An Avaaz message Click a picture to enhance it. Blue text = a clickable linkLast week a message from Greenpeace. This week a message from Avaaz. Dear friends from Avaaz, I am Sonia Guajajara, a warrior of the Guajajara people of the Brazilian Amazon, and the first-ever Minister of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil. Today Indigenous leaders from around the world are at the United Nations to deliver an urgent call to save the Amazon and commit to zero deforestation. We need your help to make this louder!! Here is part of what I said: “Human greed is pushing the Amazon towards a dangerous point of no return. We live in an economic system where everything that is in nature can be privatized or purchased. This unrestrained exploitation of the common goods of nature does not generate wealth, but wears down and impoverishes the planet. It is time to fight for the good of humanity and for a new story. A story where indigenous peoples lead... because we know the way.” Hear my words as a call to action -- don't just support us, fight with us. If you resonate with this message, please urgently share my call with everyone you know and be part of the movement to save the Amazon. For the past few years, you and the rest of the Avaaz community have been key allies of Indigenous peoples, from the Amazon to the Congo basin, and around the world. And together, I have every hope that we will achieve a future where our rights will be respected, and our planet will be safe. With hope and determination, and love for the planet, Sonia Guajajara, Minister of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, together with the Avaaz team Historic Reparation Looking for more explanation, I found on the website of the NGO, Cultural Survial, a statement about the great change that has occurred under the Lula da Silva government. It's worth noting because it gives significant background to Mrs Guajajara's appointment and the establishment of the ministry she heads. 'After decades of State guardianship and lack of effective participation in policies involving Indigenous Peoples, in 2022 Brazil created a Ministry of State for Indigenous Peoples. It is the first time in the history of Brazil that the country has created a Ministry specifically for Indigenous Peoples. This means that, for the first time, public institutions, State policies, and policies for Indigenous Peoples will be managed by Indigenous people. Guajajara has made history as Brazil's first-ever Minister for Indigenous Peoples. She called her appointment an “historic reparation” after years of struggle and after the catastrophic reign of Bolsonaro.' The people that are there
Continuing concernBecause over the last 20 years or so I've become aware of the Amazon rain forest as a huge natural habitat, a huge carbon sink and a climate regulator I've written about it before, most recently in February this year. So this week's post is simply a continuing story of my concern AnguishThe concern became anguish when I read a story by Tom Phillips in The Guardian a week or two ago. It began like this: Brazil’s battle to reclaim its largest Indigenous territory from tens of thousands of illegal miners has taken a deadly turn after at least five people were reportedly killed during 36 hours of violence in the Amazon’s sprawling Yanomami territory. See the marked location on the map below The bloodshed began on Saturday afternoon when masked illegal miners allegedly launched an attack on a Yanomami village called Uxiu. Under the Bolsonaro government
All that surely reinforces Sonia Guajajara's request to join in her fight for justice for indigenous peoples – and for the Amazon itself. It's a request to people like me and those who read this blog to tell our friends and colleagues, our politicians and anyone of influence, in order to arouse world support for an essential cause.□ John McInnes Friday 19 May 2023 ##########
0 Comments
|
Welcome
|