nuclear-news

Jeju Island threatened by U.S. militarism

Organizing Notes 7 Sept Bruce Gagnon is coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space. He offers his own reflections on organizing
and the state of America’s declining empire…. About Me
NAME: BRUCE K. GAGNON LOCATION: BATH, MAINE, UNITED STATES  The
right-wing South Korean government won’t allow the Gangjeong villagers to have a booth inside the World Conservation Congress (the largest environmental confab on the planet) but they did make sure that the Korean Coast Guard got to set one up.  WTF????

So why is this so?  This group called the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is running the conference.  But who are they?  Who does the IUCN answer to?

This Facebook post last night from our dear French friend Benji (who
got deported from South Korea for his acts of non-violent resistance
to the Navy base) shared the following info:
On #IUCN2012, here are the 3 first tweets of IUCN Director General,
Julia Marton-Lefevre, a glimpse of her real motivations and who are
IUCN’s interlocutors:

1. #IUCN2012 started with a great opening ceremony in Jeju with
inspiring speeches from [awful] President Lee Myung-bak and IUCN
President Ashok Khosla

2. #iucn2012 keynote speaker Rachel Kyte of the World Bank calls for
placing nature-based solutions at the heart of progress

3. RT @worldbank: “We need to build public-private partnerships to
invest in our natural wealth” – @rkyte365 at #IUCN2012

I think these tweets speak for themselves.  It is evident that
international corporate capital has captured the IUCN agenda and the
limiting of true democracy and open debate is glaringly clear in the
suppression of the voices of the Gangjeong villagers.  There could
never be a better example of local citizens acting to protect the
sacredness of nature than on Jeju Island but the IUCN and their
corporate funders know they have to block the international delegates
access to these villagers for fear they will inspire others to stand
against the corporate agenda of destruction of the natural world.

In item #3 above you see the words “invest in our natural wealth” –
the corporations see nature as a commodity to make profit from.
Nature has no value to them beyond money.  This is a terminal illness
which could kill us all if we allow these money changers to rule the
roost.

May the Gangjeong villagers and their supporters rock the IUCN
flim-flam show.  Turn it upside down….speak for all of us please

September 10, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general