5-3 Fall 1981

VIOLENCE CONTINUES IN SOUTHERN COLOMBIA

CSN's Winter 1981 article, "The Katio vs. Escobar," illustrated how proposed Colombian legislation. Proyecto de Ley II of 1981, would eliminate Indian communities' right to freely solicit non-government assistance. In the area surrounding the Resguardo of Christinía, large landowners, whose landgrabbing the Katio Indians are protesting, control and influence most government offices. Without…

POISONS AND PERIPHERAL PEOPLE: HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES IN THE THIRD WORLD

Vietnamese Exodus Continues...

Thousands of Vietnamese each month continue to risk the mortal dangers of escape, arriving in refugee camps throughout Southeast Asia hungry, ill, and exhausted. In May, 14,792 "boat people" received temporary shelter in approximately 40 camps in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and Hong Kong; in June, 12,368 refugee reached these camps. People of ethnic Chinese origin, initially the source of most…

SOME PESTICIDES IN USE AROUND THE WORLD

INSECTICIDES DDT - Banned for crop use in the U.S. since 1972, DDT is still used in many countries. DDT contamination has led to the rejection of beef shipments to the U.S. from Mexico, El Salvador, and Guatemala. In 1976, 500,000 pounds of beef from El Salvador was rejected for DDT levels of 95 ppm (the acceptable U.S. level is 5 ppm). In Guatemala, the average level of DDT in cows' milk is 90…

Refugees - Guatemalan Troops Clear Peten for Oil Exploration

On 19 July 1981, Mexico returned 1,855 Guatemalan refugees to their homeland.(°) Only 46, including 31 children, were given asylum. This was not the first time that Guatemalan Indian peasants fleeing the army's terror had crossed the borders en masse, nor was it the first time that Mexico had refused to grant them refugees status. Nonetheless United Nations sources and humanitarian organizations…

Railroading the Compensation Issue

A World Bank recently undertook a pre-appraisal study of a US $1-2 billion resource development project in Brazil's Serra dos Carajas, south of Belém. The project anticipates construction of an iron one mine and a railroad from the mine to the coast, and the expansion of the Sao Luis port to accommodate the ore. The railroad and mine are expected to open in 1983, achieving full production in 1985…

Poisoned by Pesticides: HONDURAS, GUATEMALA, VENEZUELA, IRAQ

HONDURAS The Save the Children Federation is encouraging small farmers to store their grain in silos made from laminated metal and to protect the produce with phostoxin, a pesticide containing aluminum phosphate. Many people, unable to afford both expenditures, nevertheless recognize the immediate value of the fumigant. Salvador Ramirez, a local grain merchant, is one such Honduran. He cannot…

Poisoned by Pesticides: BRAZIL

Throughout the seventies, there were reports of the massive use of herbicides in Brazil's jungle areas. 2, 4, 5-T and 2, 4-D, both with Picloram (Dow's Tordon 155 and 101, respectively) were used to clear forest and maintain pasture. Defoliants were sprayed from planes and applied by hand to kill particularly hardy trees or scrub brush. Regular use of these substances in the Guaporé Valley began…

PART I - PESTICIDES

Yearly, industrial countries produce one proud of pesticides for every man, woman, and child on earth. 75% of all pesticides arriving in the Third World, more than 600 million pounds, come from the U.S. Between 150 and 200 million pounds of these pesticides are either banned or not registered in this country; another 31 million pounds have been either suspended or cancelled for use in the U.S.…

OROMO CONTINUE TO FLEE VIOLENCE

Most of the world's refugees flee strife, based in part on interethnic conflict. The Oromo, one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa, are no exception. Living primarily in Ethiopia, they account for 60 percent of the country's population. The other major ethnic groups in the Ethiopian Empire are Tigrians, Somalis, and Eritreans who are fighting the Ethiopian junta for their independence.…

ORME DAM THREATENS YAVAPAI

The Yavapai Indian community at Fort McDowell is struggling to keep its land. The proposed Orme Dam, to be built at the confluence of the Salt and Verde Rivers some 25 miles northeast of Phoenix, would flood the entire Fort McDowell Yavapai Reservation. The traditional village area, including homes, four churches, cemetery, a new gymnasium, rodeo grounds, farms, pastures, baseball diamonds, water…

NICARAGUA: NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ATLANTIC COAST INDIANS

On 18 February 1981 Nicaraguan security forces quickly arrested 33 leaders of MISURASATA, the official Indian organization representing approximately 185,000 Miskito. Sumu, and Rama Indians from the Atlantic Coast. In the coastal town of Prinzapolka, when the police moved to capture a local leader, 4 Miskitos and 4 police were killed. Shortly thereafter, about 3000 Miskitos fled across the border…

MINING COMPANY PREFERS PR TO NEGOTIATION

The Ashton Joint Venture (AJV), a large multinational diamond mining consortium, is betting on public relations to solve its problems with aboriginal groups. Rather than renegotiate a controversial land rights settlement, AJV plans to launch a media campaign which portrays the settlement as a "Good Neighbour Program." A lobbying drive aimed at State and local officials will also be included in…

HAITIAN REFUGEES: ECONOMIC VICTIMS

The continuing stream of Haitian refugees pouring into southern Florida at the rate of 15,000 a year has far exceeded the holding capacity and resources of the Federal detention camp near the Florida Everglades. At one point a total of 1,247 Haitians were occupying the Krome Avenue Camp which has a holding capacity of 775. The over-burdened facilities have been described by Senator Lawton Chiles…

Fishing with Insecticide

The Atebubu District of Ghana borders the Volta Lake and is inhabited by Brong farmers and more recently Ewe from Togo. Lake and river fishing are important income earning activities in the area. The fishermen in the small fishing villages on streams and small feeder rivers to Lake Volta work under extremely exploitative conditions. Market middle people own the boats and buy the catch. Fishermen…

DEVELOPMENT PLANNING IN PERU'S AMAZON - THE PALCAZU

In May, the Peruvian Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr. Manuel Ulloa, presented a package of proposed projects to representatives of international commercial banks and multi- and bilateral lending institutions gathered in Paris. These projects, representing a total US $8 billion, will require at least US $4.6 billion from external sources. The largest investments are planned for projects…

ANUAK DECIMATED BY ETHIOPIAN GOVERNMENT

The Anuak are a tribal minority living as agriculturists in the fertile Gambela region of Western Ethiopia. In the Abyssinian Empire many became slaves and were taken to Addis Ababa and other large towns where they worked as domestic servants and carriers. Slavery was abolished in the area when it came under British rule in the early 20th century, but it was resorted when the Gambela region was…

ABORIGINAL LAND RIGHTS THREATENED

The Land Rights Act, passed by the Australian national government in 1976, entitles traditional Aboriginal inhabitants to claim ownership of vacant Crown land - considered useless by white Australians - as well as pastoral areas held on behalf of Aboriginals. Officials of the Northern Territory (NT), which became self-governing in 1978, are attempting to weaken the Land Rights Act by opening up…

ABORIGINAL GROUPS IN INDIA

OVERVIEW The aboriginal ethnic groups of India are called "scheduled tribes" in the Constitution. The designation, invented by the British, covers somewhat arbitrarily 255 such communities. According to the 1971 census the total population of India was 547,949,809, of which the scheduled tribes accounted for 38,015,162, or nearly 7% of the population. Although by now the national population has…