Eggs Laid by Tigers
Friday, July 03, 2009
Peru, Hawaii, and Texas
Aljazeera, and Reuters, quoted by Forbes, say that Peru's prime minister will step down, as a result of 34 Indigenous folks killed by "security forces" in the Amazon region last week.
Peru's prime minister is like a chief of staff in our system.
There have been calls for the president, Alan Garcia, to resign be that is not likely to happen.
Reuters reports as follows:
Indigenous protesters and police died in the clashes, which flared during demonstrations against government plans for large-scale energy and mining projects deep in the rain forest.
The conflict has threatened to slow Garcia's push to lure billions of dollars in foreign investment in the resource-rich Andean nation. Emphasis added
Remember that the finance minister said Sunday that a change in the cabinet will not affect economic policies worth Billions. British and French companies are competing for the right to log and drill in the Amazon. The work cannot be done without harm to the folks who have lived in the rain forest since time immemorial.
Here's the scene of the clash.
Here's some folks on their way to a protest.
Here's some folks blocking the only road into the forest.
Years ago we did something like this in Waiahole Valley, on the Windward Side of Oahu.
More pics are below.
The government decided to terminate the leases of all the folks who were farming the Valley, I forget now what for. When the sheriffs came to serve the eviction notices some 200 folks blocked the only road into the Valley.
The sheriffs, who probably had relatives or friends in the Valley, where more interesting crops than yams were grown, left without a fight. A long period of sign waving, petition-signing, honking of horns and negotiation ensued. Many signed long term leases.
A friend of mine, suffering from the effects of service in Vietnam, demanded ownership of his 2 acres. He was eventually served and the matter went to court. Reinhardt Mohr, whom some of you will remember, represented the guy. The guy's determined and mad insistence on ownership eventually won the day and he got a deed to the land.
Heady days. The Peruvians must be experiencing some of the same dread and exhilaration.
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Pics from Waiahole Valley eviction days:
COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS!
Valley residents:
Valley sights: 
Even Pahukoa Brett Favre joined in 
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In Peru, ordinary citizens are standing up to a government insensitive -- indeed destructive -- to their interests. That was the dynamic in Waiahole. A similar dynamic is playing out in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, where the government is building a Wall separating the US from Mexico.
The Valley was where I was born and reared. It remains important to me.
If a Wall is built there, reat harm will be done to the folks who live in he Valley and the towns across the river in Mexico. Everyone has been able to freely cross for centuries. Families will be divided, business interest hurt, environmental damage will ensue, the campus of the University of Texas in Brownsville will be cut into two parts, folks who own contiguous plots of land on both sides of the river will have no access to their land across the river.
I don't know the degree of sophistication that has been brought to bear on the government to stop this madness. I'll look it up later. Here are some Wall pics:
I don't like fences in general, and I especially don't like them for the Valley. I sure hope opposition is effectively organized, but the Valley may be unable to accept a community organizer
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