The Maori Struggle for Land and Life

Written by John Schertow

Thursday, 02 October 2008

TheMaori People of Aotearoa (New Zealand) are now standing at acrossroads, forced to choose between sovereignty and colonialism.Within the recent Maori settlement program, the government offers largesums of money and small fragments of land. In exchange, the Maori areexpected to give up their independence and become New Zealand citizens.Recent history shows that the New Zealand government is more thanwilling to use intimidation and violence to control and assimilate theMaori. The 1840 Treaty of Waitangi between the Maorileadership and the colonial state resulted in massive land seizures andviolence against the Maori. The current land claims process is arenewal of this tragic legacy of repression. One major differencebetween then and now is that in the past the Maori refused to let go oftheir sovereignty -- always maintaining they did not intend to cede it.We can see that's true, given that the original treaty "does not usethe Maori word for 'sovereignty,' kingitanga, or even the Maori wordfor 'independence,' rangatiritanga." Kevin Jon Heller, a law professorat the University of Auckland in New Zealand, points out: [T]heBritish had to have known that the Maori did not intend to cedesovereignty to the Queen. In 1835, the British and the Maori had signedthe Declaration of Independence, in which the British guaranteed thatthe Maori chiefs would maintain sovereignty over their land. TheDeclaration made use of all three of the words that are at the heart ofthe dispute over the Treaty, with the British translatingrangatiritanga as "independence," kingitanga as "sovereign power andauthority," and kawanatanga as "functions of government." How thencould the British have honestly believed a mere five years later — withmany of the same British officials present at the signing of bothdocuments — that Article 1's use of the term kawanatanga, as opposed tokingitanga, meant that the Maori were giving up their sovereignty? Inretrospect, we can assume that belief had nothing to do with it. Afterall, New Zealand has never acknowledged the original treaty as anythingbut a 'courtesy.' The real treaty, they say, is the English translation they drew after the original. This version, of course, plainly states the Maori ceded their rights: TheChiefs of the Confederation of the United Tribes of New Zealand and theseparate and independent Chiefs who have not become members of theConfederation cede to Her Majesty the Queen of England absolutely andwithout reservation all the rights and powers of Sovereignty which thesaid Confederation or Individual Chiefs respectively exercise orpossess, or may be supposed to exercise or to possess over theirrespective Territories as the sole Sovereigns thereof. Inany case, "the question is now moot," says Heller. "New Zealand courtshave long since given up trying to determine the "true" meaning of theTreaty. Now they — and the Waitangi Tribunal, which makesrecommendations to the government concerning Maori grievances — simplyapply the so-called "Treaty Principles" [which are based on the Englishtreaty]." Heller's right to say it'smoot, but the New Zealand government's insistence is little more than adesperate plea. They simply can't afford to respect the Maori version,which would be an admission that they committed fraud, would could inturn de-legitimize the state, or at least force them to acknowledge theMaori's rights. The only thing would be expected to do to avoid thiswas to make it into a non-issue, and then pray the Maori buy into it.As we can gather from the recent wave of settlements, a vast number ofthe Maori leadership is doing just that. continues here You can find more articles by John Schertow at his blog, Intercontinental Cry Photo by Simon Oosterman

Why Indigenous People of the World Are Losing Out

By Terence Gomez

2008/10/05

LAST month, members of the Indigenous Peoples Network of Malaysia (JOAS) tried unsuccessfully to submit a memorandum to the king urging, among other things, that the government honour its commitment to abide by the United Nations Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous People (Undrip). The incident, on the first anniversary of Undrip, raised an urgent question: why is it that, despite the burgeoning number of international charters and national laws across the world that assert and protect their rights, the majority of indigenous peoples find themselves increasingly subjected to discrimination, exploitation and dispossession?

And, as the Malaysian protest suggests, why is it likely that in spite of charters such as the Undrip, we will continue to see numerous conflicts of mismatched proportions between unempowered indigenous peoples and governments, multinational companies (MNCs) and international financial institutions (IFIs) worldwide?

Most of these clashes between indigenous peoples, governments and IFIs have arisen due to differing interpretations of the term "development". For indigenous peoples, the key issues include not just the right to protect and preserve their ancestral lands, but also often their very survival as a community.

Governments, meanwhile, argue that they are trying to eradicate poverty and offer citizens, including indigenous peoples, a better standard of living.

IFIs contend that they are providing funds to support the goals of national governments, while MNCs publicise that they have been commissioned to implement projects to attain these objectives.

Yet the scale and scope of the problems confronting indigenous peoples as a result of developmental plans implemented by IFIs and governments is monumental, even baffling.

The primary cause for the numerous discrepancies between the rhetoric and reality of these charters and legislation is the support of governments and IFIs for large-scale exploitation of natural resources, including oil and mineral deposits, extensive privatisation programmes and the construction of huge infrastructure projects, specifically dams.

The issue of the rights of indigenous peoples to their natural resources, particularly sub-soil resources, also continues to be controversial, as a majority of governments retain ownership and control over resources.

With little or no institutional support, the enforcement of indigenous peoples' rights has often proven to be extremely weak.

One key factor for understanding this paradox is the way in which power is exercised within governments and international institutions, and between governments and indigenous groups.

Following the major ideological shifts introduced in the 1980s by the conservative but extremely influential Prime Minister of Britain, Margaret Thatcher, and the United States' President, Ronald Reagan, institutions like the World Bank began adopting and espousing neoliberal ideas, which were reflected in their lending conditions.

The primary contention of neo-liberalism is that the way to achieve sustained economic growth is through the retreat of the government from the economy and the liberalisation of the private sector, an issue that became the basis for the approval of loans by IFIs.

Neoliberals further argue that economic growth in developing countries can only be achieved through a combination of market deregulation, fiscal discipline, reduction of public expenditure involving also privatisation to encourage competition, promotion of foreign direct investment and trade liberalisation.

Privatisation of government agencies, assets and services, as well as major new infrastructure projects, constituted a key component of the IFI loan conditionality framework.

That has resulted in numerous serious problems, including the creation of private monopolies in sectors previously under public control.

Privatising public services tended to concentrate control over utilities, services and resources in developing countries in the hands of MNCs, at the same time that government oversight in these sectors was also reduced considerably.

Privatisation of public services such as water and energy supply was especially contentious as it involved major dam projects and further marginalised the poorer and more vulnerable sections of the population in the developing world.

While privatisation was supposed to have reduced the cost of water and electricity, in a number of countries, new tariffs were imposed to improve the viability of private firms in these sectors.

The increased cost of utilities now supplied by private firms brought into question the main justification for privatisation: government capacity to deliver utility services efficiently, cheaply and universally.

Governments, even in the developing world, have shown the capacity to provide water and electricity at low rates. By undermining the government's capacity to deliver key public services, IFIs have facilitated the control by MNCs of these important resources.

Governments and MNCs have, however, been most publicly discredited for human rights violations and environmental degradation in the implementation of large-scale privatised dam-building projects which, instead of providing the promised benefits of increased economic activity and more widely available electricity, have displaced large numbers of indigenous communities.

The construction of dams in the Philippines (such as the San Roque Dam), Malaysia (the Bakun Dam) and India (the Sardar Sarovar Project along the Narmada River) illustrates this, leading to the relocation of settlements and significant degradation of the land.

Meanwhile, the active promotion of resource extraction, a common condition in IFI loan conditions, has resulted in increasingly unsustainable levels of extraction and environmental damage, often perpetuated by MNCs.

The outcome of large-scale resource extraction projects by MNCs in Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, India, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea, ostensibly implemented to help finance development and reduce poverty, illustrates the far-reaching effects of such activities.

As resource extraction increased, environmental and social crises became increasingly pronounced as a result of the displacement of peoples, deterioration in general health due to pollutants and severe environmental degradation.

In the Philippines, IFI-type recommendations were adopted following complaints by the United States, Australia and New Zealand -- all three reluctant to endorse the Undrip -- that local legislation prohibited foreign entities from owning mining companies.

In 1995, the Philippine government introduced the Mining Act, which allowed for 100 per cent foreign ownership of mining firms. The introduction of this legislation led to huge interest from leading foreign firms in this sector.

Antonio Tujan, Jr, a political analyst from the Philippines, would later argue that "the Mining Act is a clear example of how the neoliberal economic paradigm is translated into the wholesale opening up of Third World natural resources to corporate exploitation".

Despite increasing international awareness of the situation of indigenous peoples, protective charters and legislation remain theoretically-orientated rather than practical.

Unless these vast asymmetries of power, presented by conflicting conceptions of development, are reformed, indigenous peoples will continue to be marginalised.

At the Undrip event last month, JOAS member Mark Bujang stressed that the Orang Asal are not anti-development. But, he said: "We want to be included in the decision-making process."

The need now is urgent for international agencies and governments to devolve power to indigenous peoples. They must create inclusive consultative platforms that will provide them with an avenue to participate in decisions that could impinge on their way of life and to determine their own development path.

The writer is associate professor of political economy at Universiti Malaya. He can be contacted at terencegomez@hotmail.com

Lex Wotton Warrior for Aboriginal Rights

Australian Racism - A Case Study - Palm Island 2004 - 2006

For those interested in the manner in which institutionalised racism functions in the Australian context, one need look no further than the case of the death of an Aboriginal man on Palm Island, the historically notorious QLD Government 'punishment camp' under the old QLD 'apartheid system'.

The death of Mulrunji Doomadgee at the hands of a QLD Police officer led to a riot and a subsequent 'comedy of errors' as the Beattie Labor Government struggled to contain the political damage at the same time as maintaining an apologetic approach to the powerful QLD Police union.

The unmentioned 'elephant in the room' was the long entrenched culture of racism that permeates QLD society and politics.

It is in that context you might read this index of the history of the recent events on Palm Island, as seen through the prism of the sometimes questionable newspaper coverage by Australian media.

This chronological index nevertheless provides an interesting history of how this issue became a major crisis largely through the political ineptitude displayed by the Beattie Government over a protracted period between 2004 and 2006.

The saga continues to unfold and future episodes will be incorporated into this index

http://www.kooriweb.org/foley/news/2006/palm/palmindex.html

Lex Wotton has been portrayed by the Queensland police, government and mainstream media as the ringleader of the so-called “riot” that occurred on Palm Island on November 26, 2004. A police station and residence were destroyed after a police report on the death of community member Mulrunji Doomadgee . Wotton will face court in October 2008.

Watchdog wary of terror review role

THE senior public servant earmarked as the first independent reviewer of Australia's counter-terrorism laws does not want the job.

The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, Ian Carnell, fears the new role could compromise the independence of his office.

"I'm not thrusting forward and saying, 'I'm the best model to take it'," Mr Carnell said.

In what is set to become amajor embarrassment for Attorney-General Robert McClelland, Mr Carnell told The Australian that given the highly contentious nature of the counter-terrorism laws, he was concerned his office could become overly politicised.

continues here

See Also

UN Observer says govts are using terror to instill fear in communities

Noho Hewa

dear Hawai'i and non-Hawai'i friends all, my friend Keala Kelly's film, "Noho Hewa: The Wrongful Occupation of Hawai'i," has been accepted into the Honolulu Film Festival. The premiere will be at DOLE CANNERY on OCTOBER 13, at 6 PM. This is the ONLY film in the festival by a Hawaiian (or anyone else) that deals with the extreme effects of militarization,
tourism, and GMO on Native Hawaiians and the land in Hawai'i. It's very important that as many people as possible go see this film and vote for it at the premiere. That's one of the few ways a film can make it out into the world.

The importance of this is not about personalities or individuals, but about getting the real information about Hawai'i out into the world. PLEASE GO SEE IT and, very importantly, VOTE FOR IT!

If you are not in Hawai'i (and also if you are), Keala's website is www.nohohewa.com. Please also go there and donate--she needs to convert the film to digi-beta, which costs about $300, and to survive for the next month. She is focusing completely on the film and cannot work till it's done.

Keala recently coordinated and helped the Al Jazeera film crew to produce their tv documentary on Hawai'i:

tahi

rua

"Noho Hewa" is a film that those of you who are teachers will be using for years to come to inform students about the situation on the ground in Hawai'i. Those of you who are not teachers will want to see "Noho Hewa" to inform yourselves and your friends and families, so the lies about a U.S. "Paradise" in Hawai'i can be stopped.

Voting for "Noho Hewa" means shining a public light in militarism, desecration, the Akaka Bill and removal of Hawaiians from their homeland. Your vote will really matter. If this film comes away from this festivalwithout a prize, the issues in the film will remain ignored. Let's not let that happen.

FREE HAWAII

Free trade protest today- Poneke/Wellington

The China-New Zealand free trade agreement comes into effect tomorrow (October 1st) and the event will be celebrated with a "Shooting Yourself in the Foot" competition at parliament.

Competitors are welcome to turn up at 12 noon on Wednesday on parliament lawn. The best impersonation of a New Zealand politician or bureaucrat shooting them self in the foot will be presented with a cheap plastic toy.

The event has been organised by the Wildcat Anarchist Collective. Wildcat International Trade and Investment Spokesperson Sam Buchanan says free trade disempowers workers.

"Free trade gives companies the option of choosing which country’s laws suit them best – jobs are moved to places where workers have less power.

"We are not saying jobs should not be moved to China because New Zealand workers deserve to benefit at the expense of Chinese workers, but that jobs should stay in jurisdictions where workers are relatively empowered. Globalised ‘free trade’ does the opposite of this – disempowerment of workers becomes a ‘comparative advantage’ and an attraction to investors," says Mr Buchanan.

Ends

BHP plan controversial West Papua nickel mine

Video

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Broadcast: 29/09/2008

Reporter: Geoff Thompson and Tony Jones

BHP Billiton is on the verge of starting one of the most sensitive mining operations it has ever planned.

Transcript

TONY JONES: In West Papua, and after evading questions about the project for years, BHP Billiton is on the verge of starting one of the most sensitive mining operations it has ever planned. Gag Island in West Papua holds one of the world's richest nickel deposits. But it, and the islands around it, are ringed by what UNESCO and many marine scientists believe is the richest and most diverse coral reef system in the world.

Conservationists say BHP's disastrous environmental record at Papua New Guinea’s Ol Tedi mine should rule out any gamble with Gag Island's riches. And it's not just the potential for environmental damage that makes the gag project controversial. The island lies in West Papua, formerly Irian Jaya. The disputed Indonesian province where previous mining concessions like Freeport have become the focus for pro-independence guerrilla attacks and Indonesian human rights abuses.

Indonesia correspondent Geoff Thompson made the difficult journey to Gag Island to file this exclusive report for Lateline.

GEOFF THOMPSON: Off the remote coast of West Papua in eastern Indonesia sprawls the Raja Ampat archipelago. 610 islands spread across 50,000 square kilometres, covering an area 10 times the size of Bali. But its surface beauty simply cannot compete with the untold treasures below.

CHARLIE VERON, MARINE BIOLOGIST: There was once a time when all scientists in fact it was general knowledge, thought that the Great Barrier Reef was the centre of marine diversity. It was a very special place, but it is not the centre of marine diversity. The Raja Ampat islands of eastern Indonesia are.

JAN STEFFEN, UNESCO, JAKARTA OFFICE: If you look at it from the point of view of marine biodiversity it is what people call the bullseye on the planet. There's no richer person in terms of marine biodiversity.

GEOFF THOMPSON: The Raja Ampat archipelago sits atop the planetary short list of marine sites most deserving of World Heritage listing.

JAN STEFFEN: I think now it is basically a technical matter to get everything sorted out and to fulfil all the requirements but personally, I am quite optimistic that will happen.

GEOFF THOMPSON: But marine life isn't the only resource rich in abundance here. The other is nickel. In fact, one of the world's biggest deposits of that crucial stainless steel ingredient is locked inside Gag Island. A 56-square-kilometre land mass smack in the middle of the Raja Ampat archipelago.

And it's here that BHP Billiton has set up base, and is preparing to mine, after signing a 50-50 joint venture agreement in June with the Indonesian-owned company. For years BHP Billiton has been sitting on the controversial concession. Environmental protests saw the island reclassified as protected forest in 1999. Temporarily shelving BHP's mining plans. A regulatory shift in 2004 again cleared the way for Gag's exploitation. BHP's board has not yet approved the deal, but the company is already the best employer in Gag's only village, Gambia.

WAJU HUSEIN, COMMUNITY LEADER (translated): With the company here, even though they're still exploring, there's a huge difference in income already. When the producing starts, the company promises there'll be some sort of share of the production they get out of Gag Island, like in Freeport and such. There'll be money for the village, as well. They promised us that.

GEOFF THOMPSON: Nearly all of Gambia's point are migrants from nearby ma Luku and welcome the economic benefits they think the mine will bring. But Johanes Goram is an activist and among the Papuans disputing traditional ownership of Gag Island. He used to walk for Freeport's giant gold and copper mine, which for decades has been the flashpoint of conflict between pro-independence guerrillas and Indonesia's military.

Johanes Goram thinks stirring up of jealosies will haunt Gag Island, too.

JOHANES GORAM, NAZARETH FOUNDATION PAPUA: I do believe it is a human rights issue, because when the migrant and the local Papuan will fight or will conflict because of the issue, we are afraid that military intervention can be used to stop, to protect the company, to protect the land, to support the government.

GEOFF THOMPSON: It's extremely unlikely that BHP's nickel mine here will somehow sidestep the minefield of Papuan politics. Loud voices on the Papuan Traditional Council are already saying they are happy for the operation to proceed, but only in a Papua independent of Indonesia. But BHP can count on Indonesian Government support says the head of the country's investment board.

MUHAMMAD LUTFI, INVESTMENT BOARD CHIEF: We want to do it responsibly, but my board at least will make sure that it will happen in the near future.

GEOFF THOMPSON: BHP has refused to discuss which options are being considered to minimise the mine's impact on the surrounding reefs. The company first considered pumping hundred of thousands of tonnes of tailings onto the ocean floor, but BHP now says that option has been ruled out.

Indigenous Rights – The Galdino Mural

Source

On Sunday 14 September in Waitangi Skate Park Wellington’s top graffiti crew Triple S (TS) painted a mural supporting indigenous rights. In the month when the 'October 15th' deposition hearing is taking place involving members of Tuhoe and other New Zealand activists who supported Maori indigenous struggle for self determination, this mural could not have come at a better time.

Indigenous Rights – No One’s Child Should Die –
The Galdino Mural

On Sunday 14 September in Waitangi Skate Park Wellington’s top graffiti crew Triple S (TS) painted a mural supporting indigenous rights. In the month when the 'October 15th' deposition hearing is taking place involving members of Tuhoe and other New Zealand activists who supported Maori indigenous struggle for self determination, this mural could not have come at a better time.

Triple S Crew were approached to paint this mural by Dean Hapeta (Te Kupu – www. tekupu. com) on behalf of a USA-based activist music group, IR (onewatchman.wordpress.com), that uses music to support indigenous rights. This had been a worldwide call-out to help remember the horrific death of the Pataxo Indian Galdino Jesus dos Santos, an indigenous man who while he lay on the streets sleeping, was murdered by a group of rich children, who as a “joke” to poured gasoline on him and set fire to him. Their treatment in the justice system was privileged and they only received mild sentences, as the life of this indigenous man was not seen as that significant. It has been ten years since his death but Galdino’s murder will not be forgotten. Due to political pressure, none of the traditional murals that are painted in Brazil to represent such a loss in a community were allowed. This is why Triple S Crew decided that they would step up and honour this life.

Triple S felt that up until recently Maori and Pacific people had a much stronger voice and were in a position to help other indigenous people who have been silenced by oppressive regimes.

Triple S have been involved in community work pretty much since their inception. From the early days, when member and much smaller Kerb1 protested the Springbok tour, and many members walking to support the 2004 hikoi organised during Foreshore and seabed controversy in opposition to the nationalisation of New Zealand's foreshore and seabed along the coastline , to now with the youth work they do. Triple S work with mainly at-risk youth both informally and through a project called The Next (www.thenext.org.nz) in their own unique and highly effective way using the four elements of hip-hop culture, B boying, MCing, Graffiti/Writing and DJing. Doing this mural was a natural step in what they have always done and so of course they jumped at the chance of painting this mural on a sunny spring afternoon in Wellington.

They chose the skate park to paint the mural, as children would see it and would be made aware of the injustices that happen to indigenous people around the world. During the painting, young people were very curious about why they were painting images and not graffiti “letters” that they are used to seeing Triple S paint at the skate park. Spex One (the only female in the crew) patiently explained to young people who came up to her, that this was to represent the tragic murder of Galdino, who had been killed by Brazilian rich children. The young people were outraged, saying that “it is so wrong” and “no one should be killed”. They were so shocked that any young people could do this.

This day was a great success, not only remembering Galdino and his family, who I am sure could never have perceived that he would be remembered halfway around the world in Aotearoa, but also in the way Triple S and the children interacted. Despite the difficulty of painting they were always patient and took time to talk to the children who came to talk to them. Juse One developed quite a following and agreed to “graff” a couple of the smaller children’s skateboards, much to their delight.

Painting community murals is not a new thing for Triple S. In Kerb’s home suburb of Newtown you can see numerous murals on a community centre and also murals they have painted in the main street with local children. And they realise that the struggle to help indigenous children starts in their own country too. Helping children express their anger using music, art and dance, helps empower them in a world that has rejected them. Murals such as the one they painted for Galdino show children how their art can become a way to the change world.

Click on image for a larger version

Te Kohu

NGA TAMARIKI O TE KOHU

Hiki ake te kohu e
Ko Hinepukohurangi
Tapapa ana ki nga koawa
Hei kakahu mo
Papatuanuku

Hora nei te moenga
Mo te tipua nei a te Maunga
Ki runga o Onini e
Ka hono ki a
Hinepukohurangi

Hurainga ko nga rarauwhe
Kia puta ko nga Potiki
Nga uri o te Maunga
Nga tamariki o te Kohu

A shroud of mist rises
It is Hinepukohurangi
Nestling in the gullies
A garment
For Mother Earth

A bed is laid
For the ancestor mountain
On top of Onini
There he embraces
Hinepukohurangi

Unravel the ferns
So that Nga Potiki may emerge
The descendants of the Mountain
The Children of the Mist

'SUAMALIE/AIN'T MAD AT YOU' FEELSTYLE

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US Hands off Latin America - No more Pinochets

>>>>Emergency Rally in Solidarity<<<<

BOLIVIA-VENEZUELA-PARAGUAY-ECUADOR-EL SALVADOR
5.30pm Friday, September 26th
GPO, Corner Bourke and Elizabeth St, CBD Ph Sean 0415 122 135

Latin America now faces its most serious crisis since the rebirth of democratic and progressive movements at the end of the 20th century. On the 35th anniversary of the military overthrow of Salvador Allende in Chile in 1973, which had the overt support of the United States, the presidents of Bolivia and Venezuela asked the US ambassadors accredited to their countries to leave.


They both believe they are facing the possibility of an imminent coup in which they accuse the United States' administration of being involved. A third country, Paraguay, announced ten days previously that they had detected a plan involving military officers and opposition politicians.

The plot against democracy in Venezuela centered on a plan, revealed in telephone conversations between senior military officers broadcast on national television, to assassinate the democratically elected head of state, President Chavez.

In Bolivia, the separatist governors of the five eastern regions, in close touch with the US embassy in La Paz, have begun a campaign of violence and economic sabotage designed to create the conditions for a coup. Scores of indigenous and poor protesters have been killed by gang backed by rich sectors and the oligarchy.

These events demonstrate unequivocally who defends democracy and who threatens it in Latin America today. The international media has failed to provide accurate and proportionate coverage of these events.

Join the rally to defend people's power, self-determination, social progress and popular democracy in Latin America and to condemn the actions against indigenous and poor people organisations, human rights and democratically elected popular governments.

Endorsements

Centre for Latin America Studies and Solidarity Australia Venezuela Solidarity Network Latin American Solidarity Network (LASNET) Peace & Justice for Colombia, FMLN committee Revolutionary Socialist Party Socialist Alliance. Green Left Weekly Resistance

www.latinlasnet.org/gathering/freedom.html

Building Solidarity with Latin America... Building Bridges…
Organising Globally… The Power of Grassroots Organising

lasnet@latinlasnet.org
www.latinlasnet.org

Waitangi

Ropata Paora

Backing Up Globalisation with Military Might: Australia in the Pacific

“Clothed in benevolent, paternal words, greed and racism lie at the heart of the war on terrorism: pushing the West’s way of doing things onto the Pacific. Australia & New Zealand seek to gain access to markets in the Pacific and to rich natural resources through liberalised trade"

"In today's world, TNCs, and governments running interference for them, are pushing for an end to national sovereignty and democracy in order to achieve total unimpeded access for investments, cheap labor, and consumers in every nook and cranny of the globe. This is being accomplished, among other ways, through mechanisms like multilateral agreements on investment, free trade agreements like PACER-Plus , and the dictates of the European Union (EU) International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and World Trade Organization (WTO)."

"To achieve maximum profits, these transnationals will stop at nothing. After all, they are non-human institutions that must expand through ever-greater profits, or go out of business. In so doing they have shown willingness to violate human rights-particularly workers' rights-to throw millions out of work, destroy unions, use sweatshops and slave labor, destroy the environment, destabilize governments, and install and bolster tyrants who oppress, repress, torture and kill with impunity."

"Is it surprising, then, that wars and military intervention, including attacks on civilians, are waged on behalf of corporations? It has been an integral part of the history of imperialist powers. Why should we believe it is any different today?"

EZLN announce First Global Festival of Dignified Rage

Communiqué from the of the Indigenous Revolutionary Clandestine Committee—General Command, of the Zapatista Army for National Liberation
Sixth Commission—Intergalactic Commission of the EZLN

Mexico

September 15 and 16 of 2008

To the adherents of the Sixth Declaration and the Other Campaign:

To the adherents of the Zezta Interazional:

To the People of Mexico:

To the Peoples of the World:

Compañeras and Compañeros:

Brother and Sisters:

Once again we send you our words.

This is what we see, what we are looking at.

This is what has come to our ears, to our brown heart.

I.

Above they intend to repeat history.

They want to impose on us once again their calendar of death, their geography of destruction.

When they are not trying to strip us of our roots, they are destroying them.

They steal our work, our strength.

They leave our world, our land, our water, and our treasures without people, without life.

The cities pursue and expel us.

The countryside both kills us and dies on us.

Lies become governments and dispossession is the weapon of their armies and police.
We are the illegal, the undocumented, the undesired of the world.

We are pursued.

Women, young people, children, the elderly die in death and die in life.

And there above they preach to us resignation, defeat, surrender, and abandonment.

Here below we are being left with nothing.

Except rage.

And dignity.

There is no ear for our pain, that is not like what we are.

We are no one.

We are alone, alone with our dignity and our rage.

Rage and dignity are our bridges, our languages.

We must listen to each other then, learn to know each other.

So that our courage and rage grows and becomes hope.

So that our dignity takes root again and births another world.

We have seen and heard.

Our voice is small to be the echo of that word, our gaze small for so much dignified rage.

The process of seeing each other, looking at each other, speaking to each other, listening to each other, is still lacking.

We are others, the other.

If this world does not have a place for us, then another world must be made.

With no tool other than our rage, no material other than our dignity.

We still must encounter each other more, know each other better.

What is missing is yet to come…

II.

Now, three years after the Sixth Declaration of the Lacondon Jungle, the EZLN has undertaken a collective reflection, nourished by the broad horizon that our compañeros of the Other Campaign in Mexico and in the Zezta Internazional across the world have given to us.

It is not little that we have seen and heard, sometimes directly, sometimes through the words and the gaze of others.

The rage that we felt and the dignity that we found was so great that we think now that we are smaller then we thought before.

In Mexico and on the five continents we have found what we intuited when we began our sixth step: there is another world, there is another path.

If the catastrophe that is coming can be avoided and humanity is to have another opportunity, it will because these others, below and to the left, not only resist, but are already drawing the profile of something else.

Something different than what is occurring above.

In the impossible geometry of political power, the fundamentalists are distributed evenly: the right becomes ultra-right and the institutional left becomes the impossible cultured right. Those who make up the progressive media complain that the fanatics of the mainstream press censure them, twist their words and slander their cause, but they at the same time censure, twist the words, slander, and silence any movement that hasn’t bowed down to the dictates of their ringleaders. And without shame they condemn and acquit to the rhythm of a senseless media rating. Fanatics on all sides fight over lies dressed as truths and crimes are measured by the media time that they occupy. But this is nothing other than a pale reflection of what is happening in politics.

Weariness of the cynicism and incompetence of the traditional political classes has been converted into rage. Sometimes this rage is oriented toward hoping for change in the same paths and places as always, and it is there immobilized by disillusionment or trampled by an arbitrary force. The unsettled and brutal north goes back to its old ways. When it is not sponsoring electoral fraud (like in Mexico), it is promoting, encouraging, and financing state coups (as attempted now in Bolivia and Venezuela). War continues to be its primary and favored form of international diplomacy. Iraq and Afghanistan burn, but, to the despair of those above, are not consumed.

The impositions of hegemony and homogeneity on a global scale find in nations, in regions, and in small locales, their witches’ apprentices that try for that impossible historic return to a past where fanaticism was law and dogma, science. Meanwhile, the governing political classes have found in the world of bright lights an adequate disguise to hide their full participation in organized crime.

Sickened by so much greed, the planet begins to pay the unpayable bill of its destruction. But “natural” disasters are also class issues and their devastation is felt most by those who have nothing and are no one. Faced with this, the stupidity of Power has no limits: millions and millions of dollars are dedicated to manufacturing new weapons and installing more military bases. The Power of capital does not worry about training teachers, doctors, engineers, but rather soldiers. It doesn’t prepare constructors, but rather destructors.

And those who opposed this are the pursued, incarcerated, murdered.

In Mexico, farmers who have defended their land are in prison (San Salvador Atenco); in Italy those who opposed the installation of military bases are pursued and treated as terrorists; in the France of “liberty, equality, and fraternity,” humans are only free, equal, and brothers if their papers say so; in Greece being young is a vice that must be eradicated; again in Mexico, but now in that city of the same name, young people are criminalized and murdered and nothing is done because it is not on the agenda that those above dictate. Meanwhile, a legitimate referendum is converted into a shameful way for and assassin-governor to wash his hands of a situation. In the Spain of the modern European Union, publications are closed and a language, Euskera, is criminalized—they think that by killing the word they can kill those who speak it; in that Asia that is so close, the peasant demands are answered with armored injustices; in that arrogant American Union, born in the blood of migrants, the “other colors” that work there are pursued and killed; in the long wound that is Latin America, the brown blood that sustains it is despised and humiliated; in the rebellious Caribbean, a people, the Cuban people, are forced to live under an imperial embargo that is nothing other than a punishment without crime.

And in all of the corners of the world’s geography, and in all of the days of its calendars, those that work, those that make things run, are plundered, despised, exploited, and repressed.

But sometimes, many times, as many times as a smile sets it off again, rage looks for its own paths, new paths, other paths. And the “no” that these multiple rages raise now not only resists, but begins to propose, to become.

Since our appearance in public, now almost 15 years ago, it has been our goal to be a bridge on which the many rebellions in the world can walk back and forth.

Sometimes we have achieved this, sometimes we haven’t.

Now we see and we feel not only the rebellious resistance that, as sister and comrade, stays at our side and encourages our steps.

Now there is something that before wasn’t there, or that we weren’t able to see before.

There is a creative rage.

A rage that paints all of the colors of the paths of below and to the left on the five continents….

III.

FOR THESE REASONS, AND AS PART OF THE ACTS COMMEMMORATING THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF THE ZAPATISTA ARMY FOR NATIONAL LIBERATION, THE 15 YEARS SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR AGAINST OBLIVION, THE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GOOD GOVERNMENT COUNCILS, AND THE THIRD YEAR OF THE OTHER CAMPAIGN AND THE ZEZTA INTERNAZIONAL, THE MEN, WOMEN, CHILDREN, AND ELDERLY OF THE EZLN CONVOKE ALL OF THE REBELLIOUS OF MEXICO AND THE WORLD TO THE:

FIRST GLOBAL FESTIVAL OF DIGNIFIED RAGE

WITH THE THEME OF:

ANOTHER WORLD, ANOTHER PATH: BELOW AND TO THE LEFT

TO BE CELEBRATED ON THE FOLLOWING PLACES AND DATES

THE OTHER MEXICO CITY, FEDERAL DISTRICT, December 26, 27, 28, and 29, 2008. IN LIENZO CHARRO OF THE ASSOCIATION LOS CHARROS REYES DE IZTAPALAPA, Frente Popular Francisco Villa Independiente-UNOPII, Avenue Guelatao # 50, Colonia Álvaro Obregón, Delegación Iztapalapa, close to the metro station Guelatao, where an exposition will be presented. AND IN THE HEADQUARTERS OF UNÍOS, Dr. Carmona y Valle street #32, colonia Doctores, close to the metro station Cuauhtemoc, where other activities will be held.

THE CITY OF SAN CRISTÓBAL DE LAS CASAS, CHIAPAS, on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of January 2009 in CIDECI, located on the Camino Real de San Juan Chamula s/n, Colonia Nueva Maravilla.

SOME OF THE SUBTHEMES OF THE FESTIVAL WILL BE:

AN OTHER COUNTRYSIDE AN OTHER POLITICS
AN OTHER CITY AN OTHER SOCIAL MOVEMENT
AN OTHER COMMUNICATION AN OTHER HISTORY
AN OTHER ART AND AN OTHER CULTURE AN OTHER SEXUALITY

THE FESTIVAL “ANOTHER WORLD, ANOTHER PATH: BELOW AND TO THE LEFT” WILL HAVE THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTICS:

1. In Mexico City, a national and international exposition will be installed where every struggle, every experience, every rage, will have a space where it can set up and show its struggle and its courage. This way we can all see, hear, and know each other.

2. In zapatista territory, dignity and rage will become art and culture, music and song, because rebellion also dances. And with words, pain will become hope.

3. In San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, the word will go back and forth in order to give birth to new words and give strength and reason to rage.

4. The national and international groups, collectives, and organizations that participate in the festival will be only those who are invited to do so. To this end, the Sixth Commission of the EZLN has initiated consultations with political and social organizations, as well as with groups and collectives of anarchists, libertarians, alternative communication workers, human rights defenders, sexworkers, intellectuals, social activists, ex political prisoners, all adherents of the Sixth Declaration; and with groups, collectives, and organizations of other countries, all part of the Zezta Internazional. The criteria for invitations and participations will be made after these consultations.

5. For the roundtables, the EZLN will invite social organizers, thinkers, and leaders of anticapitalist projects from Mexico and around the world. The list of invitees will be released later.

6. More details about what we are thinking the festival of dignified rage could be will be made known at earliest convenience (that is, when we have an approximate idea of the problem we have gotten ourselves into).

That’s all for now.

LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ATENCO!

From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast.
For the Indigenous Revolutionary Clandestine Committee—General Command, of the Zapatista Army for National Liberation.

Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos.
Mexico, September of 2008.

translated by el Kilombo Intergaláctico

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For more information see:
www.ezln.org.mx

AND/OR come along to the film screening (of Atenco: Break the Siege) and discussion this Wednesday night from 6.30pm at Happy, corner Tory and Vivian Sts, Wellington. entry by koha/donation all proceeds to the political prisoners of Atenco and their families.

For more info about the film screening, the Wellington Zapatista Support Group, and the Zapatistas in general, please visit:
www.floweroftheword.wordpress.com

Related

• http://www.ezln.org.mx
• http://www.floweroftheword.wordpress.com

Pacific Ocean mineral rush heats up

A race for almost legendary deposits of gold and copper in waters around New Zealand and nearby Pacific states has heated up with a big find off Tonga.

Nautilus Minerals told the Toronto Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market (Aim) that it had discovered four new high-grade seafloor massive sulphide (SMS) systems in Tonga.

High grades of gold, copper, zinc and silver were present in the finds.

Nautilus has pioneered undersea mining in Papua New Guinea and has exploration rights in New Zealand's exclusive economic zone running up to Tonga and Fiji.

This year, rival Neptune Minerals said it had applied to begin a $622 million gold and copper deep-sea mining operation 300km north of East Cape.

On preliminary data publicly available, the new Tonga find is richer than the New Zealand mining.

The newly discovered SMS systems are 90km apart, near Niuatoputapu, in northern Tonga. They are in waters 900 metres deep in contrast to the New Zealand finds which are 1200 metres to 1300 metres deep.

Nautilus chief executive Stephen Rogers said the find in Tonga was outstanding. It was the first time that commercial exploration had taken place in Tongan waters, he said.

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