WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: "Wake Up, World!" - SOS from the Amazon

[L. Coyote]

"Wake Up, World!" - SOS from the Amazon
By Mario Osava
Condensed by Gina Boltz, Native Village
(http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45575) Belem, Brazil: More than 1,000
indigenous people recently formed a human banner with the message "SOS
Amazon" to the world, Photographed from the air, the banner was formed only hours
before the 2009 World Social Forum began hearings in Brazil.

The mass message reflects "our concern about global warming, whose impact we
will be the first to feel, although we, the peoples of the Amazon, have
protected and cared for the forests," said Francisco Avelino Batista, an Apurinán
Indian from the Brazilian Amazon. "A crisis of civilisation" is under way.

"We are raising our voices as a wake-up call to the world, especially the
rich countries that are hastening its destruction," said Edmundo Omoré from
the Xavante indigenous community in Mato Grosso .
The indigenous people from 50 countries planned to raise the issues of
indigenous peoples rights and preserving the environment with leaders attending
the WSF. 1,300 people joined the efforts including Quilombolas members
(communities of Afro-Brazilian descendants of escaped slaves). Thousands of others
were forced to remain home due to transport costs and financial difficulties.

Their message said that Indigenous peoples' voices should be heard, because
"we are the ones who were born and raised in the middle of the forest, and
who lead a lifestyle that contrasts with the ambition of capitalism, which
does not bring benefits to all," said Omoré.

Furthermore, "we are the first to suffer the effects" of climate change.
Batista said rich people can cool themselves down with air conditioners and buy
food in supermarkets, but "we depend on the fish in the river and the animals
in the forest, so we are concerned about the future that belongs to everyone."

photos: http://www.amazonwatch.org/newsroom/news_photos/
http://www.eca-watch.org
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45575