http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/brendanoneill2/100180560/survival-international-seem-to-think-theyre-saviours-of-the-noble-savage/
But there was no massacre. Investigators have discovered no evidence of any killings, and Survival International now admits "there was no attack by miners on the Yanomami community". Yet what is remarkable about Survival International's retraction of its claims of a massacre is how cursory it is. Considering that it is the go-to group for media outlets seeking infantile stories about sad-eyed brown people getting knocked about by wild-eyed capitalists, you would think Survival International would be mortified by its role in propagating the unfounded story of a massacre, and worried about the long-term impact on its reputation. Apparently not. It still imagines that it is on the moral high-ground, even crazily denouncing the Venezuelan government for its "shameful" reaction to the claims of a massacre, where it "immediately denied [the] killings before even concluding its own investigation".
This is extraordinary. Survival International, which promoted the unfounded stories about a massacre, is slamming the Venezuelan government for correctly denying that those stories were true. In what screwed-up parallel, Orwellian universe do the propagators of unfounded stories get to pose as morally superior beings while the deniers of the stories, the people who rightly say "there's no evidence for this", are denounced as "shameful"? Only in the universe inhabited by eco-NGOs, where the green-leaning men and women who jet around the world to save destitute and downtrodden people are always Good, always right, while governments, corporations, miners and anyone else who is vaguely committed to the values of progress and economic growth are automatically bad. On this twisted moral plane, even spreading stories about a mythical massacre can be presented as less bad than government attempts to deny that the mythical massacre took place. How utterly bizarre.
http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/8659
Having received its own testimony from confidential sources, Survival now believes there was no attack by miners on the Yanomami settlement of Irotatheri. Yanomami from the area – in which many illegal gold miners are currently operating – had heard stories of a killing in July, and this was reported, by some, as having occurred in this settlement.
We currently do not know whether or not these stories were sparked by a violent incident, which is the most likely explanation, but tension remains high in the area.
The Venezuelan government’s reaction remains shameful. It has not said, even now, that it will remove the miners, and it immediately denied having found ‘evidence’ of killings, before even concluding its own investigation. Its supporters have gone further and accused its critics of being part of a right-wing conspiracy etc.
The Venezuelan authorities should continue to investigate this incident and, most importantly, must evict those invading the Yanomami and other Indian territories in the country.
"We started the operation with a view to clarify and determine whether any of the communities pointed out in the complaint had been affected. It began eight days ago, finding the alleged survivors. We found out they were not such, but that they lived in a sector named Irotatheri. In the inspection, we contacted seven indigenous communities and everything showed that there was not any possibility, throughout that geographic space, which indicated a any massacre," Alcala Cordones detailed last Thursday.
In addition, the Army Mayor said that several frontier military bases are posted in the jungle to protect the Venuelan territory and maintain constant communication with ancient ethnics. "In 10 days of operations, there has not been reported the presence of a single illegal miner."
The Sentry was backed up by Indigenous Affairs Minister Nicia Maldonado, who accompanied by her brothers Yanomami explained: "We have been carrying out an activity of support to confirm the reality of such complaints which went round the world. We are happy to inform the country that, thanks God, these denounces are false. Such events did not happen thanks to our ancestors."
Last Friday, a commission of national and international journalists visited the community. They were welcomed with colorful dances, dishes made of plantain and yucca and the contagious smiles as the best answer before false informations spread by the media. Irotatheri showed itself kindly and helpful in the face of the usual questions: What happened? Was there a massacre?, answering "Here, we are all fine."
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