From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: CELEBRATING MOTHER EARTH AT THE GLOBAL FORUM
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 08:23:07 GMT

The ACTivist July/August 92

The ACTivist is published monthly (one issue during July and August)
by the ACT for Disarmament Coalition, 736 Bathurst St., Toronto, 
Ontario, Canada, M5S 2R4, phone 416-531-6154, fax 416-531-5850,
e-mail web:act.

Reprint freely, but please credit us (and send us a copy!)

/** gen.newsletter: 121.13 **/
** Written 11:27 pm  Aug 11, 1992 by web:act in cdp:gen.newsletter **
CELEBRATING MOTHER EARTH AT THE GLOBAL FORUM

By Aloz
The ACTivist

My first impression of Rio on the drive into the city of that of an 
intriguing landscape marred by the obvious presence of soldiers 
every 30 metres or so, on either side of the streets and highways, 
overpasses and buildings, toting rifles and machine guns. Uzis, tanks, 
and marching troops with blank expressions seemed to be everywhere. 
The major military flex, it was explained to me, was to deter crime 
and protect the First World delegates to the Earth Summit. This 
explanation did little to make me feel at ease as I passed by the 
soldiers; nor did it help that a Canadian visitor to the Global Forum 
-- the NGO gathering that was held alongside the official United 
Nations Earth Summit -- was shot in the mouth by a street criminal.

Meanwhile, the mass poverty apparent from the favellas that 
lined the mountains and the daily murder of street children was 
sickening.

As I entered the administrative building for the Global Forum, 
I could not help but notice a display of several newsclippings 
about the arrests of NGO  representatives dragged away from the 
UNCED forum itself, drawing into question the "revolving door" 
policy of open communication between the two conferences. After 
warnings from other NGO participants, I decided not to try to 
attend the UNCED.

Forum Global 92 was held in Parque do Flamengo on Flamengo 
Beach, with over 650 exhibit booths; more than 11,000 participants, 
press and speakers; representatives of more then 2,500 organizations 
from 150 countries; 350 scheduled separate meetings; and an 
estimated attendance of 250,000. Over the course of the Forum, 
NGOs drafted "The Earth Charter", encompassing Declarations by 
Women at the Global Forum, Citizen's Commitment on Biodiversity, 
Treaty on Consumption and Lifestyle, NGO Treaty on Militarism, 
the Environment and Development, and several other worthwhile 
commitments.

Some of the material produced by the NGO Working Group on the
Military, the Environment and Development is available for $5
US from the International Clearinghouse on the Military and
the Environment, PO Box 150753, Brooklyn, NY 1121, USA.

At the ACT for Disarmament booth, I distributed merchandise 
and literature, and collected hundreds of signatures on petitions 
in support of East Timor and the Innu people of Nitassinan, and 
promoting the General Electric Boycott.

Myself and Tadeu, an American who translated for me, linked 
the East Timorese struggle to Brazil by explaining that East Timor 
has a majority of Portuguese-speaking people who are Catholics; 
and connected the struggle of the Innu to the repression and 
devastation that indigenous peoples of South America suffer at 
the hands of corporations and First World developers.

Several representatives of anti-nuclear groups were astonished 
by the extent to which General Electric is involved in the nuclear 
weapons industry, and wanted to investigate the degree to which 
GE was destroying the Third World.

The Global Forum concluded with a massive concert celebration 
on Flamengo Beach. Brazilian bands filled the air with exotic rhythms 
and verses telling how we can save the planet if we all work together. 
The wonderful music pulsed as a lunar eclipse darkened the evening 
sky. We sang and danced in celebration of Mother Earth.


** End of text from cdp:gen.newsletter **

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