STORY ONE: SOURCE: Indigenous Peoples Issues and Resources News (www.indigenouspeoplesissues.com) IN CENTRAL AMERICA Mexico: Statement Concerning Military Intervention In Kumiai Community

We are joined together at this first statewide gathering of Yo soy 132 Baja California to bring awareness to the facts relating to the incident which occurred in the Kumiai [Kumeyaay] community one La Huerta located in the Valle de Ojos Negros and within the municipality of Ensenada, Baja California where the community suffered the military intervention by elements of the Mexican Army which consisted of raiding homes and personal belongings, frightening and threatening members of this indigenous community under the pretext of a search for drugs.

Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident, we are aware that similar acts are repeated throughout Mexico, where, using under different pretexts such as the drug war or the supposed "defense of natural resources," many indigenous communities have been subjected to violence and repression like in Xoxocotla, Morelos, Cher n Michoac n, the Cucap [Cocopah] in Baja California, many communities in Oaxaca and the support bases for the indigenous zapatistas in the state of Chiapas, Mexico.

We are aware that these types of episodes are becoming everyday more common throughout Mexico as a consequence of the militarization promoted by President Calderon and his so-called war that has claimed more than 50 thousand victims.

STORY TWO: SOURCE: Indigenous Issues and Resources News (www.indigenouspeoplesissues.com) IN SOUTH AMERICA Peru: Shipibo Unite To Face New Oil Rush On Ucayali

Braving long river journeys and uncomfortable stays away from their forest villages, indigenous leaders from Peru's Central Amazon are converging in the city of Pucallpa this week to plan a common defense as foreign oil drillers coveting underground treasures of gas and oil invade the region on a scale and pace not seen since Peru's debut oil boom of the 1970s.

While the oil lies mostly beneath indigenous territories, Peru's government has leased the rights to those subsurface resources to private companies, setting the conditions here for the same style of inevitable conflict between companies and communities that has rocked other regions of the country in recent months and years.

To help bolster their side in the divide, leaders from at least 25 Shipibo indigenous communities from the upper Ucayali River region met in a workshop on Monday 6th August to share experiences of their contacts with the industry, compare stories of company tactics and hear from leaders from other regions whose communities' lands and water have already been ravaged by the first 40 years of oil production there.

STORY THREE: SOURCE: Indigenous Issues and Resources News (www.indigenouspeoplesissues.com) IN NORTH AMERICA Canada: James Bay Cree Nation Enacts Permanent Uranium Moratorium In James Bay Territory

Crees "determined to protect our way of life against the unique and grave threat posed by uranium mining and waste, today and for thousands of years to come".

The James Bay Cree Nation has declared a Permanent Moratorium on uranium exploration, uranium mining and uranium waste emplacement in Eeyou Istchee, the James Bay Cree territory. The permanent moratorium was enacted unanimously by the Annual Cree Nation General Assembly in Waskaganish.

"The risks inherent in uranium exploration, mining, milling, refining and transport, and in radioactive and toxic uranium mining waste, are incompatible with our stewardship responsibilities in Eeyou Istchee," the Resolution declares.

"The Cree Nation is determined to protect our economies and way of life against the unique and grave threat posed by uranium mining and uranium waste, today and for thousands of years to come," said Grand Chief Dr. Matthew Coon Come. "We are not opposed to sustainable and equitable mining and other industrial and resource development activities in Eeyou Istchee - but the toxic and radiation risks created by uranium mining and uranium waste are unique in scale and duration.

STORY FOUR: SOURCE: Survival International (www.survivalinternational.org) IN SOUTH AMERICA Paraguay: Exposed - Spanish Tycoon's Role In Destruction Of Hiding Tribe's' Forest

One of Spain's richest men has been implicated in the illegal bulldozing of a South American forest where the last uncontacted Indians outside the Amazon are hiding, following a recent raid by Paraguayan officials.

Jacinto Rey Gonz lez is President of ranching firm Carlos Casado SA , which is a subsidiary of Spanish construction and property giant Grupo San Jos . Mr Rey Gonzalez is also the President and controlling shareholder of Grupo San Jos .

Two weeks ago, Carlos Casado SA was caught red-handed by Paraguayan forestry officials bulldozing forest, constructing buildings and reservoirs, and putting up wire fencing, in the large block of forest they own in the Paraguayan Chaco.

The work, in preparation for the wholesale clearance of the area, is illegal as the firm has not obtained the environmental permits required by law. Such permits would probably have been refused, as the forest is known to be inhabited by uncontacted members of the Ayoreo tribe.

The discovery of preparations for large-scale destruction in this highly sensitive area has outraged local experts. We are witnessing ethnocide in action. This crime is a human tragedy, an embarrassment for Paraguay in the eyes of the world - and it will only stop if those responsible are caught and punished', said Gladys Casaccia and Jorge Vera of GAT , a Paraguayan organization that has been working since 1993 with contacted members of the Ayoreo tribe to secure the area.

Signs that ranchers have been targeting this area have been growing for months. In June Survival International revealed that they had attempted to fool the Ayoreo into allowing them to build a new road that would have cut the Indians' territory in half. The road would have run along the northern edge of Carlos Casado's property.

Survival International's Director Stephen Corry said today, It's shocking to discover that one of Spain's biggest companies is involved in such scandalous behavior. Perhaps they thought that as this is happening in a far-off corner of South America, no-one would notice. But if they continue, they will be directly responsible for the destruction of the Ayoreo's heartland - in flagrant violation of Paraguayan and international laws .'

Notes: Most members of the Ayoreo tribe have been contacted, but some members remain in hiding in the forests of western Paraguay. They are the last uncontacted Indians outside the Amazon. Rampant forest destruction in the region, much of it illegal, means they live permanently on the run. Grupo San Jos was responsible for the recent extension to the Prado Museum in Madrid, part of the Madrid-Valencia high-speed rail link, and many other projects. "News sources today include Indigenous Peoples Issues and Resources News and Survival International."

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