Magdiel Carrion, Vice-chair of the National Confederation of Communities Affected by Mining of Peru (CONACAMI), was interviewed by independent media in Detroit. She referred to the human rights abuses suffered by the indigenous communities and the lack of information about the international laws on the megaprojects that affect their territories.

“Alan Garcia’s administration refuses to recognize the ILO’s Convention 169, which provides that it is compulsory to previously consult the communities, says Carrion. Thirty five activists of her organizations have been charged with “terrorism” because of demanding a previous consultation in mining projects.

Meanwhile, the Guatemalan activist Juan Tiney, leader of the Coordination of Indigenous and Peasant Organizations (CONIC), explained that the corporations systematically deceive the communities to take over their lands.

“After the projects come the displacements. The war displaced peoples and today, twenty or thirty years later, we see the corporations here, with their large palm oil cultivations”, said Tiney.

The change is coming
The US Social Forum also issued a declaration in support of food sovereignty and the respect for healthy and sustainable food production in the US: “our work is to build a better food system in the US, which is strictly linked with the struggle for workers’, immigrants, women rights; the fight against racism and for the sovereignty of indigenous peoples”, says the declaration.

Some of the actions committed by the participants of the forum in Detroit were to “promote the people’s agenda that came out of the Summit on Climate Change in Cochabamba – including popular education on food and climate justice – and to promote sustainable agriculture as a solution to climate change”.

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