NDN Support Latin America

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Brazilians and the Amazon

2. "Foreigners don't really care about the Amazon. They're only out to      steal our resources but we Brazilians have a strong army to ward      off an invasion"

I've heard this argument a couple of times already and unfortunately this is how paranoid it has become. First off, they're partly right in that there are indeed foreign companies making big money on the Amazon in terms of logging, oil drilling, gold digging, etc. (why is the Brazilian government not stopping them? Are they share holders?) but normal foreign citicizens who support or erected NGO's (non-governmental organisations) have nothing to do with these practices and are genuinely concerned about the forests as well as the native peoples living in them. There is ABSOLUTELY NO NEED for Brazil to flex it's muscles and brags about its military power because no one is planning any invasion of any kind whatsoever.

3. "Your NGO's are working for your governments. We don't trust      them"

Why would organisations like Greenpeace, Survival International, Amazon Watch, the Rainforest Foundation etc. be working for any governments? They all have many years of good reputation. It's Greenpeace activists who often get arrested by authorities, even in their own countries. They are not called NGO's for nothing. They get ZERO money from their governments.

3. "The natives do not own the Amazon. The Amazon belongs to all      Brazilians and we can do what we want with it"

Most Brazilians, especially those living in cities like Rio de Janeiro, hardly know anything about the natives living in their own country. What is important to know here is that these natives DEPEND on the forests and the rivers for their livelihood, that destruction of the forest and pollution of the rivers will effect their existence and that forcing them to live in cities amounts to CULTURAL GENOCIDE. Denying the complaints and the rights of Native Brazilians in favour of Brasil's economy is a grave injustice. Native people are Brazilians too and they have a right to their way of life.

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