Campesinos converge on Cancun

[SpiralHawk]

The international Caravan of La Via Campesina advances for Cancun

Mexico, Federal District, December 1st, 2010

The three caravans that left on November 28th for San Luis Potosi, Guadalajara and Acapulco arrived yesterday in Mexico City. They went by central urban avenues and today they headed to Cancun, where they will arrive on December 3rd.

They constitute the fourth caravan and will be joined by two more, one coming from Chiapas and the other from Oaxaca, to arrive together in the camp installed by La Via Campesina and The National Assembly of Those Affected by the Environment, the Mexican Electricians Union and the Movement for National Liberation.

This series of mobilizations seeks to publicize the grave conditions of social and environmental deterioration found in the cities, communities and towns of Mexico, due to the politics of privatization of public goods, the impunity with which industries operate with respect to environmental regulations and to the violations of the social and labor laws of the citizens.

"The caravans have noted the serious pollution of the rivers in the country. It’s known that sixty percent of the groundwater and watersheds are contaminated; seventy percent of the soil has some form of erosion and the contamination of transgenic corn is present in fifteen states of the republic, to mention only the most dramatic cases.

http://viacampesina.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=984:the-international-caravan-of-la-via-campesina-advances-for-cancun&catid=48:-climate-change-and-agrofuels&Itemid=75

[SpiralHawk]

1. Muchas gracias, hermanos y hermanas

You make this sacrifice for all of us.

[SpiralHawk]

2. ¡El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido!

[lunatica]

3. I admire them but I also fear for them

The authorities are more than willing to put down any populist uprising. Even peaceful ones.

[Overseas]

4. K&R ! //nt

[SpiralHawk]

5. "Move along. There's nothing to see here." - RepubliCronies, Inc. (R)

"This is totally insignificant. Has no relevance whatsoever to you and your family. Smirk."

- RepubliCronies, Inc. (R)

[SpiralHawk]

6. RepubliCorps gleeful at Cancun apparent FAIL

"The UN climate summit in Cancun, Mexico is nearing its end. And while the ending will not be as rancorous as last year’s train wreck in Copenhagen, there will be no global deal on cutting greenhouse gas emissions this year, either. However, there is some hope for the longer run...

"...When I started hearing about this climate change issue, I started hearing developing countries say, 'We have a right to emit carbon because we have to develop'," he told the BBC recently..."

http://www.straight.com/article-362961/vancouver/gwynne-dyer-no-progress-un-climate-summit-cancun

[SpiralHawk]

7. What the media is ignoring in Cancun

"While the nations of the world meet in a luxury resort to accomplish nothing, the people of the world are meeting nearby.

"And as our national media ignores it, this alternative forum is called Alternative Global Forum for Life, Environmental and Social Justice and it's being put on by La Via Campesina, the international peasant farmer movement.

"The major idea coming out of this alternative forum is that the plan to "make a business out of climate change" via carbon markets is bogus..."

http://www.lavidalocavore.org/diary/4294/alternative-conference-in-cancun

[rucky]

8. What the media is ignoring in Cancun

is Cancun.

Thanks for that link, btw.

[SpiralHawk]

9. You're welcome

[a la izquierda]

10. I can tell you from personal experience...

The Santiago River is DEAD. Peee-yeww! I drove over it one day coming down from the desert, and I thought, "Damn, what the hell did that dog eat this morning?" Then my friend and I realized it was the stench of death from the river. It was positively, nostril-hair-burning awful.

[SpiralHawk]

11. Climate Talks Weakened by U.S. Polluters - Walkout Possible

Bill McKibben: Climate Talks So Weakened by U.S., Major Polluters that Walkout Could Be Good News for Planet
Wxmckibben

Longtime environmental writer and activist and 350.org founder Bill McKibben has won the 2010 Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship.

Speaking outside the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Cancún, McKibben says, "In certain ways, would be the best thing that could happen. For 15 years ... the U.S. comes and says, weaken the agreement so we can get Congress to go along. Then Congress doesn’t agree anyway. It’s wrecked the whole process, time after time after time, and now the U.S. is doing it again."

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/12/7/bill_mckibben_climate_talks_so_weakened

[SpiralHawk]

12. Activists challenge Gates Foundation’s agricultural development strategy

December 7, 2010 By Tom Paulson NPR blog

Seattle-based AGRA Watch, an activist organization that believes the Gates Foundation’s approach to agricultural reform in Africa is environmentally, economically and ethically unsound, today released a protest letter signed by more than 100 organizations, food experts and scientists opposed to the strategy.

The letter was released to coincide with street protests in Cancun held by groups angry with the nature of the climate talks going on there this week. (Note: KPLU’s Liam Moriarty is there, and reports here.)

“The Gates Foundation is promoting a Western, industrialized agricultural approach that serves corporate interests, not the needs of poor farmers worldwide, a strategy that will also do serious damage to the environment,” said Phil Bereano, a member of AGRA Watch and a retired UW professor of technology policy.

(snip)
http://groups.google.com/group/food_crisis/browse_thread/thread/583a6c5c321327bb

[SpiralHawk]

13. Mexico: Activists demand a voice at climate conference

CANCUN, Mexico — The demonstrators at the United Nations climate change conference are a colorful group: They include a bullet-ridden Jesus Christ, a traditionally dressed Mayan and a masked youth, who referred to himself as “El Independiente.”

Along with about 3,000 others, these protesters marched outside the conference on Tuesday, representing indigenous groups from around Mexico.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/mexico/101208/climate-change-conference-indigenous

[SpiralHawk]

14. ...like a family get together aboard the Titanic

" just like a family reunion aboard the Titanic. We can’t keep doing this. Until we can build some power outside of these arenas to actually push these guys...it’s not about how well people are communicating or how great the policy papers are. It’s on who has the power. And at the moment, that power rests in the hands of the fossil fuel industry and their allies in governments around the world. And until we build some independent outside movement power to push back, then…we’re going to get scraps from the table, at the very best."

-Bill McKibben, December 7, 2010, Interview with Democracy Now!

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/12/7/bill_mckibben_climate_talks_so_weakened