asamblea constituyente, atheism, bio-fuel, bio-privateering, Capitalism, corridors, Direct Action, Ecuador, enclosure, Globalisation, grass-roots, Green Politics, latin american integration, people power, Politics, revolution.

Free Software in Ecuador: Correa’s got that one right!

Posted on

Rafael Correa is taking quite some critical heat for his double standards or disregard -even- for the general livelihood of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon and the rain forest that they live in – but here’s something that he’s got right: use Free Software, says the President (naturally speaking in Spanish):

But take a look at this video, too, and consider the natural beauty that will have to be destroyed in order to pave the way, literally, for the Latin American integration, as the neo-socialist improvement or progress based on capitalist commodity forms is called (in English):

The YouTube initiatives are part of the hip strategies of Correa’s government, appealing to a whole new demographic class in Ecuador – a middle class consuming the remittances that their migratory family members send back from, mainly, the U.S. and Spain. Both the cash and the migrant workers are in the millions – only oil and bananas in that republic are greater posts in the economy. These are the people behind Correa – and they want more cars, more roads to drive them on (Quito is already suffocating with cars, which have more then doubled in recent years!) and more plastics from China and more sausages from Spain – that is the essence of Latin American integration: global capitalism and commodity circulation.

This entry was posted in Amazonia, Anti-capitalism, Capitalism, Collective Bio-Cultural Heritage, corridors, eco-socialism, Ecuador, Environmentalism, Free Software, Globalisation, grass-roots, Green Politics, greenwash, indigenous movements, ITT, latin american integration, Life, Neo-socialism, Politics, Rafael Correa, rain forest, Rio Napo, South America, UNASUR, world domination disorder, yasuni.

The mainstream catches up with colonos: the corridors will destroy the Amazon

Posted on

In today’s Guardian there is an article echoing what’s been a central subject of this blog for quite some time:

“Projects to upgrade road and river transport, combined with work to create dams and lay down extensive power and communications cabling, will open up previously inaccessible parts of the rainforest, raising the risk of widespread deforestation that could see the loss of the entire Amazon jungle within 40 years, the environmental group said.“

What kind of sunshine stories, Mr. Correa, can make up for that?

This entry was posted in Amazonia, Capitalism, Collective Bio-Cultural Heritage, corridors, Ecuador, enclosure, Environmentalism, latin american integration, manta-manaus, Neo-socialism, Politics, Rafael Correa, Rio Napo, South America, UNASUR, world domination disorder, yasuni, zapara.

Correa’s sunshine story: ITT

Posted on Updated on

Like the World Bank, the IOM et al. have their sunshine stories (white-, green- you name it wash), so does the neo-socialist revolution in Ecuador:

“The innovative offer by the government of Ecuador to refrain from exploiting its largest oil reserve, in exchange for international compensation for nature conservation, is attracting increasing support”, according to an August 23 IPS article. The initiative relates to the untapped Ishpingo-Tiputini-Tambococha (ITT) oil reserve, which is located in Yasuni National Park in the Amazon. According IPS, the park is one of the world’s most biodiverse regions. It was created in 1979 and covers 982,000 hectares”.

But behind this glamorous project – instigated by a radical environmental group – lures the reality of the wider project of Ecuadorian reform: more oil, more refineries, more roads, less forest and the crazy destruction of the Napo River that the construction of the Manta-Manaus corridor threatens. There is already a road straight into Yasuni – for the exclusive use of petroleras (and presumably the military). Yasuni might be “conserved” – but it will be circumscribed by concrete and asphalt, tending towards an indigenous zoo in the outskirts of town.

This entry was posted in Amazonia, Anti-capitalism, asamblea constituyente, Capitalism, Coca to Iquitos, Collective Bio-Cultural Heritage, constitutent assembly, corridors, Ecuador, enclosure, Environmentalism, Globalisation, grass-roots, Green Politics, greenwash, indigenous movements, ITT, latin american integration, manta-manaus, Neo-socialism, people power, Politics, Rafael Correa, Rio Napo, South America, UNASUR, yasuni.

Understanding Ecuadorian politics in the context of Latin American integration (UNASUR).

Posted on

In the entry below elements of an interview by Clifton Ross that were related to the Manta-Manaus corridor project were extracted. Equally interesting was the other interview in that article, which is reproduced here and which includes references to UNASUR (the formation of which was covered by colonos earlier) and the indigenous struggles that have determined a significant part of the political dynamics in Ecuador over the last ten years.

Read the rest of this entry »

This entry was posted in Amazonia, corridors, eco-socialism, enclosure, Environmentalism, Globalisation, Green Politics, greenwash, indigenous movements, Neo-socialism, people power, Rafael Correa, revolution, Rio Napo, South America, UNASUR.

Who builds the Manta-Manaus corridor, and why?

Posted on

In an article about the falling empire(s) and the rise of (sub-)empires, like the one projected under the banner of “Latin American integration“, Clifton Ross touches upon the subject of the Manta-Manaus corridor:

“Tomás Peribonio, ex-Minister of Foreign Trade under President Alfred Palacio, is now working as a contractor for the current Correa government designing the Manaos-Manta multi-modal corridor. He’s a handsome, friendly fellow who has also granted me a spur of the moment interview when I showed up at his penthouse office in the Ministry of Public Works building. He offers to do the interview in his excellent English, but quickly slips into Spanish as he emphasizes that “the most important thing is regional unity.” The construction of this multi-modal corridor, he describes as a “mega-project” that would be constructed “over the course of years and perhaps even decades.” The aim, he says, is to unite “Pacific Asia, which, from my point of view, is the area of major world commerce, managing about fifty percent of world trade” with the Atlantic, specifically Brazil, which is increasing its cultivation of soy and other grains with an eye on exports.”

This new empire – regularly criticized here – of plastic consumption will spell the end of the Amazon rain forest – and a wide range of indigenous cultures….. Read the rest of this entry »

This entry was posted in Amazonia, Anti-capitalism, asamblea constituyente, Capitalism, Coca to Iquitos, Collective Bio-Cultural Heritage, constitutent assembly, corridors, deception, eco-socialism, Ecuador, enclosure, Environmentalism, Globalisation, grass-roots, Green Politics, indigenous movements, latin american integration, Neo-socialism, News, people power, Peru, Philosophy, Rafael Correa, rain forest, South America, UNASUR, world domination disorder.

Correa takes control of the constituent assembly: Ecuador’s revolution steams ahead

Posted on

Reliable sources note that Correa and allies have assumed control of the constituent assembly in Ecuador that will discuss a draft for a new constitution, written by a group of select lawyers.

“That is the information we are getting. We could have more than 70 assembly members,” said Minister of Coastal Affairs Ricardo Patino, a close aid to Correa. Three other ministers also confirmed the details.“

Correa had promised/threatened to resign (and leave the country in a right state of affairs) if his movement (of middle-class, remittance consumers) did not gain an effective majority of the assembly – but it seems that they did.

“He has not detailed his reforms, but Correa is expected to call for the closing [of] Congress and replacing it with a parliamentary commission until a legislature is elected under a new charter.” – which is, all things even, a choice action. The chambers of old and evil – the edifices of patriarchy – must be torn down, to be sure.

…..but scroll down the page to see what kind of other and problematic things Correa et al. have on the agenda. I guess you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

This entry was posted in Amazonia, asamblea constituyente, constitutent assembly, corridors, Ecuador, Globalisation, grass-roots, Green Politics, ITT, manta-manaus, Neo-socialism, News, people power, Philosophy, Politics, Rafael Correa, revolution, South America.