This is a REALLY a problem. About 1000 indigenous people that live in the TIPNIS national park have been on a peaceful protest march from Trinidad to La Paz(500km) to protest the construction of a road, a part of the IIRSA, that is designed to disect the park and indignous terirtory and pass through some of the last remaining pristine foothill forests: A road means access for the coca growers who have basically destroyed all the forest outside the park. There are about 12,000 ha. in the park now planted with ilegal coca leaves according to a recent UN report. So representatives from 34 Indigenous groups, Men, women children, have been on the road for a month, 3 children and one indigenous leader have died. Fortunately they know how to fish and hunt in the lands they are walking through, because the ruling party managed to close the markets and turn off the water on them in one town. Now they have been stoped on the road by a colonist (coca growers) blocade and Evo has sent 800 police and Military to make sure their protest march does not continue on to La Paz. The Bolivian President is very scary with his lies about what the indigenous people are demanding. He has claimed that US AID is instigating them, now it is all the falt of the NGO's. His lies and condescending comments are quite astounding, being as he is supposed to be the indigenous president. But more alarming is that the conflict between coca growers and indigenous people is escalating because the coca growers want the land which is presently indigenous territory. Help save a very important park. Please sign the petition Please sing the petition at http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_tipnis/?rc=fb&pv=16 Wendy Townsend Santa Cruz, Bolivia
On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 8:14 PM, Cecilia Gzz <[email protected]>wrote: > n days, Bolivia's government could give the final go-ahead to an illegal > mega-highway slicing > through protected Amazon rainforest -- but Bolivians are fighting back and > we can help them win. > > President Evo Morales is helping foreign corporations divvy up the Amazon > -- cutting down trees, > opening up huge mining operations and building plantations on the fertile > Amazon soil. He's pushing > through a huge highway that would fuel this attack on the world's most > important forest, and > breaking his own laws in the process. But now, as the last permits are > considered, citizen voices are > calling for alternatives to the highway plans -- and Evo is beginning to > feel the heat. > > Please sing the petition at > http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_tipnis/?rc=fb&pv=16 > > Thank you > > -- > This message has been scanned for viruses and > dangerous content by MailScanner, and is > believed to be clean. > >
