|
|
The Global Assault on Indigenous Peoples
Orphan, Kenn
http://www.counterpunch.org/2019/03/04/the-global-assault-on-indigenous-peoples/Date Written: 2019-03-04 Publisher: CounterPunch Year Published: 2019 Resource Type: Article Cx Number: CX23508 Focusing on the the Ngäbe–Buglé in Panama, a look at the Indigenous people who have their way of life is destroyed by capitalism. Abstract: -- Excerpt: Dam projects largely devised to benefit mining companies have inundated scores of villages and devastated farms and fishing. Rare species like the Tabasará rain frog are threatened with extinction due to the loss of habitat. Four years ago a dam claimed a small indigenous village on the sacred Tabasará River. The villagers narrowly escaped drowning as their homes flooded in the night. They were given no warning. In May of last year the river was shut down for maintenance on the Barro Blanco hydroelectric dam. Tens of thousands of fish and crustaceans were left to suffocate in the mud. Many more dam projects are planned for this small country. While the Ngäbe–Buglé have protested their dispossession and the destruction to their way of life, they have been met with threats, disappearances and violence from the state and operatives from various companies who stand to benefit from the projects. But the lords of capital, the banks, hold the most power. For instance, FMO Bank of Holland and DEG Bank of Germany were responsible for the Barro Blanco dam. Subject Headings |