This is the modern-day story of a native peoples' remarkable victory over Western Colonial power. A Pacific island rose up in arms against giant mining corporation Rio Tinto Zinc (RTZ) - and won despite a military occupation and blockade. When RTZ decided to step up production at the Panguna Mine on the island of Bougainville, they got more than they bargained for. The island's people had enough of seeing their environment ruined and being treated as pawns by RTZ.
Bougainville, with a populations of only 160,000 has managed to close and keep closed one of the biggest mines in the world. They have held their ground for a decade with antique weapons and home-made guns. These people have taken on the biggest mining company in the world and won.
Report out from Clayton Thomas-Muller of Indigenous Environmental Network at Peoples March @ Rio+20 Earth Summit!
People's Summit
Police Repression
The March of peoples, which brought together more than 80 thousand people in AV. Rio Branco, Rio de Janeiro, 6/20/2012 day ended with the police being used against peaceful demonstrators. In the scenes can be seen the truculence of the Municipal Guard and the military police of Rio de Janeiro against an elderly man and a protester who is on the ground. This demonstrator is from South Africa and even not offering the slightest danger to the integrity of the law enforcement agents of the State she had her body completely covered with pepper spray. Replicate these images, they were not reported anywhere! (machine translation)
