International Day of Action 2007: South America

Argentina | Brazil | Chile | Colombia | Paraguay

Argentina

¡Agua Viva!: A Week of Activities for Water

From March 14-22, there were events in Buenos Aires to celebrate and defend water rights. Activities included seminars, activist demonstrations and musical performances. More information can be found at www.amigos.org.ar.

Protestors Camp Out for Days to Fight for Reparations

Part of Friends of the Earth Argentina’s "Agua Viva," a week long series of activities -- members of communities affected by the Yacyretá Dam in Argentina camped out for days in front of the offices of the dam agency EBY (Entidad Binacional Yacyretá) in Buenos Aires. They held a large march, demanding reparations for the damages caused by the construction of Yacyretá.

Contact

Friends of the Earth -- Argentina
Email: tallercoord@ciudad.com.ar
Web: www.amigos.org.ar, www.argentina.indymedia.org/calendar

Book Presentation in Rosario

On March 15th, in spirit of the search for sustainable energy, Taller Ecologista presented the book "Un Modelo Energético en Apuros," by Pablo Bertinat and Juan Salerno. The book was published by the Sustainable Argentina Program with the help of the Heinrich Böll Foundation. The presentation was held on March 15th at 19 hrs (7 pm) at the Librería Homo Sapeins, Sarmiento 825, Rosario. They also presented a video entitled "REPRESAS: Energ¡a que destruye," or "DAMS: Energy that Destroys."

Contact

Alejandra Mart¡nez
Prensa Taller Ecologista
Phone: 0341 156 969 635
Or
Pablo Bertinat
Taller Ecologista
Phone: 0341 155 429 278

No a CORPUS y Nunca Más Otra Represa

On March 15-16, la Red de Organizaciones Sociales in Paraguay and Argentina held meetings, conferences and demonstrations against the Yacyretá Project and the proposed Corpus Project.

Contact

Heriberto Luis Cabral
Red de Organizaciones Sociales
Phone: 595-207508
Email: afecroga@itacom.com.py

Brazil

National Movement Against Dams in Brazil

Brazil’s Movement of Dam-Affected People (Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens -- MAB) focused its March 14 activities in major Brazilian cities -- Porto Alegre, Florianópolis, Belo Horizonte, Belém, Porto Velho, Goiânia, São Paulo and Fortaleza -- where they launched the campaign "The Price of Electricity is a Rip-Off." This year, MAB brought its efforts to the city centers, initiating dialogue and increasing public awareness around energy issues and the impacts of dams. The more than 16 MAB events across the country included public demonstrations, debates in schools and universities, theater performances, video exhibitions and academic seminars.

Activists Occupy an Environmental Licensing Agency in Protest of Dams

Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens (MAB) organized a short occupation of Ibama, an environmental licensing agency, to protest two dams in the state of Minas Gerais. MAB also occupied the work site for the Baguari dam (also in Minas Gerais). The protests at Ibama took place in the state capital of Belo Horizonte.

"Energy for Whom?" -- Protest Against the Mauá Hydroelectric Plant in Curitiba

In another MAB-organized event, environmentalists, researchers and representatives of non-governmental organizations of Paraná protested in Curitiba, against the construction of the Mauá Hydroelectric Plant on the Tibagi River. Participating organizations included Liga Ambiental, the Pastoral Land Commission, Center for Environmental Studies, Defense and Education (CEDEA), MAB, MOAB (Ribeira do Iguape Valley) and the Movement of the Landless, in addition to communities threatened by the Mauá (Tibagi River) and Tijuco Alto (Ribeira de Iguape River) dams. The protest took place outside the headquarters of the Secretariat of the State of the Environment. Under the thematic question "Energy for Whom?" a public hearing was also held in the state legislature to argue the impact the plant will cause to the Campos Gerais region -- one of the most biologically diverse regions in the country.

Contact

Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens (MAB)
Phone: (61) 3242-8535
Email: comunicacao@mabnacional.org.br
Web: http://www.mabnacional.org.br/english/index.htm

Debate on the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Complex

The Movement of Women Workers of Altamira, Fundação Viver, Produzir e Preservar, the Prelacy of the Xingu, FETAGRI, the Committee in Defense of Life, Missionary Indigenist Council, Popular Forum of Altamira, and others organized an event to debate the proposed Belo Monte Hydroelectric Complex on the Xingu River in the Brazilian Amazon on March 14.

Contact

Antonia Melo
Email: mulheresxingu@yahoo.com.br

Chile

Demonstration Against Dams in Patagonia

Free Flowing Rivers Environmental Society in Chile, with the support of local rafting and outdoor tourism companies organized a demonstration on the Futaleufú River in Chile. At the Escuela of the Azul River from 16:00hrs to 18:00hrs on March 14th, they made a giant sign that said "NO DAMS IN PATAGONIA," using people, rafts, kayaks and fishing equipment. An aerial photo was taken and sent to national press and different activist web pages around the world.

Contact

Rodolfo Rada, Founder
Free Flowing Rivers Environmental Society
Email: rodolforada@gmail.com

Protest Against the HidroAysén Project

Multiple groups, organizations and individuals, led by Coalición Ciudadana por Aysén Reserva de Vida, held a demonstration Sunday, March 11th in protest of the HidroAysén Project at the confluence of the Baker and Nef Rivers in Chilean Patagonia. This project proposes the construction of five dams on the Baker and Pascua rivers, which would create reservoirs that would flood thousands of hectares of forested land, land for cattle farming and unique tourist destinations. The event brought together people from Puerto Bertrand, Río Tranquilo, Cochrane, Río Nef, Guadal, Murta, Coyhaique and other village communities.

Contact

Peter Hartmann
Email: aisen-rv@entelchile.net

Opposing Contamination of the Huasco River

There were activities, including videos, music and theater, in Vallenar, in the Atacama Region of Chile, which increased awareness about contamination of the Huasco River from mining activities.

Contact

Claudio Huanchicay
Atacama Limpio
Email: atacamalimpio@hotmail.com

Colombia

Floral Offering to the Sinú River

The construction of Urrá I signified the death of the waters of the Sinú River, affecting traditional practices of fishermen and the indigenous Embera Katío. The association of fishermen and peasants of the region -- ASPROCIG -- to commemorate the International Day of Action for Rivers, brought a floral offering to the banks of the Sinú River in Cordoba, giving flowers to the great river that was destroyed by Urrá.

Meeting of the Consejo Comunitario del bajo Anchicayá (Community Council of the Lower Anchicayá)

The communities of Lower Anchicayá convened in Buenaventura on March 11th in protest of landslides caused by the dam in Lower Anchicayá, one day before a meeting previously scheduled with EPSA on the March 12. The communities are concerned with the company’s practices, specifically with tests conducted on the damage that did not include consultation processes previously required, as well as a lack of proper dredging procedures before the slides were authorized.

Bicycling Against Dams in Bogota

On March 14 in the office of CENSAT Agua Viva -- Friends of the Earth Colombia, young environmentalists of the Red Juvenial Ambiental Nacional (National Environmental Youth Network) (Red JUAN) and Re-Movilidad Sustentable (Sustainable Re-Mobility) hosted a social gathering and bicycle ride against destructive dams. The group rode bicycles through the main streets of the city with messages against dams and for alternative energies and alternatives modes of transportation. The group of "cycle-activists" met at 5pm in front of the Ministry of Environment, Housing and Land Development in Bogota. This action was a symbolic act by those that pedal the Environmental Initiative, aimed at strengthening popular environmentalism.

Contact

Juan Pablo Soler
CENSAT Agua Viva -- Friends of the Earth Colombia
Email: energia@censat.org
Web: www.censat.org

Paraguay

No a CORPUS y Nunca Más Otra Represa

On March 15-16, la Red de Organizaciones Sociales in Paraguay and Argentina held meetings, conferences and demonstrations against the Yacyretá Project and the proposed Corpus Project.

Contact

Heriberto Luis Cabral
Red de Organizaciones Sociales
Phone: 595-207508
Email: afecroga@itacom.com.py


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