Category Archives: Indigenous peoples

"Another World is Possible," World Social Forum, Porto Alegre, Brasil (2005)

The old order is dead. Let’s make a new, more just order.

by Jim Hodgson

It was too much to hope that the well-heeled audience at Davos would boo Donald Trump from the stage a day after they had offered Mark Carney a standing ovation. But by the end of Wednesday, it seemed that the wall of resistance to any U.S. take-over of Greenland was successful, and the president backed down. An important victory.

Still, “la rupture de l’ordre mondial” of which Carney spoke remains. And he’s right: we shouldn’t mourn it. The international financial institutions invented in 1944 at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, gave overwhelming power to the rich countries of the Global North. 

And the United Nations system that followed, with a veto given to each of the five most powerful countries, has protected their interests – even in the face of overwhelming contrarian votes in the UN General Assembly. Think, for example, of the annual vote to end the cruel U.S. blockade of Cuba.

That order was designed by the nations that existed at the end of World War II, especially the colonial or neo-colonial states of Europe and the Americas. Most of the Caribbean, Africa and large parts of south Asia were still under colonial rule. That order imposed and perpetuated a Global North-based order on all the new nations that were born in the 25 years or so after the war: the majority of nations that exist today.

And that order, at least in the eyes of three of the five veto-holders, effectively imposed capitalism as a synonym for democracy. The United States and its allies were satisfied with a sort of formal democracy, a certain alternance between parties of the right and centre-right, and if that failed, then a military government was a useful interlude until the real order could be re-established and markets were safe. 

Canada would “go along to get along,” as Carney admitted. 

Just as it did less than three weeks ago when the United States bombed Venezuela and kidnapped its president. And just as it has for more than two years over Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

In his speech, Carney seemed to offer a vision of capitalism without the now-erratic United States. It’s still reliant on resource extraction, military spending, and massive capital investment.

But if we are all to grow and thrive, we must demand more. We require an end to practices that exploit social inequities and our shared ecology. 

Alternatives

Because of the paths on which my life has taken me, one that is especially close to my heart is the call from the Indigenous people of Zapatista communities in southern Mexico for “a world with room for all” – “un mundo donde quepan muchos mundos.” But other visions come from other places, including three decades of gatherings of the World Social Forum.

More than 50 years ago, the majority world united behind a vision of economic decolonization, sovereign development, and international cooperation across areas such as debt, trade, finance, and technology. That vision became known as the New International Economic Order (NIEO) and was adopted by the UN General Assembly. But, power relations being what they are, it was never implemented. (Progressive International put together a set of reflections that trace its history and update the proposals for the 21st century.)

In March last year, the World Council of Churches and several global communions of churches repeated their call for a New International Financial and Economic Architecture (NIFEA). “It is immoral that over a billion people – half of them children – subsist in poverty whilst billionaires increased their wealth by over 15% in 2024 to US$15 trillion. It is outrageous that the richest 10% of the global population receives more than half of global income, whereas the poorest half earns merely 8.5% of it,” they said in a statement.

They expressed deep concern about “a rapidly escalating climate and biodiversity emergency that jeopardises livelihoods and poses an existential threat to all life.” It notes that “several tipping points are close to being crossed or have already been crossed, leading us to recognise that we may be beyond a point of no return.”

The old order is dead. The time in which we are living demands we do better.

Draw The Line for people, for peace, for the planet

Global Days of Action for systemic change on issues of debt, migration and ecology are set for Sept. 19-21. In Canada, several networks are focusing attention on Saturday, Sept. 20 – a National Day of Action.

With rallies, strikes, marches and gatherings, communities will mobilize across the country to demand that Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Canadian government pick a side: injustice, violence, and climate destruction – or a just and safe future for all of us.

For more information and to find an event near you, follow this link. Some of the Canadian organizations involved include the Climate Action Network, Migrant Rights Network and Indigenous Climate Action, among others. 

The campaign in Canada has these demands:

  • Put people over corporate profit. Fund our families and communities. “We refuse to accept poverty while the wealthy hoard billions.”
  • Refuse ongoing colonialism. Uphold Indigenous sovereignty. “Canada continues to enforce colonial violence through Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit people, mass incarceration, child-welfare systems, the underfunding of services, and destructive development across Indigenous lands. … We refuse colonial violence and demand radical transformation away from capitalist systems, justice for MMIWG2S, the return of land to its rightful titleholders, and funding for Indigenous housing, languages, land-based economies, and Indigenous-led climate solutions.”
  • Stop blaming migrants. Demand full immigration status for all now! “Denied permanent status, migrants who grow food, build communities, and care for the sick face exploitation, wage theft and exclusion from services. Corporate elites scapegoat migrants to hide the real culprits: landlords, grocery monopolies, and bank CEOs profiting off our misery.”
  • End the war machine. Stand for justice and peace. “We demand an immediate two-way arms embargo on Israel, cancelling Canada’s plans to balloon its military budget, and a foreign policy based on diplomacy and peace-building.”
  • End the era of fossil fuels. Protect Mother Earth. “We demand Canada end all fossil fuel subsidies, kick fossil fuel companies and their lobbyists out of politics, make polluters pay, invest in a Youth Climate Corps and publicly-owned East-West electricity grid, and do its fair share globally by cancelling unjust debt and funding climate solutions in the Global South with grants, not loans.”

The global campaign focuses on systemic change. 

“All over the world, people and communities are fighting for survival, for their rights, for justice in the face of economic turmoil, ecological and climate catastrophes, political instability, vicious attacks on fundamental human rights, militarization, and, in places like Palestine and Sudan, genocide.”

This September, let us carry the following demands:

  • Change the System through an equitable and just transition towards a world that is in harmony with nature and centered on people – communities, workers, women, farmers, fishers, pastoralists, youth, children, indigenous peoples, migrants, refugees, people of color, LGBTQI*, and future generations
  • Phase out fossil fuels – fast, fair, feminist, and forever; Shut down polluters; Build renewable energy systems that work for people and planet; Shift from high-carbon agro-industrial farming to agroecology and sustainable, resilient food systems that prioritize healthy staple food production for domestic consumption and the right to food
  • Fund the future, not the crisis! Tax multinational corporations and billionaires; Cancel the debt; Deliver climate finance; Divest from war, fossil fuels, and harmful projects; Scale up quality public services; Support people and community-led solutions; Finance the transition to resilient, sustainable, and equitable economies. 
  • Reclaim the Commons for sustainable support for life; Respect and uphold the territories of Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Communities; Restore the health of ecosystems; Stop extractivism
  • Defend Human Rights and Reclaim Democracy; End war and genocide; Demilitarise and work for peace based on justice
  • End inequalities across countries and within countries: Democratize global economic and financial governance; Make trade, investments, and tax systems just and fair; Redistribute wealth and power; End colonialism, patriarchy, and racism; Build solidarity across peoples and nations

Land rights defender Leocadio Juracán arrested in Guatemala

Jim Hodgson

Friends and allies of Leocadio Juracán, Agrarian Reform Coordinator of the Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA), are protesting his arrest Wednesday as he was about to fly to South Africa for an international conference.

“He is being criminalized for his work as a land and human rights defender,” said the Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking The Silence Network (BTS) in an urgent action request. He faces multiple charges, including aggravated trespass (usurpación agravada), directly related to his advocacy for Indigenous and farming communities across Guatemala.

(More details of the urgent action request and of Leocadio’s arrest follow below.)

Leocadio continued talking with reporters even as police escorted him from the airport and into a waiting room vehicle. Right: details of the conference he was to attend in South Africa.

I worked with Leocadio and other members of CCDA in May 2022 and March 2023, travelling with them to communities in Quiché and Izabal departments that face threats from people or companies purporting to be the true land-owners. In those communities and in scores of others across Guatemala, CCDA works with Indigenous and small-farmer communities to document their history on the land and to submit legal justification for their claims.

Leocadio and other CCDA members are known in many parts of Canada because they work with coffee farmers whose product is sent to roasters linked to Café Justicia in British Columbia and Just Us! in Atlantic Canada in a “fair trade plus” arrangement.

More details of the BTS Urgent Action request (including a template for letters in Spanish):

On August 13, Leocadio Juracán, Agrarian Reform Coordinator of the Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA), was detained at La Aurora Airport as he was leaving the country to participate in a Translocal Social Movement Learning conference in South Africa. 

Leocadio is being criminalized for his work as a land and human rights defender. He is currently facing multiple charges, including Aggravated Trespass (usurpación), directly related to his advocacy for Indigenous and campesino communities.

We need your immediate action:

With the following Canadian officials copied:

In your message, please call on them to:

  • Ensure his protection until such time as he is released.
  • Follow recent UN Special Rapporteur advice to enact an immediate moratorium on evictions and grant amnesty for all criminalized land defenders.
  • End criminalization of the members and leadership of Indigenous and campesino communities and organizations.

Many of these government officials are Spanish speaking. If possible, write this letter in Spanish. Otherwise, you can also send it in English.

If you’d like to send it in Spanish, you may say:

Me dirijo a usted para exigir que:

  • Liberen inmediatamente a Leocadio Juracán.
  • Garanticen su protección hasta el momento de su liberación.
  • Sigan las recomendaciones recientes del Relator Especial de la ONU de declarar una moratoria inmediata de los desalojos forzados y de otorgar la amnistía a todos los defensores criminalizados.
  • Pongan fin a la criminalización de los miembros y líderes de las comunidades y organizaciones indígenas y campesinas.

After you write this email, please share with several of your friends and contacts. Thank you so much for your urgent support to help get Leocadio Juracán free.

Leocadio Juracán, March 21, 2023, speaking with the people of an Indigenous Q’eqchi’ community known as Macho Creek near Guatemala’s Atlantic coast. (Photo: Jim Hodgson)

Leocadio Juracán, campesino leader and former congress member, arrested

Prensa Comunitaria

Leocadio Juracán Salome, leader of the Highlands Committee of Small Farmers (CCDA), was detained Wednesday morning (Aug. 13) at La Aurora Airport in the Guatemalan capital as he was preparing to travel to South Africa for an international conference.

According to his defense attorneys, the crimes for which Juracán was arrested are aggravated trespass (usurpación agravada) and causing forest fires.

“Today, as I was preparing to travel to participate in this conference, I was arbitrarily detained at approximately 11:05 a.m. at La Aurora International Airport,” said the former congress member from the now-defunct Convergencia party.

Juracán asked his family to remain calm and told his fellow CCDA members that he is proud of their struggles “because these repressive practices by the State and corrupt officials only demonstrate that they cannot stop our just struggles with criminalization alone.”

The news of his arrest has generated expressions of solidarity from various individuals and sectors. The CCDA, the organization of which he is a member, stated that this arrest is an act of criminalization and prosecution against those who defend land, territory, and social justice and demanded his immediate release.

Representative and campesino leader

When he was elected representative for Convergencia (2015-2019), Juracán supported campesino organizations and other social sectors in their demands. In March 2017, along with then-representative Sandra Morán, he filed a preliminary lawsuit against former President Jimmy Morales in the Hogar Seguro case, which was unsuccessful.

Juracán remains one of the representatives of the CCDA, an organization dedicated to promoting rural development for Indigenous and small-farmer communities. Founded in 1982 during the military dictatorships, the organization was formally established in 1989.

Currently, CCDA supports Indigenous communities and land defenders facing issues of eviction and criminalization in several departments of the country, including El Estor, Izabal, and Cobán, Alta Verapaz. …