The Native Forest Network, Eastern North American Resource Center, just
received this communique & resolution from Russia and were asked to post-
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Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 19:39 +0300
From: sen@glas.apc.org
To: rainfor.general@gnosys.svle.ma.us
Subject: Resolution
RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE PEOPLE OF CHIAPAS FROM THE
RADICAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE, KALININGRAD, RUSSIA,
FEBRUARY 23-25, 1995
We the participants of the 1995 Radical Environmental Conference of
Kaliningrad, FSU state that we and our associated groups stand in
solidarity with the indigenous people of Chiapas, Mexico.
We demand an end to the ecocidal and genocidal policies of the Mexican and
US governments regarding the people's liberation movement of Chiapas
(Zapatistas), the indigenous residents and the Lacandona rainforest
itself.
This is one of the last remaining tropical rainforests in North America
and as such is extremely precious. All over the world, groups such as
ours are looking to the Mexican government to permanently preserve this
unique bioregion and the people who live in its vicinity. Everyone today
is aware of the importance of the rainforests of the world and there is no
excuse for the Mexican government's plans to obliterate them for the
benefit of corporations.
We are demanding that the American government stop funding the Mexican
government's plan to destroy this critical bioregion and to immediately
halt all "humanitarian aid" funding for the Mexican government's campaign
of terror against the people of Chiapas. We demand instead that the
American government take a leading role in standing up for the rights of
the oppressed people of Chiapas whose very existence is threatened.
The indigenous Mayan people of Chiapas have inhabited the region for
thousands of years and have faced brutal extermination policies for over
400 years. Still they survive. Much like the Mayan struggle against the
Spanish Conquistadors, the Mayan people of Chiapas fight today for their
very survival. Their homeland has been stripped of its resources by
outside corporations and the people have been forced to take arms to feed
their families, and protect themselves and their rainforest homeland
against these corporate raiders and their puppet (Mexican) army.
It is hereby resolved by this group that, in addition to the demands
made above, all participants of this conference (representing Russia,
Bellarussia, Ukraine, Czech Republic and USA) upon return to their
regions, will publicize the plight of the people of Chiapas and the
Lacandona rainforest, and will expose the Mexican government for being no
less than the heartless puppets of American corporations which they are.
The imperialism of the Mexican government and American Corporations toward
the people of Chiapas mirrors the human rights violations of the Russian
government against the Chechnya Republic. Just as this violence has
become a crisis of international importance, just as the Chernobyl nuclear
accident was one of global impact, so are these human rights abuses and
ecological violations occurring in Chiapas issues of global importance.
In addition, the accumulated loss of forest the earth has already
experienced has contributed to documented climate changes. Continued
deforestation will only lead us further down the path toward irreversible
global warming, rising sea levels, mass extinctions, and increased
desertification in already arid countries such as Mexico.
JUSTICE FOR CHIAPAS!
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email: peacejustice@igc.apc.org