Judi Lynn
Judi Lynn's JournalWildlife Dying En Masse as South American River Runs Dry
Wildlife Dying En Masse as South American River Runs Dry
The Pilcomayo River in Paraguay is littered with dead caiman and fish carcasses as the government scrambles to find a solution.
Aaron Sidder
PUBLISHED July 22, 2016
Vultures rest in the tree’s upper branches, their black bodies in stark contrast to the blanched wood beneath their feet. Below them, caimans and capybaras crawl in sucking mud through the Agropil lagoon, seeking water that is unlikely to arrive for many months. The river has dried up, and there is nowhere for them to go.
The lagoon, located in the western Paraguayan province of Boquerón, is just one of many stretches of the Pilcomayo River suffering an extensive die-off of caiman, fish, and other river creatures. There have not been any official estimates from the Ministry of the Environment, but Roque González Vera, a journalist for ABC Color in Paraguay, reports utter devastation in some places: Up to 98 percent of caimans (Caiman yacare) are suspected dead, and 80 percent of the capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) population has died.
Paraguay is in the midst of an ecological crisis.
The crisis stems from a combination of drought and mismanagement that has left the Pilcomayo River dry for nearly 435 miles (700 kilometers), according to Vera. On June 24, Paraguay declared an environmental emergency, but little has been done, or can be done, to provide relief for the imperiled animals until the wet season returns. The dry season typically lasts through October, and the annual recharge does not generally occur until January.
More:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/07/pilcomayo-river-paraguay-caiman-capybara-fish-drought-death-water/
Brazil's Dual Legacy of Slavery and the Monarchy
Brazil's Dual Legacy of Slavery and the Monarchy
Norman Berdichevsky 17 July 2016
What do most Americans know of Brazil? Hardly more than the samba, the homeland of rich strong coffee, the bossa nova, soccer great Pelé and the recent turmoil of the 2014 World Cup when favorite Brazil was defeated in an embarrassing final match 7-1 against Germany, the dangers of the Zika virus, the recent scandal of an impeached president and worries over the stability of the country and its ability to stage the 2016 Olympic Games.
Perhaps a very few older American military veterans may recall gaudy singer actress Carmen Miranda and that Brazil was the only Latin American nation to actually send combat troops to Europe to participate in World War II.
There is also the still popular notion among many Americans that Brazil has been the most successful multi-racial society with none of the problems associated with the heritage of slavery as the United States is. The truth however, lies far from this popular misconception.
As an instructor in English at a language school in Orlando, home to one of the largest Brazilian communities in the United States (signs in Portuguese abound at the airport, Disney Parks and all major shopping centers), I can testify to the profound frustration of most Brazilians over how little most Americans know regarding the history, geography, and social conditions of Latin America's largest nation (205 million, twice as many as Mexico), and historically, our strongest ally.
More:
http://www.brazzil.com/23963-brazil-s-dual-legacy-of-slavery-and-the-monarchy
War Crimes Central: the Ramstein Air Base
War Crimes Central: the Ramstein Air Base
July 15, 2016
by Norman Solomon
The overseas hub for America’s “war on terror” is the massive Ramstein Air Base in southwest Germany. Nearly ignored by US media, Ramstein serves crucial functions for drone warfare and much more. It’s the most important Air Force base abroad, operating as a kind of grand central station for airborne war—whether relaying video images of drone targets in Afghanistan to remote pilots with trigger fingers in Nevada, or airlifting special-ops units on missions to Africa, or transporting munitions for airstrikes in Syria and Iraq. Soaking up billions of taxpayer dollars, Ramstein has scarcely lacked for anything from the home country, other than scrutiny.
Known as “Little America” in this mainly rural corner of Germany, the area now includes 57,000 US citizens clustered around Ramstein and a dozen smaller bases. The Defense Department calls it “the largest American community outside of the United States.” Ramstein serves as the biggest Air Force cargo port beyond US borders, providing “full spectrum airfield operations” along with “world-class airlift and expeditionary combat support.” The base also touts “superior” services and “exceptional quality of life.” To look at Ramstein and environs is to peer into a faraway mirror for the United States; what’s inside the frame is normality for endless war.
Ramstein’s gigantic Exchange store (largest in the US military) is the centerpiece for an oversize shopping mall, just like back home. A greeting from the Holy Family Catholic Community at Ramstein tells newcomers: “We know that being in the military means having to endure frequent moves to different assignments. This is part of the price we pay by serving our country.” Five American colleges have campuses on the base. Ellenmarie Zwank Brown, who identifies herself as “an Air Force wife and a physician,” is reassuring in a cheerful guidebook that she wrote for new arrivals: “If you are scared of giving up your American traditions, don’t worry! The military goes out of its way to give military members an American way of life while living in Germany.”
That way of life is contoured around nonstop war. Ramstein is the headquarters for the US Air Force in Europe, and the base is now pivotal for using air power on other continents. “We touch a good chunk of the world right from Ramstein,” a public-affairs officer, Maj. Tony Wickman, told me during a recent tour of the base. “We think of it as a power-projection platform.” The scope of that projection is vast, with “areas of responsibility” that include Europe, Russia, and Africa—104 countries in all. And Ramstein is well-staffed to meet the challenge, with over 7,500 “active duty Airmen”—more than any other US military base in the world except the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.
More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/07/15/war-crimes-central-the-ramstein-air-base/
Race War Fraud
Race War Fraud
July 13, 2016
by Hiroyuki Hamada
Right after police officers were shot in Dallas on July 7th, so many people were trying to explain to me why racism is not the problem. I’ve heard someone proclaim “but Obama is black”. I was surprised to hear someone insisting that “all lives matter” instead of just black lives. I heard people screaming “all violence must stop”. I certainly didn’t hear such an urgent call until the Dallas snipper shooting. And a seemingly constructive argument on racism was met with “don’t be divisive”. And so on and on.
Any of these stances are just incomprehensible knowing that, according to the ever deteriorating statistics (1), somewhere in the US somebody is killed by the police authority everyday. People are killed by the police at a pace four times faster than in the heyday of the lynching era (2). It is so obvious and I do not really feel the need to explain, but at the same time, this is very important, and the obvious atrocity is just a finger tip sticking out of a huge mass grave right under the foundation of the United States of America.
It is not a coincidence that this country kills millions in colonial wars, incarcerates horrendous numbers of people for corporate profit, and treats education, health care, and all sorts of basic human rights as fair game in capitalist pursuits. It should be noted that more people lose their lives and suffer in many ways because of various forms of economic restructuring for the interests of a select few than because of wars. The US establishment has institutionalized the essence of slavery and settler colonialism as a global invisible caste system. The system preys on dehumanized minorities and economically disadvantaged populations caged in the lower layers of the caste system, where they endure a disproportionate amount of exploitation and subjugation. They function as the source of profits as well as a gateway to introduce unjust laws, inhumane precedents and the rest of the colonial schemes for the corporate capital. The momentum of plundering is powered by, as you might have guessed, capitalism.
A police officer leaving a body on scorching asphalt for hours is a street execution, parallel to the act of hanging a body from a tree. A dying Black man covered in his own blood is the headless body of an American Indian. Yes, white people get shot too, because anyone who can’t go along with the norms and values of the patriarchal white supremacy of money and violence is marginalized and located down at the bottom of the caste system, just as courageous white people were hung right next to their black friends by the lynchers.
More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/07/13/race-war-fraud/
Don’t Eat the Yellow Rice: the Danger of Deploying Vitamin A Golden Rice
Don’t Eat the Yellow Rice: the Danger of Deploying Vitamin A Golden Rice
July 12, 2016
by Ted Greiner
What better way to discredit your critics than to rope in 107 naive Nobel Prize winners (all without relevant expertise) to criticize your opposition?
But such tactics are not new. Long ago, the GMO industry spent well over $50 million to promote “Golden Rice” as the solution to vitamin A deficiency in low income countries. They did so well before the technology was completely worked out, let alone tested. Let alone consumer acceptability tested. Let alone subjecting it to standard phase 2 and 3 trials to see if it could ever solve problems in the real world.
So why has this apparently straightforward scientific project not reached completion after so many decades?
Because the purpose of Golden Rice was never to solve vitamin A problems. It never could and never will. It’s purpose from the beginning was to be a tool for use in shaming GMO critics and now to convince Nobel Laureates to sign on to something they didn’t understand.
More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/07/12/dont-eat-the-yellow-rice-the-danger-of-deploying-vitamin-a-golden-rice/
In the Aftermath of the Murder of Berta Cáceres: Squashing Indigenous Resistance and Discrediting In
In the Aftermath of the Murder of Berta Cáceres: Squashing Indigenous Resistance and Discrediting International Observers in Honduras
July 12, 2016
by James Phillips
People who work for human rights, the rights of Indigenous communities, protection of our global environment, and social justice, are demanding justice after the murder of Berta Cáceres. She was killed in early March when gunmen broke into her house and shot her. It is abundantly clear to many Hondurans and international supporters and observers that her killing was political. Cáceres was the charismatic leader of COPINH, an organization begun in 1993 by Lenca communities in Honduras to promote their rights and protect their traditional lands, and to work with other Indigenous and popular organizations.
In the three years before her murder, Cáceres led COPINH in actively opposing construction of the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam across the sacred Gualcarque River that runs through traditional Lenca lands in western Honduras. For her work she was awarded the international Goldman Prize in 2015 for Indigenous environmental activism. Cáceres helped to bring the Lenca struggle into global awareness, delivering an impassioned acceptance speech upon receiving the award in San Francisco. In Honduras, the Lenca and other Indigenous communities are widely seen as the front line of defense of the environment and the nation’s natural resources.
But Cáceres’ work also roused the fear and concern of those who wanted the dam as part of a larger economic development plan for Honduras that promoted foreign investment and large-scale resource extraction (mining, lumber, tourism, agribusiness) at the expense of hundreds of indigenous and peasant rural communities. These interests included the Honduran government and its powerful supporters, as well as U.S., Canadian, Chinese and other foreign interests. The Honduran company Desarollos Energéticos (DESA), with government support, held the contract for the Agua Zarca dam.
The dam builders cleared a dirt road to the construction site through traditional Lenca land without asking Lenca permission. Honduras is bound by national and internationalhondurasdangerous laws and treaties, including the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and International Labor Organization Convention 169 that prohibit taking or using indigenous lands or resources without “full, prior, and informed consent” of the affected communities. The Lenca claimed they were never consulted about the dam or the road. The company, DESA, also ordered them to stop using the river that had been central to their lives for many generations. In addition to private company security guards, a unit of Honduran military guarded the company’s construction compound, as if to emphasize the government’s interest in completion of the dam.
More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/07/12/in-the-aftermath-of-the-murder-of-berta-caceres-squashing-indigenous-resistance-and-discrediting-international-observers-in-honduras/
Mexico´s faces a test to end torture of women by police and military
Source: Amnesty International
Mexico´s faces a test to end torture of women by police and military
By Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International @ErikaGuevaraR, 12 July 2016, 17:15 UTC
Verónica Razo, a Mexican 37-year-old mother of three is terrified of sleeping. Every night, when she lies in her bed in a small cell in Morelo's’ federal prison, an hour outside the capital, Mexico City, her mind replays the scariest 24 hours of her life.
On 8 June 2011 federal police raped, suffocated and electrocuted her in a warehouse in Mexico City. She was tortured so badly that she almost died as a result. Police wanted her to say that she belonged to one of the brutal criminal gangs causing mayhem across the country. She has been behind bars since then.
Verónica’s story should be an exception; a terrible aberration; the result of a few “bad apples” within Mexico´s security forces. Tragically, it is not.
A groundbreaking report published by Amnesty International details the harrowing testimonies of 100 women who have been arrested by Mexico´s police or military, the majority during the current President Enrique Peña Nieto took office in December 2012.
Read more: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/07/mexico-s-faces-a-test-to-end-torture-of-women-by-police-and-military/
The Battle of Oaxaca
The Battle of Oaxaca
Written by Gustavo Esteva
Friday, 24 June 2016 08:38
This is not just another of the many Oaxacan wars. It is part of a much more profound and extensive war that is by no means contained within the national territory itself. But the battle being waged in Oaxaca has a special meaning in that war, in the larger war.
It is a battle long overdue. In Oaxaca people knew that many aspects of the ongoing confrontation were being postponed due to the elections. It was evident that after the elections, the attacks, provocations, and the final assault would intensify. Everywhere, preparations began.
All of Oaxaca was remembering the 14th of June. It was memory versus forgetting: today’s scenario seemed like a faithful mirror of 10 years ago. We watched the same movie: the teacher mobilizations, the encampment in the central plaza, the marches, the demands of the teachers, a fierce media campaign ... And the authorities were betting again on the erosion of Section XXII, on the growing irritation of the citizens, betting on people’s fear of violence and the loss of jobs and income...
The march that arrived at the central plaza of Oaxaca on June 14th exemplified the experience. Over the course of almost ten hours, beside the teachers camping out in the square, very diverse sectors of society creatively expressed the ways in which memory inspires action today.
The Civil Space is a new manifestation of collectives, organizations and groups of very diverse characteristics that reclaim the experience of 2006 to give it new forms. Their pronouncement, “10 years constructing new paths,” was formulated in the context of government violence “for the purpose of imposing the misnamed educational reform” and also in the context of an exemplary teachers’ and popular resistance in the face of imminent risk that the repressive black night of repression that we lived on November 25, 2006 would be repeated.
More:
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/mexico-archives-79/5652-the-battle-of-oaxaca
Paraguay farmers' leader gets 35 years for massacre
Source: Agence France-Presse
Paraguay farmers' leader gets 35 years for massacre
By AFP 3 hours ago .
The man behind the 2012 massacre of 17 police and farmers in Paraguay, in a crisis that helped bring down a president, was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Farmers' leader Ruben Villalba was on Monday handed the stiffest possible sentence for the killings in Curuguaty, 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of the capital.
The violence broke out when authorities ordered police in to remove landless farmers who were squatting on ranch land they did not own there. It helped lead to leftist then president Fernando Lugo's impeachment.
Three other suspects convicted along with Villalba were sentenced to terms between 18 and 20 years. Hundreds of Lugo supporters rallied outside the Justice Ministry against the sentences.
Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/world/paraguay-farmers-leader-gets-35-years-for-massacre/article/469788#ixzz4EAQbQGiQ
Rural Paraguayans Fight for Land Amid Corruption, Poverty and Violence
Written by Toby Hill
Monday, 16 May 2016 12:08
The closing down of a community-run radio in eastern rural Paraguay is the last example of repression in a country where 1,6% of its population controls 80% of its agricultural land.
For 14 years, Juan Aveiro broadcast Radio Mandu’arã to a cluster of communities in a remote corner of eastern Paraguay. He and his team of volunteer journalists worked from a makeshift studio painted pink. On one wall, a mural depicts Paraguayan peasant farmers or campesinos with their fists in the air, behind a banner proclaiming “peace and justice!”
Like many other community-run radios across Paraguay, Mandu’arã’s output reflected the quotidian ups and downs of local campesino life. Then, in November 2015, eight policemen and six public officials raided Mandu’arã’s studio. “They took everything,” Aveiro says. His experience is part of a pattern of suppression playing out across Paraguay, according to Francisco Benitez from CODEHUPY, an umbrella organisation of human rights groups. “This government is driving a process aimed at eradicating alternative voices of protest,” he says.
. . .
The most unequal land distribution in Latin America
This fight centres on land ownership. According to a 2008 census, 1.6% of Paraguay’s population controls 80% of its agricultural land. At the same time, 300,000 family ‘farmers’ live without access to any land at all. This shapes a situation in which a third of the rural population lives in extreme poverty. Such inequity is a legacy of the country’s long years of dictatorship.
During his 35-year rule, General Stroessner tortured his opponents in bathtubs, threw them out of planes, or parcelled them in barbed wire before dumping their bodies in the River Paraguay. As part of the clientilist networks through which he maintained power, Stroessner divided public land among the country’s military and political elite. 10 million hectares – 25% of all the land in Paraguay – were given away or sold at negligible prices.
More:
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/paraguay-archives-44/5632-rural-paraguayans-fight-for-land-amid-corruption-poverty-and-violence
Chilean rights activists allege prisoner disappearances
Chilean rights activists allege prisoner disappearances
Jul 11, 4:20 PM EDT
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) -- Human rights activists have presented a criminal complaint in Chile for the alleged disappearance of some 100 political prisoners that were reportedly kept at an enclave of German immigrants called Colonia Dignidad during the country's 1973-1990 military dictatorship.
Relatives of the alleged victims took advantage of the visit to Chile of German President Joachim Gauck to call on the two countries to work together in clearing up what happened inside the enclave that was founded in 1960 about 250 miles (400 kilometers) southeast of Chile's capital, Santiago.
The complaint alleges that the Chilean army ran "extermination commandos" inside the enclave with the collaboration of the German immigrant leadership overseeing the community.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_CHILE_POLITICAL_PRISONERS_DISAPPEARED?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-07-11-16-20-09
(Short article, no more at link.)
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