'against the killing of Pachamama, Mother Earth'

Most current struggles of indigenous campesinos are against the killing of Pachamama, Mother Earth; against depredations by the large companies, mainly mining, but also petroleum and gas. Previous Peruvian governments were servants of feudal lords; today they serve the great multinationals. They act against the Peruvian people and against nature.


had a great pub session at the George with Ian Angus, the Canadian socialist who is one of the coordinators of the new Ecosocialist International Network, he filled me on developments on monday in the National Assembly meeting in Paris and told me also sorts of fascinating things about the radical movement in Canada, the people closest to ecosocialism are not the somewhat conservative Green Party of Canada or left groups but indigenous people many of whom refuse to take a Canadian passport because they view the Canadian nation as illegal. More on this story of passport rejection here.

Told me about meeting the great Hugo Blanco, an ex Trotskyite South American socialist, who produces a newspaper in Lima Peru dedicated to the indigenous struggle...which incidentally has just closed down a mine owned by a Canadian company.

The green left are immensely strong in Latin America, Morales made a hugely impressive speech to the UN on the themes of ecosocialismo although he didn't use the word.

You can read more here.

From Hugo:

The Epic Struggle of Indigenous Andean / Amazonian Cultures

By HUGO BLANCO

Over the course of more than 10,000 years, the rich biodiversity of the Andes-Amazon region has created a culture that is closely interlocked with Pachamama (Mother Nature). This culture is marked by deep knowledge of nature and is highly agricultural. Ours is one of the seven zones of the world to have originated agriculture. It has yielded the greatest variety of domesticated species. This has given rise to a cosmic vision different from the Western outlook that views the creator as a superior immaterial spirit who created man in his image and likeness and created nature to serve him. For the indigenous cosmic vision, humanity is a daughter of and part of Mother Earth. We must live in her bosom in harmony with her. Each hill or peak, each river, each vegetable or animal species has a spirit.

More here