Air Jamaica joins Bacchanal 2K6

Press Release from Air Jamaica: Air Jamaica is once again a sponsor of Bacchanal Jamaica and is launching their costume The Spirit of the Tainos.

As the name suggests, the costume is inspired by the Taino Indians, who were among the island's original inhabitants.

The costume, which will be launched this Friday at the mas Camp on Oxford Road, is said to have various shades of oranges and reds reflecting the vibrancy and spirituality of the native people of the Greater Antilles, including Jamaica.

The native people of this region looked at the sun - which provided light and heat for crops and other vital purposes - as a sign of strength and nourishment. The Spirit of the Tainos costume is a true representation of this philosophy, with the detailed beading work and braiding. Bacchanal Jamaica 2006 costume range also includes Nights Over Egypt, sponsored by Digicel; Persians, sponsored by Peak; Atlantians, sponsored by Fame-FM; Macedonians, Sponsored by Appleton Jamaica Rum; and Azteca, sponsored by Tampico Juices.

All costumes will be on display at the Mas Camp, 1c Oxford Road, this Friday February 17, 2006 and every Friday thereafter until April 21, 2006.

LA REBELION DEL BAHORUCO - ECO TAINO

Por Milton Olivo
Diaro Horizonte
Publicado el miércoles,
11 de enero de 2006

Era el año de 1502, sobre la ciudad de Niti, la mas importante ciudad de Quisqueya a la llegada de los españoles, capital del Cacicazgo de Maguana, reino del Cacique Caonabo la cual después de la Matanza de Jaragua, y el ahorcamiento de su viuda y heredera la Cacique Anacaona, esta ciudad construída de tabla de palma y bambú y cobijada de yagua y palmas, arquitectura perfecta para un ambiente tropical, esta había sido incendiada y destruída. Pero sobre sus cimientos se había construído una nueva ciudad denominada San Juan de la Maguana.

En su empeño por borrar las tradiciones autóctonas y el pasado, los españoles se habían propuesto cambiar los nombres de los Yucateques o pueblos, cristianizándolo, agregándole algún santo delante. Ocurrió además de con Maguana tomaron el nombre de Cacicazgo (San Juan de la Maguana), con Macorix (San Pedro de Macorix), Ocoa (San José de Ocoa), Las Matas (San José de las Matas), Yuma (San Rafael de Yuma), El Seibo (Santa Cruz del Seibo), Sabaneta (San Ignacio de Sabaneta), Samaná (Santa Bárbara de Samaná), Mao (Santa Cruz de Mao) Jacagua (San Francisco de Jacagua), etc.

Desde la llegada de los españoles el inteligente bohechío hermano de Anacaona y señor del Cacicazgo de Jaragua comprendieron que los nativos no podían resistir a los invasores por la superioridad de sus armas y siempre estuvieron dispuestos a servirles soportando sus exigencias. Después de la muerte de Caonabo en 1495 y heredar el reino Anacaona la hermana y heredera de Bohechío el señor del Cacicazgo de Jaragua ella había unificado políticamente ambos reinos.

El Gobernador Nicolás de Ovando, temeroso del poder de esta y de su influencia en la zona, envió emisarios donde Anacaona, a la cual le proponía que reuniera todos los príncipes o Nitaínos (Especie de Síndicos) de su reino para pactar un tratado de paz con su presencia.

Anacaona siempre cuidadosa en su trato con los invasores, reunió todos los Nitaínos y preparo un recibimiento real al Comendador, en cuyo honor organizo grandes fiestas y bailo areyto con todos los suyos, es memorable el espectáculo que preparo con 300 jóvenes que no habían conocido varón danzando un areytos compuesto para la ocasión.

Nicolás de Ovando tenía sus propios planes, inmediatamente los príncipes se reunieron a señal convenida con sus soldados los mandó a encerrar y prenderles fuego.

Entones comenzó una macabra orgía de sangre, cuentan los cronistas que alrededor de 70 jinetes armados de lanzas y espadas se dedicaron a traspasar, degollar, y decapitar a centenares de hombres, mujeres y niños en las calles del pueblo de Jaragua en sus contornos, sin el menos sentido de piedad.

En este genocidio también fue víctima Maniocatex, señor del Bahoruco, padre de Guarocuya, conocido en la historia como el Cacique Enriquillo. Quien entonces era un niño de alrededor de 6 años. Quien luego fue rescatado por su Tío Guaroa quien después se suicido luego de luchar con el Capitán Federico Velásquez, para no entregarse luego de ser desarmado por este, pues el invasor vino a atacarle luego de haber entre ambos pactado la paz. Muero libre fueron sus ultimas palabras.

17 años después en 1519, con alrededor de 23 años, hastiado de los abusos de los invasores, decide declararse en rebeldía y desarrollar un sistema de guerra de guerrillas en las montañas de Bahoruco.

14 años dura su lucha. Donde ni da ni pide cuartel. Trasladándose de un lado a otro de la cordillera. Atacando pueblos a ambos lados de esto. Convirtiéndose junto a Tamayo y Ciguayo en el terror de los españoles.

Su política era no negociar con ningún español, pues estos eran mentirosos, traidores y ladrones. Y violadores permanentes de cuanto era sagrado para la raza nativa, cuyos mandamientos eran: No Mentiras, No Robaras, No serás vago y Respetara a los Mayores.

Después de 14 años de guerra, asolando comunidades españolas, robando sus armas y derrotando cuantos ataque planificaban los invasores, en 1533 llega a la isla el Capitán General Francisco de Barrionuevo enviado del Monarca español con un documento donde se le proponía la paz, el Cacique del Bahoruco decide reunirse con el cerca del lago que desde entonces lleva su nombre.

El acuerdo fue sencillo, a cambio de terminar la guerra, el Cacique exigió la libertad para los de su raza, oprimido bajo el régimen de la encomienda que nos era mas que una forma de esclavitud disimulada bajo ese eufemismo (donde a los españoles se le asignaba una cantidad de nativos en encomienda para trabajarles gratis), un territorio libre con su propia fuerza de policía donde pudiesen vivir bajo propio gobierno, y sin pago de tributo a la corona española.

Pacto este que convirtió al Cacique del Bahoruco en el Libertador de Quisqueya. A partir de ahí, ante tanta grandeza y generosidad, plumas prohispánicas pagadas e interesadas han tratado por siglos de rebajar la figura legendaria del Cacique del Bahoruco. Humillar su heroísmo, empequeñecer su sacrificio y ridiculizar sus actos. Pues es una forma de desmoralizar el pasado de la raza nativa la cual es más del 69 por ciento de la población actual de la República Dominicana, según estudios cromo somático realizado el año pasado.

Se inventaron que fueron extinguidos, que eran de piel rojiza, que no tenían barbas y mil cosas mas para que el pueblo ignore sus verdaderos orígenes y no tengan claro quienes han sido sus verdugos, por resultante existir en un limbo existencial ignorando la verdad de su propia historia. De manera de facilitar su opresión.

Ellos son ni negros ni blancos, más bien pardo. Escribió el Almirante Cristóbal Colon en su diario de a bordo. (Diario de Cristóbal Colon, Pág. 22, Editorial Sopena).Aunque en "Historia de las Indias cuenta el cronista Fraile Bartolomé de las Casas...que habían visto mujeres moza tan blanca como podían ser en castilla. Libro I Cáp. III. De ahí nace lo de indio claro e indio oscuro, que no era más que una forma de diferencial los nativos de piel clara u oscura de los extranjeros con igual piel.

Los Capitanes Tamayo y Ciguayo que al contrario de Enriquillo, su política era; español que cayera en sus manos, español que era sacrificado en venganza por los crímenes cometidos contra los de su raza. El Cacique por su parte los que atrapaba vivo los devolvía sano y salvo, su idea era una guerra moral a la que pudiese llegarse a una paz sin odios. Pero su sentido del honor no era el de los invasores.

De manera que cuando pacta la paz con el enviado de la corona el Capitán Francisco de Barrionuevo, Tamayo y Ciguayo desconfiado de los españoles, emigran al oeste de la isla desde cuyo reducto habían estado peleando en los últimos tiempos. Y a ellos le siguen muchos de los que estaban con el Cacique Enriquillo y su esposa Mencía, nieta de la reina Anacaona.

Posiblemente sea la verdadera razón de las devastaciones de Osorio en 1606, 73 años después. Dividir el pueblo Taino -los Quisqueyanos- en dos, consciente de que en el futuro el idioma se convertiría en un obstáculo insalvable entre esas dos partes del pueblo. Además a cambio recibir territorios que habían sido perdidos en la guerra con Francia. Y es ahí la verdadera razón del conflicto histórico haitiano, la lucha entre los recién llegados africanos y aquellos mulatos que no son más que los descendientes del pueblo Taino que quedo en el oeste después de las devastaciones. Por eso la historia oficial de este lado jamás vuelve a mencionar a tan esforzados capitanes.

Con esto adquiere sentido lo de la indivisibilidad de la isla. Que no era más que un discurso de los mulatos haitianos, consciente de sus orígenes, el cual fue asumido también por los líderes africanos. Y la razón de los repetidos degüello de los africanos contra la población mulata del oeste de la isla. Motivados por Toussaint con las siguientes palabras "Los mulatos son cabezas feroces cuya amputación es una obra meritoria y necesaria para la salvación de nuestra República".

El autor es Escritor e Investigador Histórico
olivomilton@hotmail.com

UN Recognizes Unique Situation of Caribbean Indigenous Peoples in Official Report

United Nations, NY (UCTP Taino News) – One year ago, back in December 2004, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 59/174 establishing the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. Although it may not be common knowledge, as a result of this resolution’s adoption, the Second Decade officially commenced on January 1st 2005. This resolution also requested that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan submit a report on a Comprehensive Program of Action for the Second International Decade to the sixtieth session of the General Assembly. The Program of Action was discussed and adopted by the General Assembly on November 21st 2005.

Highlighting the importance of participation within the international system, the program of action was developed based upon comments received from the UN system, governments, indigenous peoples' and civil society organizations. Twenty-two indigenous organizations provided input for the program of action. Among these submissions, the United Confederation of Taino People (UCTP) was the only entity representing Caribbean Indigenous Peoples to submit a formal proposal to be considered within this process. As a result of UCTP participation, the efforts of the Indigenous Peoples’ Caucus of the Greater Caribbean was also recognized within the official report. Based on consultations among regional representatives, the Indigenous Peoples Caucus of the Greater Caribbean submitted various interventions during the fourth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues held in May 2005. The Caucus will reconvene at the next session to be held in May 2006.

UCTP President Roberto Mucaro Borrero stated “our participation within this process should make it clear that our people will not remain silent while governments, academics and others determine what they believe is in our best interest without our input or consent. All Caribbean governments and state-sponsored institutions need to not only respect our regional consultations and aspirations but they need to actively look for ways to work together with us in meaningful partnership as we are the First Nations of the region.”

The plan of action for the Second International Decade will rely on five key objectives which cut across the various areas of the main goal for the Decade established by the General Assembly, namely strengthening international cooperation for the solution of problems faced by indigenous people in the areas of culture, education, health, human rights, the environment and social and economic development. Those objectives also cut across the means set by the General Assembly for the achievement of the goals, namely “action-oriented programmes and specific projects, increased technical assistance and relevant standard-setting activities.”

Within the plan of action, a specific reference regarding Caribbean Indigenous Peoples can be found under Section 6 “Social and Economic Development”, item (b) Regional level, number 86. The recommendation suggests that “representatives of Caribbean indigenous peoples should be included in region-specific consultations and conferences in Latin America and the Caribbean, and on steering committees for planning and implementing the programme of activities for the Second International Decade. Serious consideration should also be given to organizing a special regional consultative session focusing on the unique situation of Caribbean indigenous peoples, which would take place in the Caribbean, hosted by a Member State and a local indigenous community.”

“This recommendation derives directly from the UCTP submission, which was based on consultations with regional representatives” stated Borrero. “This is a reference that community representatives can now use to lobby their local and national governments.”

The plan of action is available for review at the website of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in various languages.

Rodrigues defends Amerindian Bill against salvoes from groups

By Faizool Deo

AMERINDIAN Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues is refuting the claim by three Amerindian groups that the 2005 Amerindian Bill does not meet the needs of Amerindians in the country.

On the contrary, the minister feels the bill has come a far way from the Amerindian Act of 1951, and once implemented, will give Amerindians much more than they ever had.

At a press conference Tuesday at the Side Walk Café on Middle Street, Georgetown, members of the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA), The Amerindian Action Movement of Guyana (TAAMOG) and the Guyanese Organisation of Indigenous Peoples (GOIP) voiced their concerns about the Bill, which they dubbed ‘unacceptable’.

They charged that discrimination against the indigenous peoples remains entrenched and manifested in the bill, and their rights to lands, resources and to self determination are neither adequately recognised nor protected.

At a post-Cabinet press conference yesterday, Ms Rodrigues indicated that the bill is not a product of the government, but rather comprises recommendations of the Amerindian people, who were an integral part in the consultation period prior to the formulation of the legislation.

“Forty-six of the 76 recommendations which were made at the consultations we took into consideration,” she said. “One of the recommendations that we took is that the communities could lease land; before they could not. We were advised by the international consultant not to do that, but we did it still.”

The minister said that unlike other countries, Guyana is making it very easy for Amerindian people to acquire land, and the bill stipulates that Amerindians can make claims for lands after occupying them for 25 years.

The groups of Amerindians looking for changes to the bill argue that it gives the minister too much power.

They are quoted as saying in their documentation presented to the media on Tuesday that, in the bill, the minister is vested with “arbitrary and draconian powers” that are incompatible with indigenous peoples’ self determining status and the exercise and enjoyment of other rights and fundamental freedoms.

But Rodrigues said her ministry will only be called in to address situations that could not be dealt with at other levels.

“Every day in the ministry captains come to us with problems which they can resolve by themselves, and we will say to them you can do that by yourselves you do not need us. But there are cases when the council would come to us to make a decision, but this is always a last resort.”

Another issue she put to rest is that of the presumed procrastination on her ministry’s part in implementing the Indigenous Peoples Commission, which is to represent the Amerindian people.

She said her ministry would be happy for the commission to be put in place, but several factors are preventing this from happening.

But there is another grouse that worries the three Amerindian groups.

“What Guyana has done is to include in our national laws some international laws, so we have at least seven international covenants which have been included in our national laws. The Amerindian Act should be compatible with the laws. We are saying at present that it is not. So if it’s passed as it now reads, then we can challenge it in court, because it will be in contravention of the Constitution,” APA representative David James contended.

Rodrigues remarked that even if all the demands of the Amerindian groups opposing the bill are met, she still feels that they will go to court.

But she assured the indigenous people that the bill, once implemented, will enhance the well-being of the nation’s Amerindian population.

Puerto Rico’s Biotech Harvest

by Carmelo Ruiz-Marrero

(Alternet, July 13, 2004) - If the American people are for the most part unaware of genetic engineering and food biotechnology issues, the people of Puerto Rico are blissfully in the dark – so far.

Puerto Rico, known for its pineapples and its world-renowned coffee crop, now has a new crop: the biotech harvest.

Much of the genetically engineered (GE) corn and soybean seed planted in the United States comes from this Caribbean island. Furthermore, Puerto Rico is also a preferred location for agricultural biotechnology experiments. According to data from the US Department of Agriculture

When one considers the vast difference in size (Illinois and Iowa have just over 50,000 sq. miles each, whereas Puerto Rico has less than 4,000 sq. miles) it becomes evident that Puerto Rico has more such experiments per square mile than any state, with the possible exception of Hawaii. Puerto Rico also tops California, with 1,709 experiments, although it is approximately 40 times larger than PR and has a vastly larger agricultural output.

These experiments are mostly aimed at the two most widely used GE traits: herbicide resistance (like Roundup Ready crops) and insect control (like the insecticidal Bt corn). But they also include research on biopharmaceutical crops – plants that produce pharmaceutical and industrial chemicals in their tissues – and has also included the controversial “Terminator” crops, which produce sterile seed.

Why Puerto Rico?

The island’s friendly tropical weather permits as many as four harvests per year, making it a favorite for seed breeders for agribusiness and biotechnology corporations like Dow, Syngenta, Pioneer and Monsanto, which got together in 1996 to form the PR Seed Research Association (AISPR).

But another reason for choosing Puerto Rico is its “good political climate.” Puerto Rico is not an independent country, nor is it a state of the American union. It is an “unincorporated territory.” Puerto Ricans are US citizens subject to US laws, yet they cannot vote in presidential elections and have no representation in Congress. There are no anti-biotech campaigns or protesters, not even the mildest criticism. If the American people are for the most part unaware of genetic engineering and food biotechnology issues, the people of Puerto Rico are blissfully in the dark.

Is agricultural biotechnology safe? The US government and the biotech industry argue vehemently that biotech crops and products are safe, are extremely well tested and regulated, and present no new risks to public health or the environment. But many scientists, farmers and environmental NGOs beg to differ.

Genetic Contamination

“The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate GE foods,” stated the environmental group Friends of the Earth USA (FoE USA) in a report issued in 2003. Instead, says the report, the FDA has a “voluntary consultation” process that allows biotechnology companies to decide which, if any, safety tests to conduct and how they will be performed. “The company determines which data, if any, are shared with regulators. In fact, the company even determines whether it will consult with the FDA at all.”

Other groups, like the UK-based Institute of Science in Society and the US-based Center for Critical Genetics, claim that the scientific assumptions behind genetic engineering are plain wrong and obsolete.

One of the biotech critics’ main concerns is genetic contamination – the uncontrolled proliferation of GE crops through pollination, inventory errors and other means. In late 2002 I gave a presentation at a symposium on biotechnology organized by the Puerto Rico Agricultural Extension Service in which I warned that it is only a matter of time before a biopharmaceutical crop (for example one that produces a powerful pharmaceutical substance) accidentally ends up on supermarket shelves, causing a biological Chernobyl, a public health emergency of horrific and unprecedented nature.

After my talk, Dow corporation representative Victor Torres-Collazo, himself a former AISPR president, respectfully disagreed with me. He assured me that genetic contamination is not a problem because of very strict precautionary measures mandated by law.

But fears of GE contamination are indeed well founded. In 2000, over 300 US supermarket products were found to be tainted with Starlink, a variety of GE corn that the FDA had deemed unfit for human consumption. Some 140 million bushels were contaminated, food processors and grain traders spent around $1 billion over six months trying to locate it and get rid of it, and even today traces of Starlink keep showing up occasionally in American corn exports.

The following year GE corn was discovered growing in Mexico’s rural communities, a development whose long-term consequences for biodiversity, agriculture and human health remain uncertain.

In February 2004 the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) unveiled a pilot study that shows that breeders’ varieties of corn, soy, canola and cotton seed in the United States are contaminated with GE material. This means that farmers in the USA – and wherever American seed is exported – could be planting GE seed without knowing it.

“Seeds will be our only recourse if the prevailing belief in the safety of genetic engineering proves wrong,” warns UCS. “Heedlessly allowing the contamination of traditional plant varieties with genetically engineered sequences amounts to a huge wager on our ability to understand a complicated technology that manipulates life at the most elemental level.”

Uncontrolled Experiments

The aforementioned genetic experiments in Puerto Rico are not carried out in sealed greenhouses or fermentation vats. “These are outdoor, uncontrolled experiments,” said Bill Freese, of FoE USA. “These experimental GE traits are almost certainly contaminating conventional crops just as the commercialized GE traits are. And the experimental GE crops aren’t even subject to the cursory rubber-stamp ‘approval’ process that commercialized GE crops go through – so I think the high concentration of experimental GE crop trials in Puerto Rico is definitely cause for concern.”

I asked P.R. agriculture secretary Luis Rivero-Cubano if he thought GE crops were any reason for concern. He said that the GE fields here are “just experimental.” The agriculture secretary himself seemed unaware of the massive commercial production of GE seed right here in Puerto Rico.

I then spoke with P.R. Farm Bureau president Ramon Gonzalez, who told a somewhat different story. According to Gonzalez, there are no GE experiments in Puerto Rico; all biotech crops grown here are for commercial use.

Gonzalez himself grows GE corn and soy – for export to the USA as seed – in his farm in the town of Salinas. He claimed to be particularly happy with the soy, which is genetically engineered to be resistant to the Roundup herbicide. He said Roundup is “environmentally benign,” a claim disputed by environmentalists and organic farmers.

Next on my list was the USDA, which has to approve every open-air biotech crop field test. None of Department’s employees seemed to know anything about genetically engineered crops. After an exasperating and fruitless exchange, one of them provided me a USDA phone number in Washington, which turned out to be that of the Meat and Poultry Inspection Service.

The local office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proved no more helpful. Its spokesman Jose Font stated that agriculture does not concern the agency unless toxic pesticides are used.

Finally, I tried the P.R. Environmental Quality Board. No dice. A spokeswoman said that since Puerto Rico has no laws or regulations for GM crops, it has no mandate to intervene or investigate.

Civil society organizations? Forget it. Their leaders have no position on the issue, to the extent that any of them even know what biotech is.

A “good political climate,” indeed.

No protests, no opposition. Not yet, anyway.

Puerto Rican journalist Carmelo Ruiz-Marrero directs the Puerto Rico Project on Biosafety. He is also a Research Associate of the Institute for Social Ecology, a fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program, and a senior fellow of the Society of Environmental Journalists.

SEE RELATED ARTICLE AT:
http://www.checkbiotech.org/blocks/dsp_document.cfm?doc_id=4093