Searching for Change: Chico Mendez

MISSION - keeganrs@gmail.com

My blog is about my dream for a world where everyone is allowed to exist and improving the quality of life of the world’s citizens is our priority.

For many reasons I reject the current path of the world.

Rich world insanity, excess and lies. Poor world denial of human rights and food. The destruction of the planet. Our homogenisation into one consuming mass of idiots.

We need to look for new ways. New human interactions at every level. New models of participation or at least rescuing old ones. Things like couchsurfing.com and woolf.org are steps in this direction as are the models of health and education being created and implemented in Venezuela.

We need to stand up and say "Enough!" to the current regimes and look to support all those initiatives for a better world and create our own.

Wednesday, 1 August 2007

Chico Mendez

At first I thought I was fighting to save rubber trees, then I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rainforest. Now I realise I am fighting for humanity.

Amazon soil becomes infertile shortly after being cleared because of it's acidic properties and the balance of decomposition and growth.

He tried to stand up to big business by forming a union for rubber tappers. He took on big business and took it to the highest stages.He brought people together to talk about and organise against clearing the Amazon for cattle farming.

He was threatened for many years and eventually murdered on his doorstep for standing in the way of profits. He had a wife and 2 children.