MORNINGSTAR, Cory. Canadian climate activist protests Indigenous Indian displacement by Brazilian Bel Monte hydroelectric scheme: “Bel Monte/ Climate Genocide will not be Stopped with Petitions/Letters”

Cory Morningstar is a Canadian writer, climate activist and human rights activist who, in her own words “has traveled extensively in developing, war torn countries, spending time in coffee fincas of Nicaragua, the sugar bateyes of the Dominican Republic, on the streets of Cambodia, and most recently Bolivia where she contributed to the People’s Agreement written in Cochabamba… [she] serves as chair of the advisory committee on the environment, to the City of London. She recently resigned as president of one of the most active Council of Canadians chapters in Canada. She works closely with climate change activists. She would rather die than compromise. She believes in direct action and initiated the grassroots group: Canadians for Action on Climate Change, a member of International Climate Justice Now! She also works with ClimateSOS activists. Prior to working on the People’s Agreement in Cochabamba, 2010, Ms. Morningstar, collaborated with Ms. Joan Russow, former Leader of the Canadian Green Party in writing the document Time to be Bold which was one of the documents referred to in the creation of the People’s Agreement. In November 2010, Ms. Morningstar accepted an invitation to join the International Advisory Board of Klimaforum10 for COP16” (see: http://theartofannihilation.com/about-the-author/ ).

Cory Morningstar on genocide of Brazilian Indians by the Bel Monte hydrolectric project (2011), noting that “genocide” according to Article 2 of the UN Genocide Convention is defined as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group” : ” Bel Monte/ Climate Genocide will not be Stopped with Petitions/Letters … The chief Raoni cries when he learns that Brazilian president Dilma released the beginning of construction of the hydroelectric plant of Belo Monte, even after tens of thousands of letters and emails addressed to her and which were ignored as the more than 600 000 signatures. That is, the death sentence of the peoples of Great Bend of the Xingu river is enacted. Belo Monte will inundate at least 400,000 hectares of forest, an area bigger than the Panama Canal, thus expelling 40,000 indigenous and local populations and destroying habitat valuable for many species – all to produce electricity at a high social, economic and environmental cost, which could easily be generated with greater investments in energy efficiency.” [1].

[1]. Cory Morningstar, “Bel Monte/ Climate Genocide will not be Stopped with Petitions/Letters”, Climate Connections, 2 June 2011: http://climate-connections.org/2011/06/02/belo-monte-climate-genocide-will-not-be-stopped-with-petitions-letters/ .