As Chile shifted its attention to the coronavirus pandemic, which brought out the country’s widespread social inequalities, the state’s aggression towards the Mapuche people went on unhindered. In June, President Sebastian Piñera dispatched 80 members of its special forces to Temuco in the Araucania region, as resistance to state violence against the indigenous populations increased.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro continues to occupy international news headlines, for the wrong reasons as a result of exploitative politics. True to his word to open up Brazil to multinational companies, in particular the Amazon which he considers an untapped resource as yet, Bolsonaro has embarked upon a series of decisions which spell disaster for the environment and indigenous communities.
In 1979, United Nations Committee on Human Rights rapporteur Abdelwahab Bouhdiba cited the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia as an example of “autogenocide,” the carrying out or enabling of mass deaths among one’s own nation. Previously cited examples of genocide at the time Bouhdiba’s coined the word autogenocide, were Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. The former’s genocide of Eastern European Jews, Romani, Slavs, and other non-Germans also included German Jewish and other citizens, making it a practitioner of both genocide and autogenocide.
Thalia Anthony and Stephen Gray show how the prime minister’s assertion is at odds with the historical record.
Thalia ANTHONY, Stephen GRAY
Prime Minister Scott Morrison asserted in a radio interview that “there was no slavery in Australia.”
This is a common misunderstanding which often obscures our nation’s history of exploitation of First Nations people and Pacific Islanders.
When it comes to Aboriginal land rights in Australia, several contradictions emanate. In May, the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation which represents Aboriginal communities, won exclusive native title rights to land which is mined by Fortescue Metals Group. With legal possession of their land, the Aboriginal communities can now seek compensation for economic and spiritual damage inflicted by the mining corporation – a move that shows legal recognition of Aboriginal claims over land and its usage.
As coronavirus spreads in Latin America, indigenous peoples find themselves at imminent risk of annihilation should the pandemic break out in their communities. The Coordinator of Indigenous Organisations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) has written to the governments of countries which share the Amazon rainforest to enforce control on movement in and out of the indigenous territories, to help prevent a possible contagion.
The fight over the construction of a 670 km, $6.6 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) pipeline stretching from Alberta to ports in British Columbia has absorbed national headlines across Canada and crippled a major component of the Canadian economy in recent weeks. However popular a headline as it may be, this story is not at all what it appears.
Indigenous people, environmental and human rights activists remain at risk of assassination in Latin America. In Nicaragua, 6 indigenous people were killed by settlers as the struggle over land continues. The indigenous communities have complained of government inaction over the settlers’ seizing of land and violence, expressing fear of extermination.
The Chilean courts have indicated yet another valid reason as to the importance of sustaining the protests staged across the country to eliminate the dictatorship era’s neoliberal politics. An appeal to halt the Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold’s Pascua Lama project has been rejected by the Chilean Supreme Court, despite objections due to water contamination and damage to the environment and indigenous communities in the Huasco Valley.
