Bolivia: Being Present to Honor the Earth

By Brenda Norrell

UPDATE: Peoples Agreement from World Climate Conference, released in English:

http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2010/04/bolivia-peoples-agreement.html

Photo by Michelle Cook, Navajo

COCHABAMBA, Bolivia -- At the close of the World Climate Conference, the Hall of Shame award goes to the mainstream US media, which usually pretends to be covering world events. In the case of the World Climate Conference, the mainstream US media was not only noticeably absent, but the armchair journalists pumped out spin articles to discredit Bolivian President Evo Morales. Take note of who wrote the 'chicken' articles and other negative articles, and follow their writing. Whether it is CIA-inspired, or just journalists attempting to make themselves look clever, the intent is to distract from the real purpose of the climate conference.

The real purpose is to rescue this planet from destruction by corporations and personal indulgence. President Evo Morales had the vision to bring people from all over the world here, people ready to rely on the wisdom of Indigenous Peoples to guarantee the protection of the Rights of Mother Earth.

So when you read articles about the World Peoples Conference for Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, contact the writers and ask them if they were actually here and know what they are writing about. Ask them for the direct quotes they are referring to in their spin articles.

The final declaration of the conference holds governments responsible for their climate debt and calls for an International Climate Court to prosecute offenders.

The fact that the United States government, its agencies and its press were not here, is revealing. There is nothing the US wants less than to lose its grip on the resources of the world and its perceived ability to vanquish Indigenous Peoples from their homelands. Corporations will fight what happened here in Cochabamba. They will not easily let go of their ability to coop politicians, murder Indigenous activists and steal the resources of the earth.

On the media bus to watch the soccer game at the new gymnasium in Colomi, I asked the international journalists and filmmakers where they were from. Maori were here from New Zealand. Reporters were primarily from South America and Europe: Argentina, Colombia, Denmark, Italy and a few other countries.

UK Guardian writer Joseph Huff-Hannon should be recognized, first for coming to Bolivia to cover the World Climate Conference and then for getting it right. Read his article today, with interviews with grassroots members of the Indigenous delegations from North America, Faith Gemmill, Gwich'in, Carrie Dann, Western Shoshone, Jihan Gearon, Navajo, Michelle Cook, Navajo, and Tom Goldtooth, Dakota/Navajo and director of the Indigenous Environmental Network.

It was an honor to be here with people ready to galvanize the struggles and protect the Rights of Mother Earth.