SOLIDARITY STATEMENT FROM THE BLACK AND GREEN FORUM
& 2nd SOLIDARITY ECO-CAMP IN THE PHILIPPINES
ECO CAMP BACKGROUND
Eco-Camp is an activity organized by Mobile Anarchist School with the help
by Local Autonomous Network (LAN) both active in the Philippines. Last
April 2012 was the first camping held in Tanay Rizal, Philippines. It was
attended by various collectives and individuals totaling around 40 people
who participated the various activities and discussions in the camp. The
objective of the eco-camp was to discuss the different issues confronting
our current society and to find solidarity actions that can help expose
and popularize our issues.
After series of activities in 2012, the LAN decided to expand its
activities on ecological issues due to concrete manifestation of the
crisis impacting the archipelago.
The second eco-camp gathering was organized by LAN and the Mobile
Anarchist School in March 2013 to heighten our education campaign and to
strengthen the relationship with other affinity groups and build an
international network better able to work towards intensifying our impact
by making solidarity actions globally.
We invited anarchist from Indonesia, Germany, Greece, Japan, and U.S.A. to
join us in the Philippines for six-day activities to share our
experiences, ideas, and discuss the possibility of organizing future
actions on these important issues detailed here.
The first event was the Black and Green Forum which provides education and
popularization campaign of LAN, and its objectives to provide analysis on
ecological issues based on the perspective of a non-hierarchical and
anti-authoritarian framework and to share alternatives which already being
done by anarchist and autonomous activists in the local and international
level.
The Black and Green Forum was carried out in collaboration with Third
World Studies Center- University of the Philippines (TWSC – UP) and
entitled “Anarchism: Ecological Crises, Climate Change and Direct Action”.
In recognition that Food not Bombs is one of among effective methods of
anti-authoritarian actions an activity was organized after the Black and
Green Forum to spread information with regards to history, experience and
insights of the Food Not Bombs global movement.
After the two events in Quezon City, activists witnessed the industrial
wastewater discharge into creeks and tributaries of Laguna Lake. The next
day, activists once again meet for four days at the Second Solidarity
Eco-camp in Tanay, Rizal. These activities culminated to adoption of this
common statement where the specific context of most localities detailed
below was critically discussed.
Mining surfaced as one of the major issues being addressed by the network
in their respective localities due to its various social and environmental
impacts. But generally, autonomous and anarchist activists are responding
to multiple and interconnected social and ecological issues.
PHILIPPINES
The massive destruction of the ecology of the archipelago is directly
attributed to investments of corporations who are up to extract natural
resources to gain more profit.
The marginalized communities in the global south such as the majority of
urban and rural poor communities in the Philippines constantly experience
the negative impacts of environmental destructions; the changing weather
pattern already claimed 300,000 of lives on the annual basis, it destroyed
billions of assets and it caused massive losses in various sectors such
agriculture. Floods and landslide have become common and the government
has shown that it will not provide concrete and long term solutions.
Despite of very destructive and hazardous impact of mining, the government
allowed it to operate and even give more incentives to corporations, the
corrupt government is assisting the destructive enterprise of these
profit-hungry institutions through legislations and coercive processes.
Mining corporations in the Philippines such as Sagittarius Mines/Xtrata,
Philex and among others should be held liable to the destruction of the
environment, murdering people and displacing communities. The said
corporations and the likes should be kick-out of the archipelago and made
them pay for the damages and violence they incurred.
In general, lakes, rivers, bays, forests (upland and mangroves) and other
ecosystems are being used and exploited in favor of the capitalists to the
demise of marginalized communities. We encourage people and community to
directly take action in defending and reclaiming their lives by protecting
their own habitat.
JUSTICE FOR THE VICTIMS OF STATE VIOLENCE
Like any government in the world, the Philippine Republic is guilty of
executing people both political and innocents. The Philippine government
is harboring criminals that terrorize and rob people. The Philippine
National police (PNP) and the military (Armed Forces of the Philippines)
are supposed to protect the people; but we are all aware that these
institutions violate people’s dignity and life and getting away with it.
CONTACT
Email: aschool@riseup.net
LINKS
onsiteinfoshopphilippines.wordpress.com
ebinfoshop.surestepintegral.com
unitedmedianetwork.wordpress.com
mindsetbreakerpress.blogspot.com
INDONESIA
The history of Indonesia is a history of agrarian conflict which has
endured since colonial times, and continues to the present day. Conflicts
which remain unresolved or which are even deliberately cultivated to
reinforce structures that benefit political and business elites. And then,
as part of these conflicts, acts of violence emerge, by state security
forces against the people, legitimized in the name of the law. When
peasants and those defending the people’s rights are prosecuted,
terrorized, intimidated, arrested or shot, it is a clear example that the
state prefers to solve its problems with violence.
Meanwhile, the people who are standing in the way of capital’s expansion
are themselves labeled as violent, under the pretext that state security
forces are merely maintaining security and stability (for capital).
Another source of violence comes from those elements of society whose
discourse supports that of the state and corporations, with their slogans
about resistance, saying that resistance should be non-violent, meaning
that the people do nothing in the face of the state’s treachery. The
actions which the people take in defending or reclaiming what is
rightfully theirs is not violence. It is their struggle, just as in the
colonial era people took up arms to fight for independence.
The Forum for Communication between Agrarian Communities (FKMA) was
conceived, formulated and formed by peasant farmers and other communities
that have been victims of the collusion between the state and corporations
to seize agrarian resources (living space).
JAPAN
ECOLOGICAL DESTRUCTION BY CORPORATION AND STATE (MINING PROJECT
&RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION)
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident is the second largest
nuclear disaster after Chernobyl. Approximately 30,000 people died of its
accident, and currently, around 150,000 people still live in evacuation
under government order or by their own choice and certain number of those
people cannot go back to their home town forever because of high level of
radioactive contamination.
Although it was triggered by a large earthquake and tsunami, this accident
was definitely a human disaster. It means that an electric company and the
national government are responsible due to a series of underestimations
sustained by a “myth of safety”, such as that of the height of a possible
tsunami, the possibility of a “station blackout,” and duration of power
failures. In addition, confusing and misleading information, and also a
deliberate concealment of information occurred.
In the background of this, there is the “Atomic Village” or “Atomic
Circle,” a very closed relationship among politicians, government offices,
academics, industrial leaders, and the media. Japan, has had no true
independent regulator of nuclear issues. This disaster revealed out that
Japan is the society simply determined by the economic growth led by the
state policy.
In response to all these incidents, unprecedented enormous protests
against nuclear society have been happening in Japan to get our destiny
back to our own hands. The struggles are work in progress.
[Further information regarding the protests]
Genpatsu Yamero Demo: http://911shinjuku.tumblr.com/
Metropolitan Coalition Against Nukes: http://coalitionagainstnukes.jp/
GERMANY
The German state as one of the powerful leaders in Europe and also in the
world has to defend its capitalist interests by any means necessary. In
the ongoing economical crisis in Europe, Germany is on the one side mainly
responsible for the tragic situation in countries like Greece, Spain or
Portugal where poverty and social exclusion is growing every day. On the
other side the state and some of the big corporations make profit from
this economical situation.
But concerning to one of the main topics (mining) at the Eco Camp, the
German business is actively participating in the overexploitation of
natural resources around the world and of course also in the Philippines.
Since over 10 years the “Commerzbank “gave credits to the mining company
Lepanto to support gold digging in the Cordillera region.
This area and their people are strongly affected through the environmental
pollution. In the Tampakan area in Mindanao a Gold and Copper project was
developed by the big Swiss mining company “ Xstrata“, one of the
shareholders is the „Deutsche Bank“. This bank also gave loans to “Atlas
Consolidated” to finance their copper mine in Toledo City, Cebu. But also
other big companies, like for example “DHL“ try to make substantial
profits out of this dirty economical practice. They provide everything
what is needed to take care of the mining sector needs. These short
examples show how German companies are involved in international mining.
Some additional short notices should highlight that Germany tries to
consolidate their leading position as good as possible. Germany and their
military forces intervene in different international conflicts, for
example in Afghanistan, Syria or since some weeks in Mali.
Furthermore Germany takes part in developing new strategies of modern
warfare to control social uprisings. In the middle of the country is the
most advanced training center in Europe for practicing war and
counterinsurgency. But beside this practice of prevention they do
everything to fight possible enemies. Surveillance, repression and police
brutality are only some ways to secure their power.
The struggle against capitalism is global. For international solidarity.
Let’s light up the fire of revolt. For social revolution!
USA
The U.S. is in the last days of empire and is forcing a crisis on the
population. The 2010 census shows that one in two Americans are struggling
to survive. Several million people are homeless and half of all prisoners
on Earth are locked up in U.S. jails. While the two political parties
pretend to argue over policy they really share the same goals of
supporting transnational corporate power.
Since Americans are in a period of what may be the final transfer of
capital from the taxpayers to the elite the authorities are taking every
measure to protect their interests from civil unrest. Federal and Sate
governments are implementing policies to aid in a rapid increase in
mining, oil extraction, timber harvesting and many other ecologically
damaging activities which are also inspiring resistance. New legal
policies give the president the power to kill or detain anyone including
Americans without trial. For the first time since the civil war the
military is empowered to wage war against the American people. Local
police have been militarized with new equipment, training and powers.
The current economic crisis has inspired a new wave of anti-homeless laws
and other forms of criminalization of the poor. The technology for
surveillance is so sophisticated the authorities are able to monitor
nearly all electronic communications and monitor nearly every movement of
anyone conceders a threat.
Protests in the U.S. against the policies of the state and corporations
have been frequent but Occupy Wall Street surprised both the activist
community and the security forces. Many people who had never considered
participating in a protest where moved to join because of their personal
conditions. Many of the new protesters had voted for Obama believing here
would bring change but he continued the policies that caused them to lose
their jobs and homes. Occupy Wall Street also frightened the elite
inspiring bans or limitations on the sharing of food in public spaces.
This has in some cases caused the local community to support groups like
Food Not Bombs. In late December 2012 a public interest law firm received
nearly 200 pages of F.B.I. documents showing that the Obama administration
was worried and started to monitor activists months before the occupations
started. These documents show that the F.B.I. organized with private
security to implement a wide range of disruptive tactics including
organizing bombing plots in the name of occupy and a suggestion that the
people considered to be the leaders be killed using suppressed sniper
rifles. Since the disruption of occupy resistance in the United States has
been in disarray. Efforts to regroup have been derailed by covert means
within the movement.
After the evictions and disruption of the occupy movement many activists
refocused their attention to stopping the XL Keystone Pipeline, the rapid
increase in coal mining and the associated rail lines and super ports.
There is also an increase in protests and direct actions against the rapid
increase in hydraulic fracturing or fracking though no wide spread
campaign of sabotage by the public has occurred yet. Fracking is a
process of pumping toxic chemicals into the earth to force carbon to the
surface. The contamination to fresh water and the surrounding ecosystem is
already driving many into poverty as their land and homes have become
worthless. This crisis is likely to grow dire when the tens of thousands
of wells already in operation run dry during the decade and the small
amount of profit shared with local land owners also evaporates.
It is very important that the Anarchists and other opponents of corporate
and government domination start to work together and consider new
strategies of resistance while at the same time organizing systems of
mutual aid as the economy continues to collapse and the repression
increases.
Millions more will become homeless and hunger is sure to increase in the
United States. The new police state policies like the deployment of the
military in local communities, advanced methods of surveillance and the
promised use of over 30,000 drones patrolling American skies will make
resistance challenging. Reaching the public with counter information and
working with them to implement some effective strategies of resistance
while building an alternative to the failing system will require
reflection and critical thinking in the anarchist community.
Recent events like Katrina and Sandy, the occupations, increase in
projects like community gardening show that the best hope for Americans
can be found in the ideas of the anarchist community.
GREECE
“THE MINES OF HALKIDIKI ARE A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY THAT SHOULD NOT GO WASTED”
Soil, water and air are priceless, and belong to all of us. Gold, on the
other hand, is an abstract concept that, especially today, acquires value
when it functions as ‘money’, when it is used as an effort to
counterbalance the ‘over-the-top money’, money invented out of thin air,
that came into being three decades ago through bank lending and the stoke
exchanges’ system of speculation and gambling. We have to point out the
fact that only the 10% of the world’s extracted gold deposits is actually
put in some tangible use. At the same time, the quantity of gold that is
being used as ‘money’ in stoke exchanges and in the international monetary
system is seven times more than the real quantity of gold which can be
found in the planet.
‘Development and progress’ is the echo following the announcements
concerning the goldmines, as well as the wind turbines on Lesvos and
Limnos islands, and elsewhere, the waste incineration factories; all these
plus innumerable other such crimes are presented as the antidote to the
crisis, the same crisis that the development itself created. The case of
the goldmines is the most extreme one, out of all these ‘developing crimes
in the name of progress’, due to the fact that no one even dares to oppose
the destruction that they are about to cause, but also because—as we all
know by now—the multinationals will draw all the profit, apart from a
short-term small portion that will go to a few hundred workers.
Furthermore, it is not coincidental that this scandalous transaction scam
of the northern-eastern Halkidiki mines took place during a period of
affluence, at a time when no one paid any attention, while the realization
of the mega-project, the actual construction of the mines, is pushed
forward now, amidst the crisis. Here, we are faced with blunt blackmail:
we have to either accept such a plainly and straightforward destructive
proposition, or else we will not manage to survive.
The whole problem with the capitalistic growth is not simply that there
are some businesspeople and politicians who are squeezing exorbitant
profits out of everybody else, and in order to do so—always in the name of
the profit—they will destroy the environment, but the plain fact that our
lives are being governed by an international money mafia that kills
humans, animals and the Earth. The true face of progress is one of a
vicious circle that will constantly dictate even harsher terms in order to
exploit more each time. Development manages to achieve this through the
breaking up of communities and the weakening of individuals, bonding them
tighter and tighter to the chariot of this mechanism of death and
destruction called capitalism. Consequently, this ongoing collapse gives
birth to certain types of people who fall prey to the blackmail—because
they are so desperately looking for single-handed solutions that seem to
be in their own self-interest—and eventually believe that their interests
are the same ones with those of multinational corporations. They do not
care about the impact that their choices have on the whole of society, the
consequences of which will soon knock also on their door.
The system wishes to incapacitate us so that we are in no position to
decide for ourselves. Its whole existence depends on whether we choose to
bind ourselves to the dynamic engine of capitalism, in order to survive or
even enjoy a share of the profits of the capitalistic growth. If we want
to stand against this dictatorship of money, if we want to build another
world, we cannot succumb to this blackmail of crisis that is offering
further disasters and is driving us towards the desperate pursuit of a
personal bailout while threatening entire communities with mass
destruction. We can neither hand over our future to any sort of saviors.
On the contrary, we must fight to defend common goods and resources. We
must fight to put an end to the activities of these mega-companies and of
all the politicians who are in their payroll. We must struggle to prevent
the destruction of people’s communities.
Social solidarity, collective consciousness and human values are our
weaponry.
We must meet and discuss:
Which goods are necessary?
Which are the values that we should fight for?
How do we take decisions? How can we, ourselves, organize and take charge
of our lives?
Whoever is silent is an accomplice to the crime…
OPEN COORDINATIVE OF THESSALONIKI AGAINST THE GOLDMINES
http://nogoldthess.espivblogs.net/
