home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
- Path: sparky!uunet!gatech!ukma!mont!pencil.cs.missouri.edu!rich
- From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
- Subject: CELEBRATING MOTHER EARTH AT THE GLOBAL FORUM
- Message-ID: <1992Aug27.082307.4132@mont.cs.missouri.edu>
- Followup-To: alt.activism.d
- Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Sender: news@mont.cs.missouri.edu
- Nntp-Posting-Host: pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Organization: PACH
- Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 08:23:07 GMT
- Approved: map@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Lines: 82
-
- The ACTivist July/August 92
-
- The ACTivist is published monthly (one issue during July and August)
- by the ACT for Disarmament Coalition, 736 Bathurst St., Toronto,
- Ontario, Canada, M5S 2R4, phone 416-531-6154, fax 416-531-5850,
- e-mail web:act.
-
- Reprint freely, but please credit us (and send us a copy!)
-
- /** gen.newsletter: 121.13 **/
- ** Written 11:27 pm Aug 11, 1992 by web:act in cdp:gen.newsletter **
- CELEBRATING MOTHER EARTH AT THE GLOBAL FORUM
-
- By Aloz
- The ACTivist
-
- My first impression of Rio on the drive into the city of that of an
- intriguing landscape marred by the obvious presence of soldiers
- every 30 metres or so, on either side of the streets and highways,
- overpasses and buildings, toting rifles and machine guns. Uzis, tanks,
- and marching troops with blank expressions seemed to be everywhere.
- The major military flex, it was explained to me, was to deter crime
- and protect the First World delegates to the Earth Summit. This
- explanation did little to make me feel at ease as I passed by the
- soldiers; nor did it help that a Canadian visitor to the Global Forum
- -- the NGO gathering that was held alongside the official United
- Nations Earth Summit -- was shot in the mouth by a street criminal.
-
- Meanwhile, the mass poverty apparent from the favellas that
- lined the mountains and the daily murder of street children was
- sickening.
-
- As I entered the administrative building for the Global Forum,
- I could not help but notice a display of several newsclippings
- about the arrests of NGO representatives dragged away from the
- UNCED forum itself, drawing into question the "revolving door"
- policy of open communication between the two conferences. After
- warnings from other NGO participants, I decided not to try to
- attend the UNCED.
-
- Forum Global 92 was held in Parque do Flamengo on Flamengo
- Beach, with over 650 exhibit booths; more than 11,000 participants,
- press and speakers; representatives of more then 2,500 organizations
- from 150 countries; 350 scheduled separate meetings; and an
- estimated attendance of 250,000. Over the course of the Forum,
- NGOs drafted "The Earth Charter", encompassing Declarations by
- Women at the Global Forum, Citizen's Commitment on Biodiversity,
- Treaty on Consumption and Lifestyle, NGO Treaty on Militarism,
- the Environment and Development, and several other worthwhile
- commitments.
-
- Some of the material produced by the NGO Working Group on the
- Military, the Environment and Development is available for $5
- US from the International Clearinghouse on the Military and
- the Environment, PO Box 150753, Brooklyn, NY 1121, USA.
-
- At the ACT for Disarmament booth, I distributed merchandise
- and literature, and collected hundreds of signatures on petitions
- in support of East Timor and the Innu people of Nitassinan, and
- promoting the General Electric Boycott.
-
- Myself and Tadeu, an American who translated for me, linked
- the East Timorese struggle to Brazil by explaining that East Timor
- has a majority of Portuguese-speaking people who are Catholics;
- and connected the struggle of the Innu to the repression and
- devastation that indigenous peoples of South America suffer at
- the hands of corporations and First World developers.
-
- Several representatives of anti-nuclear groups were astonished
- by the extent to which General Electric is involved in the nuclear
- weapons industry, and wanted to investigate the degree to which
- GE was destroying the Third World.
-
- The Global Forum concluded with a massive concert celebration
- on Flamengo Beach. Brazilian bands filled the air with exotic rhythms
- and verses telling how we can save the planet if we all work together.
- The wonderful music pulsed as a lunar eclipse darkened the evening
- sky. We sang and danced in celebration of Mother Earth.
-
-
- ** End of text from cdp:gen.newsletter **
-
-