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GLOBAL MINGA in defense of Mother Earth (12 October - day of global action) international |
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 Tuesday October 12, 2010 11:02 by Dunk - Barcelona Global Minga group fuspey at yahoo dot co dot uk Barcelona
 SYSTEM CHANGE, NOT CLIMATE CHANGE Minga Global: In every corner of the planet, those of us who want to save the life are raising our voices against capitalist aggression expressed in the looting and the commodification of life. Because we know that other worlds are not only urgent: they are, above all, possible. And we are building them. Today is a Day of Global action in defense of Mother Earth, the call out comes from Indigenous networks from Latin America, to reclaim this day which is called COLOMBUS DAY here in Spain, the day that celebrates the start of the invasion of LOS CONQUISTARES, the beginning of the end for Latin America. The CJA network have responded to the call and their are a series of actions around the planet... Truth is not much, but 2 days ago, in another global day of action, that of the 350 and 10:10 networks, a global work day, for communities to do stuff in their communities to reduce emissions of CO2. It was impressive, 350.org stated: “Yesterday, people at 7347 events in 188 countries got to work on the climate crisis. People joined together to dig community gardens, install solar panels, plant trees and more. We’re sending a clear message to our political leaders: “if we can get to work, so can you!” Now if its possible to fire up those communities to going further, well then, we might be on track to preventing ourselves from the collective species wide suicide treadmill we are presently on... as outlined in George Monbiots Guardian piece today. ( It goes against our nature; but the left has to start asserting its own values http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2010/...rest? ) "So here we are, forming an orderly queue at the slaughterhouse gate. The punishment of the poor for the errors of the rich, the abandonment of universalism, the dismantling of the shelter the state provides: apart from a few small protests, none of this has yet brought us out fighting." Here in Barcelona the call from GLOBAL REVOLT, amongst others is: Tuesday 12 Oct, 17h: Anticapitalist, Antifascist and Antiracist March on the 12th October. Plaça de Catalunya (Telefónica) Here is the call out from 2009's Global Minga... Global Mobilization for Mother Earth From the 12th till the 16th of 2009. In every corner of the planet, those of us who want to save the life are raising our voices against capitalist aggression expressed in the looting and the commodification of life. Because we know that other worlds are not only urgent: they are, above all, possible. And we are building them. The Earth is a live being and is seriously ill. We, her inhabitants, are those who are affecting her with the virus of developmentalism. We inhabit an ocean called the atmosphere, as fish live in water. Without it, there would be no life, because it contains oxygen and water, together with the forests and rains that give sustenance to live beings. But we are affecting her terribly. The Pachamama generates climate phenomena to heal herself from global warming and she seeks a new balance that many life forms cannot tolerate. If we don’t change course, the global temperature will increase by 2şC in a few years and the cataclysms will be uncontrollable. It will be the greatest social-environmental climatic catastrophe of human history. Technological advances, thousands of industries, millions of vehicles, generate huge amounts of gases that contaminate and endanger the stability of life. Greed for profit and accumulation, the individualism of capitalism, have brought about a deep financial, economic, productive, social, cultural, racial and religious crisis. The speculative financial bubble, structural unemployment, social exclusion, global warming, cultural shock, racist violence and religious fanaticism, all simultaneously. So many and such deep simultaneous crises form an authentic crisis of civilization itself: a crisis of the myth and the snare of “capitalist development and modernity”; of Eurocentrism, with its one-nation state, cultural homogeneity, Western positive law, developmentalism and commercialization. Does this mean that we have lost the capacity to coexist with the planet? Has the time to change come? The Mother Earth will transform and save herself: our challenge is to save ourselves. This means taking urgent measures. We, the indigenous peoples, for thousands of years have built civilizations based on balance and harmony between human beings and Mother Nature. For that reason, we knew how to conserve biodiversity and to produce foods essential for humanity, in societies without exploitation. Today we offer our values, our practices and our knowledge to save the planet; wthout capitalist imposition, destruction nor contamination. Responding to this historic challenge and fulfilling the mandate of the 4th Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities of Abya Yala, we CALL FOR the Global Minga*/Mobilization in Defense of Mother Earth and the Peoples, against the commodification of life (foodstuffs, water, biodiversity, natural goods); contamination and depredation (by mining, hydrocarbons, hydroelectric projects, logging, cattle ranches, agrofuels, GMOs); consumerism and criminalization of social struggle; and for setting up the Tribunal of Climate Justice. From October 12 to 16, in every corner of the planet, all those who want to save life will raise our voices against capitalist aggression, expressed in the pillage and commodification of life. Because we know that other worlds are not only urgent: they are, above all, possible. And we are already building them. (* “Minga”: kichwa term meaning a collective community endeavor). Organizations launching the call: Coordinadora Andina de Organizaciones Indígenas (CAOI) / Coordinadora de las Organizaciones Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica (COICA) / Consejo Indígena de Centro América (CICA) / Movimiento de los Trabajadores Rurales Sin Tierra (MST) / Conferčncia de Nacions sense Estat d’Europa (CONSEU) / IV Cumbre Continental de Pueblos y Nacionalidades Indígenas del Abya Yala / Indigenous, autochthonous, farmers’, environmentalists and social movements of America, Africa, Asia and Europe. Aims • To fight for the continuation of life, for being at peace with the Earth, for the Greater Law, for natural goods and spirituality linked to the Pachamama, collective rights, natural laws, water for the future generations. • To raise awareness in society on the necessity of coexisting with Nature, in balance with her. • To raise an alert about the imminent danger of an environmental catastrophe that threatens the planet and to point to those responsible: global capitalism, transnational companies and complicit States. • To demonstrate that it is possible to respond to this change from the proposals and practices of our peoples, in harmony and reciprocity with Mother Nature: with Good Living, plurinational States and an integration model based on fairness, reciprocity and complementariness. • To denounce neoliberal capitalism, that criminalizes social protest in order to impose the pillage and depredation of Mother Nature. • To demand amnesty for all indigenous and social leaders and environmental activists who are on trial for defending the rights of the peoples and of Mother Nature. • To implant the Tribunal of Climate Justice (Cochabamba, Bolivia, October 13 and 14), to judge transnational companies and complicit States, as the first step towards an International Tribunal on Environmental Crimes. • To open up the debate on the crisis of capitalist civilization, with the proposal of the indigenous peoples, so as to halt climate catastrophe. Activities • Manifestos by a wide range of organizations of indigenous and social movements, with alternatives to halt global climate and environmental catastrophe. • A memorial with concrete proposals to present to the Convention on Climate Change, Convention on Biological Diversity, the UN, Inter-American Commission on Human rights and similar organizations of other continents. • Mobilizations around the world (in urban and rural communities), for specific demands, at the local and national level, and the common goal of the Global “Minga”. • Sit-ins in front of UN offices and those of transnational companies in the extractive sector (hydrocarbons, mining, logging, water), and those of agrofuels and GMOs. • Discussion forums and cultural or political rallies around defense of Mother Earth and the peoples, against the commodification of life, contamination and social criminalization. • Holding Tribunals of Climate Justice to judge environmental crimes. • Assemblies to coordinate strategies towards the Alternative Summit to the Kyoto Protocol Conference (Copenhagen, December 2009). Climate Justice Tribunal 85% of the gas emissions responsible for the green-house effect that causes global warming are generated in the richest countries. Only 3% in Latin America. But the harmful effects such as flooding and droughts hit the poorest countries hardest. Thus, developed countries have brought about a series of imbalances in poorer countries, which is the origin of the ecological debt owed to our peoples. The model of irrational exploitation of natural goods is to blame, since it is imposed worldwide, devastating human rights, the collective rights of peoples and those of Mother Nature, creating imbalance. For this reason, in accordance with the mandate of the 4th Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities of Abya Yala, in alliance with a broad network of social movements and organizations from all around the planet, we are building the Tribunal of Climate Justice, to morally judge those who cause the environmental crisis. It will be installed on October 13 and 14 in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The Tribunal of Climate Justice will make it possible to morally identify and impugn the transnational companies and complicit States that pillage natural goods and undermine the rights of the peoples and of Mother Nature. And it is a first step towards the creation of an International Tribunal of Environmental Justice, along the lines of the Court of The Hague. Moreover, the Tribunal will give visibility to the cause-effect relation between the extractive corporate model of development imposed by transnational companies and climate change. The Tribunal will pass ethical judgment on those responsible for the ecological debt, caused by the consumerism that turns biodiversity into commodities.
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Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4An important take on all this was recorded with an old 68'er (france 1968) after all the CJA stuff last winter in denmark...
Failure and Victory in Copenhagen (includes audio interview) - http://climatecaravan.wordpress.com/2010/01/02/failure-...agen/
Reclaiming Power in Copenhagen
A decisive step towards a global climate justice movement
The French Revolution is generally said to have began when part of the clergy and minor nobilility deserted their respective assemblies, which had been convened by the king, to join the assembly of the commoners, the Third Estate. If the word gets out, perhaps the Reclaim Power and Peoples’ Assembly action of the 16th of December, will spark something as important.
That may sound pretentious. We were only a few thousand, only a handful made it briefly onto the grounds of the Bella Center and those inside were beaten back from joining us. But in Seattle too, it was just a few thousand kids who took the decisive action, and they only delayed the summit a few hours. In Copenhagen, the cops won tactically, but their violence only underscored our amazing political victory.
While the world’s powers lost all credibility, fighting among themselves to grab as much CO2 (that is to say as much production and profits) as possible, hundreds of accredited NGO delegates (our modern equivalent to the clergy of the Old Regime), and the governmental delegations of Bolivia, Venezuela and Tuvalu decided to leave the Conference in order to join the Peoples Assembly and discuss the real solutions.
That was our best case scenario.
We never dreamed that our enemies would be so stupid as to dramatise their fear of our action : excluding hundreds of NGOs that they suspected would join us, kidnapping the demo spokespersons and « leaders », seizing the sound truck and above all using clubs to drive back the demo of official delegates who tried to force their way out to join the Assembly. After the massive police infiltration, the dozens of arrests and the trumped up charges against Ya Basta people during the police attack on the assembly in Christiania two days before, the searches and seizures of all sorts of material (even bikes and banners !), this apparently irrational level of repression probably reflects how much power felt menaced by our project.
Very clearly, from the start the police plan was to disorganise our action, provoke us, then beat us up a bit and serve us to the media as a « riot ». But they hadn’t imagined that the demo- even without the sound truck or the « leaders » – would be capable of self-organising and continuing according to plan : trying to get in, assembly with speakers and small groups, compact march back, etc.
Some of the most experienced activists were disappointed that more material didn’t get to the fence, that more concerted efforts to get over didn’t happen, that the other blocks were neutralised so fast. But, although illegality and the practical efforts to break in were an absolutely essential part of our political statement, we mustn’t stay hung up on the purely concrete, tactical level. The objective was not to break in as such, it was to affirm practically our RIGHT to break in and hold an Assembly to talk of the peoples’ solutions. To make it impossible to ignore that there IS an alternative agenda. That was why holding the Assembly – be it finally just inside or just outside the fence – was the essential goal.
Most of the mainstream media had run off by the time the Assembly was held, but that didn’t affect the political importance of a march and an Assembly which brought together the northem activists of CJA with the most significant grassroots movements of the South . There were farmers movements of Via Campesina from all continents, Jubilee South and tmany other movements represented in the From Trade to Climate Caravan : the peoples of Oceania, the Philippine Fisherfolk, the landless of India, indigenous peoples of Mexico, Panama, Colombia and the Andes, etc. They are all menaced by climate change and totally reject a neo-neo-colonial aggression, which under the guise of « market solutions », seeks to make the South pay – more brutally than ever – for a new cycle of « green » capitalist expansion. But more importantly, they were there to offer real solutions, such as : food sovereignty, energy sovereignty, leaving the oil in the soil, re-localised production and another conception of « liviing well », which calls on the North to recognise its Climate Debt and radically question the capitalist project of infinite growth, over-production and over-consumption,
The critical point is that this Assembly was not a chance and fleeting moment. It marked a longer term convergence of different networks and political cultures : global networks of movements and progressive NGOs like Climate Justice Now and Our World Is Not For Sale, networks composed more of young northern activists like Climate Justice Action, the Climate Camps, old Peoples’ Global Action hands, etc. Political victories aren’t just about getting the better of the cops (and even less about the results of the official summit),. Victories are about coming out the battle more credible and more united than before. Credible : today, hopefully the people who imagined that it would be enough to pressure our rulers into a « good » deal, will better understand the necessity of building ourselves the solutions and imposing them through grass-roots popular power. United : since the Zapatistas called forth the anti-globalisation movement 13 years ago, there has never been such a broad alliance of organisations calling for « system change ».
Spontaneously, the same proposition came out ot the evaluations of CJA and CJN : organise People’s Assemblies everywhere, to tackle climate change issues at the local and regional level. These could organise against local sources of CO2 (in transport, for example) or false solutions (nuclear power, etc.), but also impose or construct directly real solutions (organising local food distribution systems). At the same time, by their links to the other assemblies, they would build a global movement, with a global day of assemblies next summer and a global day of action under the banner « System change not Climate change ! ».
So much for the ideas, but maybe its also important to talk of the spirit, the conviction and enthusiasm that made that demo and other moments in Copenhagen so magic for many. Objectively, we were practically kettled in by the cops, but it didn’t affect most people at all. There was no fear or powerlessness in the air. The march back, which had been rather dangerously announced as a « victory march », actually did rather feel like that. After eight hours in the cold and snow, the demo arrived in the center still compact and continuously belting out slogans. Even the last anti-repression demo was not only very large, it seemed to me to have an almost joyful feeling. For instance, the mother of an arrested spokesperson sang Janis Joplin and a song she had come to her during the Reclaim Power demo. People have to feel very sure of their ideas and very sure of each other for this kind of « moment of excess » to happen. As we marched through the night, a phrase came back to me again from Seattle : « We are winning .»
Now we all have to go home, get the word out and make it happen. Now its clear that we can only count on ourselves. The challenge is colossal, but everywhere there are people who know that we don’t have any other choice.
Olivier, from the Climate Caravan
http://radio.indymedia.org/uploads/peoples_assembly_review.mp3
After many battles in Copenhagen, where does the climate justice movement go from here.
The global minga is a week long affair, with events happening in many parts of the planet.
Just in the last while today, activists @ London have shut down the largest oil refinary in the UK, see this lovely image of a whole trail of SHELL trucks blocked from work. This is all part of THE CRUDE AWAKENING event in london. GLOBAL MINGA - week of direct action in defense of mother earth. System change, not climate change..
http://crudeawakening.org.uk/ IMAGE via twitpic - http://twitpic.com/2y6ie5
Global Week of Action for Climate Justice - http://global.climate-justice-action.org/main
System Change not Climate Change! Taking direct action for climate justice (CJA - climate justice action)
http://www.climate-justice-action.org/news/2010/08/09/s...tice/
CJA / CRUDE AWAKENING - shut the SHELL fucker down
GLOBAL MINGA - week of direct action in defense of mother earth. System change, not climate change..
CLIMATE JUSTICE ACTION - alive and well in london town and beyond tonight...
Where will you be on the day that London kicks its oil addiction?
Crude Awakening, Central London, 16th of October. Public mass action against the oil industry. You need to be ready to move and to HOLD A SPACE. This is about disruptive and effective direct action.
- Twelve female climate activists handcuffed themselves to two immobilised vans which blocked the sole access road, preventing oil tankers from leaving the refinery.
http://www.euronews.net/nocomment/2010/10/17/environmen...iner/
16 October – OIL REFINERY BLOCKADED
http://crudeawakening.org.uk/node/25
16 October – OIL REFINERY BLOCKADED
- Protesters block road to oil refinery
Hundreds block road as activists handcuff themselves to lorries
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/oct/16/cimate-change-...inery
- Climate change v capitalism: the feast is almost over | Music | guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/oct/15/climate-cha...alism
- crude awakenings photos -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/crudeawakening/with/508618...8415/
Perhaps, next year, more Irish events can be incorporated into GLOBAL MINGA 2011, especially given the situation in Rossport.
Crude Awakening - Public mass action against the oil industry. You need to be ready to move and to HOLD A SPACE. This is about disruptive and effective direct action.
Its OIL over
Direct action gets results... More are joining the movement, change is happening
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Crude Awakening - Stand Your Ground
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Crude Awakening - Get Over it
Crude Awakening - Coryton Oil Blockade
Hundreds of demonstrators have stopped 375,000 gallons of fuel from leaving a depot after blockading the road to an oil refinery.
Police were forced to close the road after 100′s of protesters created several blockades along the only road route to the refinary.
One block of 12 women handcuffed themselves to lorries parked to deliberately block the main road leading to the Coryton refinery in Essex.
Demonstrators drove the vehicles to the refinery in an attempt to stop traffic getting to and from the site, which they accuse of exacerbating climate change.
http://www.youandifilms.com
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Crude Awakening / youandifilms