Parker Cleveland III
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Parker Cleveland III
For those of you who dont know me, my name is Parker Cleveland, I am 22 years old and just graduated from Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. I created this blog to chronicle my work as an Internationl Observer with the INTAG Solidarity Network (http://intagsolidarity.org/) in the INTAG Cloud Forest in Junin, Ecuador. The INTAG Cloud Forest is one of the 10 most biologically diverse places in the world, along with the Galapagos islands for example, according to the UN. It is also home to the largest untapped copper deposit in the world. For the past 15 years, the people of INTAG have been fighting mining projects. About 10 years ago people in the region drove Bishi Minerals (as in Mitsubishi Cars) from their land, but the mining project was renewed with a new company, Ascendant from Canada. Ascendant´s tactics for breaking the resistance are to bribe people, give them "jobs"(which means to recruit paramilitaries or thugs), threaten and intimidate resistance leaders and community organizers; the thought is that Ascendant is doing this to provoke violence from those who oppose mining so that they will be thrown in jail and the resistance will fail. However, in October 2007 there were several confrontations which resulted in the Ecuadorian government kicking Ascendant out of the country, despite this, tension remains high in the community and Ascendant still owns the claim and can operate unofficially in the region. As a result of the mining conflict, an international observer program was started in the early 2000s to have an internationl presence in the community. This is important because the mining company is less likely to do anything if there are gringos in the area. Part of my job is to just be in INTAG and be a big awkward white guy wearing this awesome blue shirt that says in big white letters that I am an internationl observer with the INTAG Solidarity Network, aside from that the ISN is trying to shift from supporting resistance to supporting ecotourism projects as well as community reconciliation. I will do my best to update this blog as there is no internet access as of yet in Junin.