ORGANISERS IN BRAZIL REFLECT ON THE UN CLIMATE SUMMIT FARCE ~ CCLA Belém ~ Even before it began, as anarchists and libertarians we couldn’t expect much from a meeting that, over the years, has failed to curb capitalist greed in the slightest. It has only brought as its sole concrete “solution” to climate deregulation the commodification of a supposed right to pollute: the so-called carbon market. Therefore, we had carefully prepared our cultural centre to welcome the most varied forms of protest coming from the Brazilian Amazon (starting with Belém and its metropolis), from South America, and from the rest of the world. Every day, during that circus of comings and goings of official delegations corrupted by oil lobbyists, we proposed cultural activities, debates and discussion groups, solidarity meals, preparation for popular protest marches, etc. Despite this preparation and planning, we were fortunate to encounter unexpected moments and meet unfamiliar people, and to connect with others we had previously only known through the internet: we were able to participate in the occupation of the COP’s Blue Zone by indigenous peoples, receive visitors from far and wide and engage in dialogue with them, such as Macko Dràgàn (France), Mário Rui Pinto (Portugal), and Peter Gelderloos (USA)… and that’s not all: these were beautiful moments, full of learning in terms of resistance practices, exchanges of perspectives on crises generated by those at the top, and sharing solutions for us to overcome these challenges from our peripheral position. To conclude these anarchist anti-COP30 journeys, we wanted to leave you with our assessment of this farce that was this COP, the thirtieth lost opportunity to save our Mother Earth (as Emma Goldman called her) and the populations that survive on her, trapped in avoidable ills and torments. We already knew it: the courage to break free from this path of destruction will only be ours, and when we manage to reverse this desperate situation through our struggles, we will leave only the elites with the shameful clothes of those who could have done so but didn’t try, to dress and walk amidst the jeers of humanity and all creatures on the planet, finally freed from capitalist exploitation, inequalities, and oppressions. * * * From the beginning, we considered the COP a farce in terms of resolving or mitigating the environmental crisis in which capitalism has placed us. As expected, this edition of the COP showed us this in several ways. There was a record accreditation of lobbyists from the fossil fuel industry – almost two thousand representatives, with the main objective of debating means for the “energy transition” with more oil extraction and production. Meanwhile, more than 40 accredited representatives of Indigenous peoples were prevented from entering the Blue Zone because they did not have passports – yes, entering the most restricted area of the COP was the same as entering another country. Throughout the event, the Lula government announced the implementation of the TFFF (Tropical Forests Forever Fund), yet another rent-seeking mechanism of financial capitalism that is far from solving environmental problems. This aligns with the logic of perpetuating the same mechanisms that produced this environmental crisis. For us, it is more of the same, without significant changes in the social conditions of those who suffer most from the extreme events of climate change. Meanwhile, the forest peoples continue without self-determination over their own territories. Not surprisingly, the two demonstrations that broke through the security cordon of the colored areas of the COP were led by Indigenous peoples of the middle and lower Tapajós. It was a demonstration of dissatisfaction with the progress of the debates, which did not address crucial issues for these peoples, such as the guarantee of saying no to carbon credit market companies, mining and prospecting in their territories, and saying no to the privatization of the Amazon rivers for the construction of waterways that will only benefit the large landholdings of agribusiness grain monoculture and mining. The COP reproduces the capitalist economic rationale of seeing everything that exists, including the air we breathe, as a bargaining chip. With this vision, solutions could only be conceived within the logic of the commodity. Ironically, on November 20, the day of Dandara and Zumbi, a fire broke out in one of the Blue Zone tents, symbolising an extreme event of climate change, burning down the COP. On the other hand, the activities of the Anti-COP Anarchist Days demonstrated that other worlds are possible, through the destruction of capitalism, the State, patriarchy, racism, and xenophobia. These were two weeks of activities, from street demonstrations, such as the Periphery March on Black Awareness Day, to debates with comrades from various parts of Brazil and several countries who contributed with their analyses, experiences, and struggles on various fronts of resistance against this system of domination/control/exploitation, where, in a broader assessment, while respecting the necessary dimensions in the These struggles are traversed by the imperialism of the powers of the Global North along with their colonialism and racism, by environmental devastation resulting from mining in the countries of the Global South, by the situation of political and climate refugees, by the invasion of the territories of indigenous and traditional peoples, by real estate speculation in large population centres, by human trafficking, especially of women; by speciesism that sustains the logic of animal abuse for human consumption, by poverty/social inequality/concentration of wealth; therefore, some of the problems that were debated, in several languages and with diverse accents. It is worth remembering that confronting this system of domination requires organisation, activism, conviction and resistance, but also music, dance and the construction of happiness. In the words of Emma Goldman, if this revolution doesn’t allow me to dance, then this isn’t my revolution; thus, we held a Libertarian Art Festival, another way to energise experiences of struggle and resistance through culture. We had performances by various musical groups and artistic groups where, nevertheless, we suffered police repression, typical of the modus operandi of this sector of the State, subservient to the petty elite who cannot stand to see the underprivileged in their cultural manifestations. We understand that this crisis cannot be overcome through the neo-extractivism of oil and mining, the neo-developmentalist technology that requires the waste of millions of cubic meters of potable water to cool the data centres of Big Tech companies, the monopoly of renewable energy companies such as wind and solar (the latter even requiring and encouraging the mineralogical race for rare earths), agribusiness, the deprivation of peoples from exercising their rights to live in peace in their territories, the privatization of water and air, the maintenance of the privileges of the rich and colonial elites sustained by the terrible housing conditions, illiteracy, hunger, genocide, sexual exploitation, and poverty of the majority of populations, especially black or racialised people. We do not support and fight against initiatives to mitigate the effects of climate change that do not place the real problem at the centre of the debate, that is, capitalism and its counterparts. We see in the practices of indigenous and traditional peoples those who truly safeguard biodiversity and the world’s forests, who remove tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helping to regulate the climate and throwing the rent-seeking logic of carbon credits into disarray. This, combined with the struggles and resistance waged by poor populations in the countryside and cities, scattered from north to south and from east to west of the global map, even with much humiliation and difficulty in securing bread, tortillas, chapati, or beiju, reinvent themselves through mutual support and solidarity when they see their lives being impacted by extreme weather events, produced by the greed and profit of the rich. The COP has no solution for our problems; on the contrary, it is an organisation created for the management of the environmental crisis, established by the same sectors that manage world hunger and poverty. Thus, our urgent needs do not fit within the COP. The solutions to the climate-environmental-s From the humid tropics of the Amazonian lowlands, on the Belém peninsula in November 2025. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Machine translation. Photo: Peter Gelderloos The post Letter from the anti-COP30 anarchist days appeared first on Freedom News.

SOME 16,000 MEMBERS OF COLOMBIA’S INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES WERE RETURNING HOME THIS WEEKEND AFTER ATTENDING THE CAPITAL ON INTERNATIONAL WORKERS’ DAY ~ Rob Latchford ~ The Indigenous collective, known as the minga, had come from the southern departments of Cauca, Nariño, and Putumayo. Members of the Indigenous Guard established an encampment on the grounds of the National University of Colombia where the visitors were accommodated. In addition to labour demands, demonstrators were drawing attention to escalating violence and insecurity in rural areas, especially in southern Colombia, where Indigenous communities have faced displacement, armed conflict, and threats from criminal groups. The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) and other regional councils backing the minga say their presence is both symbolic and strategic. “We are here to denounce the violence in our territories and support the structural changes we have long demanded,” a representative told local media. The ONIC claims to represent some 2,000,000 indigenous people in Colombia – about 4% of the population. Throughout the 1970s and 80s various smaller regional organisations appeared reflecting regional differences. The Andean region saw the formation in 1971 of the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC) which served as an organising hub throughout the rest of the decade. Independently of the State and the police they organised their own defence against organised crime and the battles that raged between the FARC and the Colombian regime. Made up of volunteers their strategies were largely peaceful with hundreds being called up quickly to, for example, ensure the peaceful release of kidnapped hostages or, on occasion, confront the armed forces of the State. Today the CRIC brings together some 200,000 people. They are governed by 115 collective authorities which were convened to incorporate lands which had been recovered into collective enterprises. In addition it founded a home grown education system and a health and justice system based on indigenous traditions and culture. The economy is organised around collective enterprises covering agriculture, small-scale mining, management of water resources and forests and some ecotourism. None of this is state owned nor are there large corporations depending on high concentrations of workers and capital. The government of Gustavo Petro would seem to have some left wing credentials. Tortured by the army back in the 70s for his membership of a guerilla organisation. His long political trajectory culminated in his successful bid for the presidency in 2022. Petro’s campaign platform included promoting green energy over fossil fuels and a decrease in economic inequality. He promised to focus on climate change. He also pledged to raise taxes on the wealthiest 4,000 Colombians and said that neoliberalism would ultimately “destroy the country”. Petro also announced that he would be open to having president Iván Duque stand trial for police brutality committed during the 2021 Colombian protests. INTERNAL TENSIONS Since taking office little of this has come about. There have been various financial scandals. And factors such as heightened crime, failing to pass labour and health reforms have contributed to the fall of Petro’s public support. But, as is so often the case, State involvement has seen the growth of tensions within the CRIC. There are allegations of corruption and murders committed by former members of the group. Today, many are claiming that the CRIC has betrayed them: resources are lacking, leaders have their noses in the trough, and gunfire between brothers has become a regular occurrence. The State has handed over millions of dollars in resources to the CRIC, such as the 57 billion pesos in early March to support local initiatives. Some have claimed that none of that money goes to the Indigenous communities. “They say they distribute money, but no one here sees a single peso. There are only fights: nephews against uncles, cousins against brothers. The Indigenous guards themselves are killing each other,” complains Marcelino Huber Campo a local governor. He may have a point. In 2023 alone, at least 32 Indigenous people were murdered in Cauca, many in internal disputes. “When they demand their rights, they are met with bullets. And the government doesn’t see, or doesn’t want to see.” It seems to be a story happy to repeat itself in South America. Colonial structures like the neo-liberal state seek to use local customs and traditions to bolster their power and influence. It is not hard to garner support with promises of money and resources. It has happened in Ecuador, Bolivia, Guatemala. But when the State remains in place it is easily taken over by the friends of capital when the time comes – a more global phenomenon. The post Colombia: Indigenous mobilisation for peace appeared first on Freedom News.

FOR YEARS, INDIGENOUS FAMILIES HAVE FACED PRESSURE FROM REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS SEEKING TO EVICT THEM IN ORDER TO DEVELOP THE AREA ON LANDS KNOWN AS SANTUÁRIO DOS PAJÉS, A SACRED PLACE FOR INDIGENOUS SPIRITUALITY ~ Aldo Santiago, Avispa Midia ~ On Tuesday morning, 15 April, members of the Military Police of the Federal District (PMDF), Brasilia, carried out a violent raid in the Teko-Haw village where 40 families of the Guajajara people live. Using violence, tear gas, tractors and drones, the PMDF members advanced to allow the entry of machinery that deforested an area of Cerrado vegetation – the savannah with the greatest biodiversity in the world – and also destroyed the Rezo Kwarahy Guajajara hunting lodge built by Guajajara families, who migrated from the state of Maranhão, in northern Brazil, in 2009. Located northwest of Brasília, these lands have been inhabited by Indigenous peoples such as the Fulni-ô Tapuya, Tuxá, Kariri-Xocó, Wapichana, and Guajajara. Their ancestral territory lies within the urban expansion zone where the Federal District Government (GDF) is interested in building the most expensive neighbourhood in the capital city—and one of the most expensive in all of Brazil—while promoting it as an “ecological green neighbourhood.” For years, Indigenous families have faced pressure from real estate developers seeking to evict them in order to develop the area on lands known as Santuário dos Pajés, a sacred place for Indigenous spirituality. According to the Map of Conflicts over Environmental Injustice and Health in Brazil, since the 1990s, the Santuário dos Pajés territory has been disputed by the construction companies Emplavi and Brasal, which seek to benefit from the expansion plan for the Northwest Sector of Brasília. According to the mapping, both construction companies have the support of Terracap, a public company with district and federal jurisdiction, responsible for land registration in the capital and which has made agreements with other Indigenous communities to vacate areas designated for urban development projects. To date, only 32.4 hectares have been officially recognized as Indigenous Territory within the Santuário dos Pajés (the only ones demarcated in Brazil’s capital), which covers a larger area of 50 hectares. This recognition was the result of a decade-long legal dispute, resolved through a 2018 agreement between the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF), the National Indian Foundation (Funai), the Brasília Environmental Institute (Ibram), and the Federal District Development Agency (Terracap). However, the 32.4 hectares are designated for the exclusive use of the Fulni-ô Tapuya community, but other communities such as the Guajajara, Tuxá, Kariri-Xocó, and Wapichana also inhabit the area. They maintain the demand for the expansion and recognition of the entire ancestral territory historically occupied by Indigenous peoples. BRASÍLIA HAS INDIGENOUS VILLAGES The Teko-Haw village was established in the indigenous territories of Brasilia, just 20 minutes from the centre of Brazilian political power, as a form of political protest in 2009, when a presidential decree—issued by Lula da Silva during his second term—ordered the restructuring of Funai without the participation of Brazil’s indigenous communities. Chief Francisco Guajajara with families living in the Teko-Haw Village during his participation in the Terra Livre 2025 Camp. Photos: Aldo Santiago Since then, the village, made up of Guajajara Indigenous people from Maranhão, has remained on their ancestral lands northwest of Brasília, where they practice traditional corn and cassava farming among native Cerrado trees such as the pequi and araticum. Despite submitting multiple formal requests to various government agencies, for more than a decade they have been denied official recognition of their territory, as well as access to basic rights such as sanitation, electricity, drinking water, education, and healthcare. In this context, the families of the Teko-Haw village—especially the children—face severe food vulnerability. Just days before the conclusion of ATL 2025—where thousands of Indigenous people from across Brazil mobilized—GDF security forces launched a police operation against the village. This, despite the fact that during the encampment, community members held meetings with federal officials, demanding commitments to respect the Guajajara families resisting in the Teko-Haw village. During ATL 2025, Chief Francisco Guajajara and other members of the Teko-Haw village joined the mobilizations to request support from the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib) and other Indigenous peoples who participated in the protests. In an interview with Avispa Mídia, Chief Francisco maintained that his community is responsible for caring for and defending the environment in a context of urban expansion that causes deforestation and threatens the region’s water sources. “We are here to demand the demarcation of our territory, our health, and the preservation of the environment, because we, the indigenous peoples of Brazil, are the ones fighting for climate justice,” shared Chief Francisco, while protesting the attempts to destroy the prayer hut, a structure that, despite the community’s efforts, was dismantled during the operation this Tuesday, 15th April. “We are fighting with Terracap so that we can regularize our territory. That is what we need, because we need our living territory. That is what we demand,” said Chief Guajajara. ANOTHER ATTEMPT This Tuesday’s police operation is just the latest in Terracap’s efforts to displace the Teko-Haw village. Recently, at the end of March, the Federal Court ordered a temporary suspension of the community’s eviction after receiving a request from the Federal Public Defender’s Office (DPU), which reported the violation of Indigenous rights during a police action that occurred in February of this year. However, this Tuesday’s eviction attempt was ordered by Judge Kátia Balbino, who authorized the GDF and Terracap to take joint measures to, “stop further illegal occupations in the region and continue infrastructure projects in the area.” According to a GDF bulletin, based on a March 2025 inspection, the property, “located in Block 707 of the Northwest, is unoccupied, with no residents or Indigenous communities present. The court decision was based on aerial images that confirmed the absence of residential occupations at the site.” Despite the violent incursion and the destruction of the prayer house, at press time, no injuries were reported in the Teko-haw village, while Guajajara families remain on alert in their homes for any further incursion by security forces. The post In Brasilia, Teko-Haw village resists violent eviction appeared first on Freedom News.

ITEMS DISCUSSED IN THIS PROGRAM: UK FARMING PROTESTS • TRUMP’S DOMESTIC AND WORLD POLITICS • INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ ANTI-COP The post Freedom News Review – November 19 appeared first on Freedom News.

GLOBAL MEETING FOR CLIMATE AND LIFE BROUGHT TOGETHER MORE THAN 250 DELEGATES FROM LATIN AMERICA AND AROUND THE WORLD ~ from Desinformémonos ~ After five days of work, the Global Meeting for Climate and Life – AntiCOP 2024 concluded in Oaxaca, bringing together more than 250 representatives of the Waorani, Yaqui, Purépecha, Zapotec, Chatino, Mixtec, Ngiwa, Chontal, Wayuu, Ikoot, Sami, K’Ana, Kanak, Maya Q’echi, Munduruku and Nasa peoples, and from countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Palestine and Kurdistan, to denounce the “greenwashing” of the Climate Change Summits (COP) and outline the organisational routes to confront the global climate crisis. Faced with the inaction of world leaders to protect nature, representatives at the Meeting proposed as lines of action the implementation of community-based water management, the promotion of intercultural environmental education, the implementation of regional AntiCOPs, a mobilisation towards COP30 in Brazil and climate meetings in different parts of the world, the creation of an Autonomous Fund for Climate Disasters, the recovery of pre-colonial lands, and practices to promote initiatives to revitalise species and ancestral agricultural systems, among other collective measures. The collective proposals of the peoples were the result of five days of work at discussion tables on the mega-projects imposed on their territories, the criminalisation of migrants, journalists and human rights defenders, militarisation, the forced displacement of peoples, and the commercialisation of life. “All COPs Are Bastards! COP29 is trying to hide behind a hypocritical greenwash the history of ecocide, genocide and atrocities committed by Azerbaijan against the Armenian People, which are not only a terrible chapter in history, but an echo of how war and the exploitation of natural resources and people are intertwined and exacerbate the climate and social crisis we face. The omission of the Genocide of the Palestinian People during COP28 in Dubai was proof of this”, the participants of the Meeting accused in a final statement. From November 4 to 9, indigenous peoples, collectives and organisations denounced how “governments, companies and criminal groups continue to perpetrate a deep war against peoples and nature to sustain this heteropatriarchal, capitalist and colonial system, which threatens to destroy the planet.” This war, they explained, “is disguised through institutional and official processes that do not fundamentally resolve structural conflicts, nor respond to collective territorial needs. Thanks to this, we are heading towards a world of catastrophic global warming, which is advancing towards a world of 2.6 to 3.1°C by the end of the century, challenging planetary balance and the survival of humanity”. They added that the AntiCOP 2024 meeting allowed for the articulation of peoples in resistance and of a movement that challenges extractivism, green colonialism and mega-projects that deprive communities of their resources and lands. “It is an articulation from below that remembers, imagines and builds other worlds in harmony with ecosystems, biodiversity and justice. From AntiCOP 2024, we commit to continue building together, respecting our differences and recognising our shared struggles. We are the Global South, we are the guardians of our lands and cultures. This struggle is ours and we defend it with determination and unity”, the participants stressed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Photos: Assembly of the Indigenous Peoples of the Isthmus in Defense of the Land and Territory – APIIDTT The post AntiCOP 2024 concludes with indigenous peoples’ climate proposals appeared first on Freedom News.