Translation of "Underreported Struggles #51, June 2011"

Underreported Struggles #51, June 2011

In this month's Underreported Struggles: 1000 Indigenous people in Colombia warned that they would be killed if they tried to leave their communities; Aymaras in Peru lift their 45-day strike against the extractive industry; Indian government employees detained by villagers over hydro concerns; Indigenous communities in South Africa successfully halted mining operations that threatened their livelihoods.

Underreported Struggles, June 2011

Indigenous Leaders from the Xingu Indigenous Territory in Brazil, sent a stern yet hopeful message to the Brazilian government about their culture, their rights, their aspirations and the needs of their people. The letter was signed following the first-ever Festival of Xingu Cultures, which brought together all sixteen Indigenous Peoples in the Xingu Territory.

Aymaras in the Peruvian department of Puno lifted their 45-day strike against the extractive industry after reaching an accord with the government of Peru over the Canadian-owned Santa Ana mine. In the days leading up to the accord, Riot police opened fire on group of Indigenous protesters who were trying to raid an airport. Sic people died and three dozen more were injured . Western media inaccurately reported that the protesters were Aymara. They were in fact, Quechas, who were leading their own protest against mercury pollution on their land.

The Obama administration extended its ban on uranium mining within the Grand Canyon's 1-million-acre watershed, putting an end to fears that even more mining claims and resulting mining projects could be on the way. The decision to safeguard the watershed will last until the end of 2011, around the time an environmental analysis of the issue is set to be released. Thousands of mining claims have already been filed in the watershed area.

Owners of Arizona Snowbowl ski area started clear-cutting rare alpine forest for new ski runs on the Holy San Francisco Peaks. According to an Environmental Impact Statement more than 74 acres are slated to be cut. More than a dozen protesters recently halted the "construction work" by locking themselves to heavy machinery and to each other inside the new waste water pipeline trench. More than 15 armed agents, including the FBI, showed after just six hours and broke the protest up.