12/08/14 12/08/14 democracy now! [captioning made possible by democracy now!] from lima, peru, this is democracy now! broadcasting from the united nations climate summit. >> what we need from the negotiations is not another nice set of solidarity words, not another set of expressions of sympathy, but we would like to see from this negotiation, strong action in terms of addressing climate change and ensuring that we move forward and stop this madness that my country has been suffering.

>> for the third year in a row, the philippines is being hit by a deadly typhoon as the united nations hosts its annual climate summit. more than 90 people have already died. we will speak to lidy nacpil, a leading filipino climate activist. then saleemul huq of bangladesh and how peru has become one of the most dangerous countries in the world for environmental activists. it is a risk of life or death for us. if i stand in front of the loggers to represent my community and say to them, sir, you have to leave because this is our land and then it is a risk. it is been this way for a while. >> that was the voice of edwin climat chote. he and three others were killed by illegal loggers as they tried to stop them from cutting down the ancient trees on their land. two of theak to

widows of the men. all that and more coming up. welcome to democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. protests continue across the united states over police killings of unarmed african-americans. thousands have taken to the streets in new york city and cities across the country for each of the five nights since a grand jury declined to indict the officer who killed eric garner in a banned chokehold. over the weekend, protesters in new york staged rallies across the city, holding marches and die-ins at several locations, including the bustling grand central terminal and several major retailers. >> it is wrong and this is a flawed system within the justice system, and when you do change

it. with our voices being heard and us being united, we believe we can make a difference. and letting people know this has to stop, stop today. garner, protecting eric mike brown, many of the injustices that have been committed. we need some justice. we can't have business as usual. >> in acts of solidarity with eric garner and the protests, two professional athletes, derrick rose of the nba and reggie bush of the nfl, wore warm-up shirts bearing eric garner's last words, "i can't breathe." the weekend's protests also included a major clash in berkeley, california. police fired tear gas and smoke devices at a crowd of hundreds of demonstrators after ordering them to disperse. police vehicles were vandalized and several businesses damaged after a splinter group threw rocks, bricks, and pipes. two officers were wounded.

more arrests were made sunday as the protest broke out into unrest for second night. other protest cities included los angeles, where demonstrators marched down hollywood boulevard in a rally dubbed "blackout hollywood." in north carolina, over 200 people interrupted a holiday event by holding a die-in on a street. other cities taking part included chicago, philadelphia, miami, and minneapolis. protests included cleveland where 12-year-old tamir rice was killed last month. more protests are continued throughout the week as the lead up to washington, d.c. protest next saturday. meanwhile, prosecutors have announced a grand jury will investigate the recent police killing of another african-american who was killed in the dimly-lit stairwell of a brooklyn housing project last month. police say the officer's gun may have discharged by accident. a spokesperson for gurley's

family, said he believes the officer should be charged with homicide. >> we want a full investigation. we feel the officer should be charged with homicide. we do not believe this was just an accident. we feel this is part of a pattern of a reckless disregard for the lives of young people, particularly young people of color, and our communities. we hope the mayor -- and we believe he is sincere in his efforts to get justice in this case -- particularly in light of the lack of indictment with a grand jury of the air garner case. >> the officer who shot gurley, peter liang, did not respond to police radio contact for over six minutes after the shooting. instead, he texted his union representative to seek advice. it was a neighbor who called for an ambulance that rushed gurley to the hospital, where he was declared dead. akai gurley's mother, sylvia

palmer, demanded justice for her son. >> my son was my life. there's nothing in this world can heal my pain and heartache. and i pray to god that i get justice for my son because my son did not deserve to die like that. he didn't deserve to die like that. dreams arees and taken away from him so innocently. it's not right. i need justice for my son. a funeral service was held for on saturday where he was remembered as a loving husband, son, and father. a protest was held the same day with dozens of people braving heavy rain at the housing project where the police killed him. at least 27 people have been killed and more than one million people evacuated since typhoon hagupit made landfall in the philippines over the weekend. thousands of homes have been destroyed. the typhoon has followed almost

the same path taken by last year's typhoon haiyan which left more than 7,000 dead or missing. it is the third year in a row the philippines has been battered by a major storm during the annual u.n. climate talks. we'll have more on this story after headlines. an ecuadorean shuar indigenous leader who opposed a major mining project has been found dead just days before he was due to speak here in lima. jose isidro tendetza antun was found buried with his arms and legs bound. he was planning to speak here at a tribunal on the rights of nature in opposition to the mirador open-pit copper and gold mine. the project, operated by a chinese company, would devastate swaths of the southern amazon, a key area for biodiversity, which is home to the shuar. shuar leader domingo ankuash has accused ecuadorean authorities of complicity in tendetza's murder. addressing the tribunal where tendetza was due to speak,

ankuash said the slain activist had faced harassment, including having his house destroyed. >> if they had not killed tendetza, he would be with us now. if there had not been mining in this region of the condor, then tendetza would be on the land in his region of condor. >> last week a caravan of activists traveling from ecuador to lima in a climate caravan was stopped multiple times by ecuadorean authorities and ultimately had their school bus seized. a failed u.s. rescue operation in yemen has left the two western hostages dead as well as 11 others, including civilians. a force of u.s. and yemeni commandos carried out the raid in a bid to rescue u.s. photojournalist luke somers. but the captors shot somers, and another hostage, south african teacher pierre korkie, before fleeing. the charity gift of the givers

says it had reached a ransom to with the captors that was set to korkie just hours later. the u.s. has sent six guantánamo prisoners to uruguay after reaching a deal earlier this year. all six were approved for release more than four years ago. their transfer is the largest for a single group out of guantanamo since 2009. one of the prisoners, jihad ahmed mujstafa diyab, has filed a lawsuit against the force-feeding of hunger striking prisoners. in an interview, outgoing uruguayan president josé mujica said he agreed to receive the six out of his longstanding opposition to guantanamo bay. prison, it is a kidnapping den. a prison until subjection of some system of law. the presence of some sort of prosecutor. the decision of some judge, whomever that may be. referencemal point of

from a judicial point of view. guantánamo has nothing. the latest employment figures show the u.s. is in the midst of its highest job creation since the 1990's. more than 300,000 jobs were added in november, bringing the total this year to over 2.6 million. president obama welcomed the news on friday. >> it has been a long road to recovery from the worst economic crisis in generations, and we still have a lot more work to do to make sure hard-working wages are going faster. united states continues to outpace most of the world. we put more people back to work in europe and the last four years, japan, and all other industrialized advanced countries combined. and we will keep at it until every single american who is willing and able to work can find not just any job, but a job that pays decent wage and allows them to support their families. >> an independent forensics team in mexico says tests on human remains have confirmed the identity of one of the 43

students missing since late september. the initial dna testing is consistent with theories the students' bodies were incinerated at a garbage dump. the students' abduction by police and drug gangs has set off protests across mexico against state-backed violence and corruption, prompting the worst crisis of president enrique peña nieto's two years in office. omar garcia, a student from the missing victim school, said the protests will continue. news with a lot of rage and anger, really, just how anyone would take this news. it is not easy. it is quite difficult. we are determined and will not the president wants us to do. this is the life of a boy who wanted to be a teacher, who came from a rural area and had hoped to be someone. his family has fought promised 2.5 months -- has fought for him

as 2.5 months to find him. we take this with rage and indignation and strong determination to keep fighting for justice for the punishment of those responsible and to change these kinds of things that happen in our country. >> democratic senator mary landrieu has lost her seat in a runoff contest with republican challenger bill cassidy. landrieu had tried to appeal to voters in part by backing cassidy's measure to push for construction of the keystone xl oil pipeline, leading to a failed senate vote last month. and a new investigation reveals attorneys general nationwide have secretly worked with energy companies to fight federal regulations. according to the "new york times," corporate lobbyists have helped attorneys general in at least a dozen states craft strategy and file lawsuits against environmental rules. in return, the officials have received record donations for their political campaigns, including at least $16 million this year

in one case, oklahoma attorney general scott pruitt sent a complaint to federal regulators over air pollution limits. pruitt did not disclose his letter was written by lawyers with the oil and gas company devon energy. and those are some of the headlines, this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from the united nations climate change summit in lima, peru. the second and final week of talks begin today. negotiators from 190 nations are working on a global deal to limit climate change, due to be agreed in paris next year. just last week, the u.n.'s world meteorological organization said 2014 is on track to be the hottest on record, or at least among the very warmest. including this year, 14 of the 15 hottest years on record will have been in the 21st century. deep divisions remain between

developed and developing nations on how much the world's largest polluters should cut emissions and how much they should to help poorer nations deal with climate change. last week, australia announced it would stop giving money to the green climate fund. the head of china's delegation criticized australia's decision. >> what i can say is not good refuse toralia, they dcf.de any money into the that is a legal obligation for all developed countries to make their contributions. --t also has a very port and important impact on the negotiation process. it is a building process. >> climate activists are preparing for a major march here on wednesday.

on saturday, hundreds of indigenous representatives of amazonian tribes gathered on a beach in lima to form a 'human banner' that read, "peoples' rights, living forests." john quigley helped organize the action. symbolizedthis that by a tree in the face together. together.s nature and the message is, people plus rights equals living forest. living forests are a solution to climate change. >> indigenous activists opposed to mining and deforestation have faced severe harassment and violence throughout south america. just last week, the body of an ecuadorian indigenous leader was found dead just days after he was to travel to lima for the climate talks. josé isidro tendetza antún of the shuar federation of zamora was last seen heading to a

meeting of activists opposed to cooper and gold mine. according to the group global witness, at least 57 environmental activists have been killed in peru since 2002. here at the u.n. climate summit, special attention has been paid to the philippines as typhoon hagupit hammers the country. it is the third year in a row the country has been battered by a major storm during the u.n. climate negotiations. at least 27 people have been killed so far. more than 900,000 people were evacuated. thousands of homes have been destroyed. typhoon ruby made its first landfall in the town of dolores in eastern samar following almost the same path taken by last year's typhoon haiyan, which left more than 7,000 dead or missing. tetet nera lauron is a representative of the philippines delegation here in lima. >> reputation or experience of

facing, of being hit by huge typhoons, especially during the climate meetings, when we were , it was typhoon bhopal. in warsaw, typhoon haiyan. here in lima, we're facing typhoon ruma cut -- ruby, which is a category 4 super typhoon. damage to our agriculture and 11 million people whose lives will be permanently affected. i would now like to make this urgent and passionate appeal to all the negotiators here in lima. if the philippines is the poster child for climate disasters, we're number one in terms of being the most vulnerable country 2013 one super typhoon yan it. please, let there not be any other climate related deaths. let there be no other

displacement of peoples because of climate change. we need you to get your act together to meaningfully respond to the urgency of climate action. by lidyore we're joined convener of the philippine movement for climate justice and asia coordinator of jubilee south. vice president of the freedom from debt coalition of the philippines. she also serves on the board of 350.org and is the coordinator of the global campaign to demand climate justice. welcome. can you talk more about what is happening right now in the philippines? the local term for the typhoon agupit ish international term. the first one, close to 20 already. it is by far the strongest for this year. it is moving very slowly, which

is bad, because it is hitting longer, the population, moving across an area where there is more than 32 million people living. the winds are not as strong as haiyan, but still at the super typhoon level. we are very concerned and worried. there is more than six feet of water in an area which was hardest hit by haiyan. so many people still living in tents from the previous experience have been displaced. and this is really a major nightmare for our people because it is just telling them over and over again that the world is failing to act on climate change and we are one of the first to suffer for that. >> the filipino delegation here in lima at the u.n. climate talks has also made headlines in recent days over the surprising absence of the country's former lead climate negotiator. sanyo made international

headlines at both of the last two climate summits after he gave emotional speeches over the link between climate change and the deadly typhoon. he spoke last year on the opening day of the yuan, summit in poland about typhoon haiyan at the time, one of the strongest storms ever recorded. >> typhoon such as haiyan, is a sobering reminder to the international community we cannot afford to delay climate action. warsaw must deliver a vision and muster the political will to address climate change and build that important bridge toward peru and paris. it might be said it must be poetic justice, that typhoon haiyan, its diameter spent at the distance within warsaw and paris. mr. president in troha, we asked, if not us, then who? if not now, then when? if not here, then where?

but here in warsaw, we may very well ask the same questions. what my country is going through as a result of this extreme climate event is madness. the climate crisis is madness. esther president, we can stop -- mr.dness right here president, we can stop this madness right here in warsaw. >> that was yeb sano, the lead, or in poland. to the shock of many, he did not show up in lima, peru this year. as well as another of the lead climate negotiators, who is now under another badge. she is here for bolivia, but not for her home country, the philippines. lidy nacpi, can you talk about the significance? have they been removed and for what reason? >> of course, we all know the

interest that will be served by the absence of yeb and that will be of the developed country governments, who have been actually expressing their protest about how they [indiscernible] strong in defending the interest of the people's developing countries and the peoples of the philippines. we do know there are a lot of things going on inside the philippine government and inside the philippine delegations, but we do know that part of the big beenre is that there has pressure coming from this developed country governments about yeb being part of the delegation and so we do know this has a lot to do with why they are not there -- >> why pressure? >> well, because it has been said the so-called partners of the philippines, the longtime allies like the united states, have found the positions of yeb

and others to radical for their comfort -- >> and what does radical mean? >> it means they have been demanding very strongly that the u.s., eu, and other governments of developed countries be more targets for their mitigations, deliver on their obligations on climate finance. this is what is radical. this is a position where our two colleagues have been saying the convention must be fulfilled, that their obligations in the convention must be fulfilled, and that for them too radical. >> yeb sano is not granted interviews, but tweeted -- they can silence my mouth, but they cannot silence my soul. we're going to go to break and we will continue with lidy dr. saleemulll as huq. then you will hear the voices of widows here in peru who have

lost their husbands just in the last few months, as they challenged illegal logging. they have come to lima to demand reparations and demand the government do something about protecting the amazon rain forest. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

we are broadcasting from the u.n. climate summit in lima, peru, the second week of the 20th cop, conference of parties. to talk more about these climate talks, we're joined by dr. saleemul huq, climate scientist from bangladesh who works at the international institute for environment and development in london. he is also the director of international center for climate change and develop meant in bangladesh. he is advising the bloc of least developed countries in the climate negotiations. lidy nacpil, convener of the philippine movement for climate justice and many other groups. dr. saleemul huq, we welcome you to democracy now!, welcome you back as we have had you each year as we have cover these climate summits. can you summarize what has happened so far in this climate summit?

peru has not been talked about as much as next year, which will be a binding summit. so what is happening here at the u.n. climate summit? >> this is a stepping stone to paris, where we hope to have a new deal which would replace the protocol that happened many years ago. we're hoping in lima, we will put in place the elements we need in such a deal. this is the last chance to get in what ever people want to get into it. once we leave lima, we won't be able to put anything else in it. there are a lot of arguments about what stays in and what doesn't. from the developing country side, we need strong actions on the developed countries to thece emissions and pay up money they promised. from our side, we want action on adaptation -- >> what do you mean? >> helpi the poorest countries like the philippines and bangladesh to reach -- react. >> how has been with us been affected? >> very badly by floods and

typhoons, similar to the ones we're sing in the philippines. >> you recently were in kenya. >> i was in kenya week ago and that had massive drought in the northern part of the country with millions of people now displaced because of that. the effects of climate change and the poor countries is real, happening, people are being affected. under the climate change negotiations, rich countries have promised to assist with finance. they have given some, but nowhere near the amount they promised. about adaptation and also this issue of loss and damage, which i think yeb sano came to personify, sort of one figure representing the filipino people and beyond? changeimpacts of climate are very, very clear. the first assessment report of the ipcc that just came out, which was presented here, is

very, very clear about the science. changing, it is human-induced, and we need to take action and the window for taking action is closing very fast. impacts are occurring as we speak. most import countries to my but even rich countries. the drought in the united states in california is an example. toneed to prepare ourselves deal with the impacts of climate change. we're not going to be able to deal with everything. there are things beyond adaptation and beyond our ability to mitigate now. they will be losses and damages occurring inevitably. last journal warsaw, that was an issue that came up. we agreed on an international mechanism. the fight in lima is whether we need to put that into the paris agreement. developing countries wanted to be there, fighting very strongly not to include it for others. >> i want to turn to comments made by the china delegation who said the pledges made by rich countries to a green fund to help poor nations cope with

global warming are "far from adequate." this is some of what he had to say. 2020 isbjective for the provision of $100 billion per $10 billion iso just 1/10 of that objective, yet we do not have any clear roadmap or clear picture of meeting that target by 2020. of course it is not for a year. it applies to the initial capitalization of the dcf, so that is why i said maybe it is far from adequate. it could be ranging from three to four years, but so that is --ll a large gap between

towards the 2020 targets of $100 billion he or. head of thes the china delegation at the climate talks. talk about this global climate fund and also the role of china and the u.s., dr. saleemul huq, they've just made a deal. i want to get your comment on that as well. >> the rich countries, a few years ago, in fact, secretary of state hillary clinton announced it in copenhagen, $100 billion year from 2020 doubt the developing countries tackle climate change. at the moment, the funds that have been pledged just about reached $10 million out of $100 billion. so 10% or less. headis what the chinese was referring to. in terms of the large picture of what the u.s. and china have recently announced, that a certain very, very good sign. u.s. president and the chinese

president have both announced action on climate change, which is very different from what we have seen in copenhagen. >> i want to go to that moment. it was extremely dramatic, that moment in copenhagen, when the secretary of state hillary billionannounced $100 would be put into the global climate fund in 2020. >> the united states is prepared to work with other countries toward a goal of jointly mobilizing $100 billion a year by 2020 to address the climate change needs of developing countries. now, this was extremely significant at the time because president obama -- because of the role the united states had played. maybe you can explain that, dr. hug, fiercely criticized for

innocence torpedoing these talks and yet this very grandiose announcement about the green climate fund. >> absolutely. it was a very welcome announcement from the united states on behalf of rich countries, they were not going to do 100 billion dollars themselves. it was all the rich countries putting in money together. it was going to start in 2020. there are some caveats and that, but it was very significant. at the moment in lima, we have to start pledging into that fund. until lima, there has been no money in that fun. the green climate fund, which was set up at that time. right now as of today, we have just about reached close to $10 billion in pledges, not just yet. hopefully, in lima, we will call -- cross the $10 billion mark and start using that money, particularly for the poor countries to help them adapt to the impacts of climate change that i mentioned already. but at the same time, we have a long way to go to get to 100 from 10. what they're many in the united

states, particularly republicans in congress saying, we just can't afford this. would you call it all tourism, the u.s. having poor countries deal with climate change? >> this is nothing to do with altruism. this has to do with reparations from polluters. the united states has risen as an economic our based on emissions over the last 150 years. areas caused the damage we now seeing. they recognize that and have taken on the obligation to help the poor victims of the impacts of climate change that is caused pollution. this is about polluters and victims of pollution. >> how does the u.s. compared to china and what to think about the deal president obama just announced? >> at the moment, the country of china has overtaken the u.s. is the biggest emitter. so the two of them together are the biggest emitters with all must have the global emissions coming from these two countries. responsibility,

which they are shouldering. the problem is, they're not taking enough action. >> and the fact in the deal between china and the united ,tates, republicans are raising attacking president obama, saying china says it will people before it goes down and that the u.s. is just committing to going down? >> that is not litigation that was agreed to a long time ago, the rich countries been responsible for the majority of the queue militant greenhouse gases in the atmosphere should take action first and developing countries would begin some time to go up before they come down. china has made a commitment that they will come down. they have not done that before, so that a significant. but they will still be going up for little while before they start coming down with their emissions. ultimately, we have to get to zero emissions whether we like it or not, if we want to tackle this problem. >> you were shaking her head vigorously, lidy nacpil. >> we were talking about finance. yes, it was significant, i would agree, but we also have to say

it is significantly short of what is needed. and when we talk about finance needed for loss and damage, we're not just talking about finance that will actually compensate for loss and damage. we have to talk about finance that will present loss and damage from becoming greater -- prevent loss and damage from becoming greater and that has him to do it finance for education actions in the south, which should not be seen as finance to help the south. it is finance to help the north fulfill its mitigation obligation and because they have accumulated such huge excesses of emissions, it is no longer enough to do it domestically, even with extreme domestic action. we in the south have to take on part of that, part of their obligations in the north. and for that, finance has to be delivered. so it cannot be seen as assistance to the south. it should be seen as the south assisting the north to fulfill its obligations.

so in lima, is certainly is very important to insist that even when we talk about mitigation agreement -- >> mitigation, meaning? >> reduction of emissions. it has to include finance, and that is what they're against. >> urged governments to cut greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2100, saying global warming woods -- was now causing downpours, acidifying the ocean, and pushing up sea levels. the chair of intergovernmental panel on climate change warned of the long-term consequences of inaction at the climate summit. >> if we do nothing, then by the end of the century, you can see the substantial decrease in deals that could take place, with a growing population at hiring comes, you can imagine food scarcity and food security

and the whole issue of starvation and hunger become very large threats. ,> that was rajendra pachauri the nobel prize-winning organization of scientists. dr. saleemul huq, talk about the significance of the report they put out just before the lima summit and what it predicts. >> the ipcc has produced its fifth report now, just a few months ago, and as rajendra pachauri said, it is showing us that things have gotten a lot worse. our window of opportunity to take action has been reduced, and we need to be taking urgent action both on adaptation as well as mitigation. one of the things we and our organization are pushing for is what we call 00. we need to go to zero emissions and zero poverty.

we need to link the two. if we want to solve this problem, we cannot do one without the other. we have to do both of them and do them as fast as possible. >> are there any surprises expected? i believe just near here today there will be an action around what is happening in the philippines and what people can do about it, lidy nacpil. surprisesn terms of from the talks, we hope there will be surprises for the better, that the developed country governments will given to our demand to widen the coverage of the agreement. but we're also hoping there will be more actions because those kinds of actions is required from us, from the civil society, so we can have enough pressure on these governments. , what dr. saleemul huq you expect to see by the end of this conference leading up to paris next year? >> we expect the negotiators and

the governments who are here to come up with a good package that on the one hand, is adequate to solve the problem. in a inadequate package is not going to be except a bowl. on the other hand, they should galvanize and built on the momentum that is happening around the world and taking action. we're not sitting and waiting for the women negotiators -- people all over the world are doing things on the ground and we need that to be supported and enhanced. >> and finally, the connection between disease and climate change? >> this is one of the most important impacts of climate change. i mention the droughts in kenya, which is affecting many, many people. the floods we're now seeing in manila in the philippines are going to leave a lot of health burden on the country, the spreading of diseases with the waters that are contaminated. and in the long term, there is malnutrition associated with the

lack of food that rajendra pachauri mentioned. the health impact on human beings, and poor countries or even rich countries like the united states, is when to be something that we're all going to have to worry about. >> we are going to leave it there. thank you very much for being with us, dr. saleemul huq a , climate scientist at the international institute for environment and development in london. he is also the director of the international center for climate change and development in bangladesh. he is advising the bloc of least developed countries in the climate negotiations. and lidy nacpil, convener of the philippine movement for climate justice and asia coordinator of jubilee south. vice president of the freedom from debt coalition of the philippines. she also serves on the board of 350.org and is the coordinator of the global campaign to demand climate justice. we will be back in a moment. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we broadcast live from the united states climate summit in lima, peru, where more than half of the country is still covered by tropical rainforest, which plays a crucial role in absorbing carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. but peru is facing scrutiny here at the cop because a new report by the group global witness finds it is the fourth most dangerous nation for environmental activists, including the indigenous people who live in the forests and work to protect it from

deforestation. in a few minutes, we'll speak with two widows of four men who were killed here in september, allegedly by the illegal loggers who they were trying to stop. peru also recently passed legislation that rolls back forest protections in order to attract new investment and development. on friday, the president of cop20, peru's minister of the environment, manuel pulgar, talked about the problems the country faces with deforestation. >> we need to control deforestation and there are three things which i ask the media to take into account. the first is illegal logging, which must result in specific sanctions including the imprisonment of those involved. the majority of this is linked to the extraction of fine wood such as cedar and mahogany. the second phenomenon is deforestation for migratory agriculture. this is the main cause for deforestation. this involves people who travel

in search for better conditions within the amazon, and cut down areas of trees to create farms in order to produce and sustain themselves. the third area involves other causes such as illegal mining. all three areas must be controlled. >> we're now joined here in lima, peru by julia urrunaga is a native of peru, and she lives here in lima where she is the peru programs director for the environmental investigation agency. she is the author of a report that revealed more than 20 u.s. companies have imported millions of dollars in illegal wood from the peruvian amazon since 2008. the report is titled, "the laundering machine: how fraud and corruption in peru's concession system are destroying the future of its forests." welcome to democracy now! more than half of peru is covered by forest? of the yes, about 60% territory is amazonian forest,

and that is about the size of texas. >> what does that mean not only for peru, but for the world? >> it is not only about the carbon, but also about the biodiversity. different100 for lives of areas in the world. a very large number of fishes, birds, and insects in different things are in peru. year, more being discovered. also the home for a list half a million indigenous peoples that have been there for centuries. >> in a moment, we are going to hear from the widows of the men who in september were killed as they tried to challenge illegal logging. talk about the significance of their story. >> well, it is very important

about thet only trials they went through, but the case of many other indigenous peoples in peru and the world that are trying -- are fighting to protect their environment. do they not receive support from our government, but are also -- by the government. landxample, fighting for for over 12 years. >> talk about the significance of edwin chote, food he is, who he was. well-known very leader in peru. yet been very active not only in fighting, but also documenting illegal logging activities. he was producing all of these reports for the government. with gps data, that is how precise he was -- >> gps data? >> yes, yes.

we end others have been working on sharing this technology with indigenous groups. carhere. project they want to learn more about how to document what is happening in a forest so they can get more attention from the government. sadly, in the case of chote, this information was not enough. they were not paying enough attention to his case of the national level and eventually, he got killed. illegal for a few trees. in the last five years, they have identified there have been at least 300,000 trees that have been illegally logged. that is what is documented. >> what does this have to do with the united states? >> the united states has an important role as with the rest of the world, because you're

consuming this. without knowing and being vigilant enough, you are just buying timber that is coming from the destroyed environment and from killing indigenous people and violating their rights. >> are there particular kinds of wood that we should know our trouble? >> well, it is a must all the different species. wethe case of our report, were focusing on mahogany and cedar, but because those are the ones that are better documented. we could track down the origin of each reuse from the exporters -- of the trees from the exporters to the forest. when you go back to the forest, you will realize it is not coming from the authorized sessions, but from wherever else. for the other species, several of them go to the united states

and also china and europe. the case is the same, but the problem is that we cannot trace them back. >> we will link to your report "the laundering regime" at democracynow.org. julia urrunaga is a native of peru, just produced this report called, "the laundering machine: how fraud and corruption in peru's concession system are destroying the future of its forests." a report that reveals to 20 companies in the united states are involved with this illegal logging. as we turn right now to the story of edwin chote in his own words. he was a leading of our mental activist and had been profiled in national geographic. surely before his death, he called for greater protection from the government for communities such as his own and described how his life had been threatened. it is a risk of light or death for us. because if i stand in front of them, and front of the loggers

to represent my community and say to them, sir, you have to leave because this is our land, it is a risk. it is been this way for a while. they are loggers. they have arms. they of everything. they're never going to pay attention to us. we know who they are and how they act, so we need to support of government institutions to protect the region at the border with brazil. >> that is edwin chote. he was killed in september along others.ee widow andoke with his jorge rios about the assassinations and the work their husbands were doing. you are breast-feeding her baby. can you tell me his name and when he was born? tom chote, is edwin

and he was born on november 10. >> he is the baby of your slain been edwin chote? julia, what should we know about your husband's work? >> edwin was dedicated to the community. he spent his whole life and all of his time in defending the community, coming here to lima, writing documents, bringing documents to the government agencies and doing what he could for the community. the community would support him

here and there with money to help them out, but basically, he does dedicated his life to the community and to obtaining our title. >> you also lost her husband. you will soon be elected leader of your community. talk about what happened on september 1, as you understand it. what happened to these four men? >> i and here in lima and i would like to tell you the reasons why we are here and why our husbands were killed. it saddens me greatly that these four leaders of our community --

i'm one of the representatives -- it saddens me greatly that our four leaders edwin chota jorge ríos, francisco pinedo and , quinticima were killed. it sends me greatly because they leave a great hole and they leave widows and their children without fathers. conservationor the of their lands. they fought for their land rights, further titles. they repeatedly asked the government for their titles. the government never paid any attention to them, despite multiple requests, and they also fought against illegal logging on our land. who killed them?

people who killed our husbands were illegal loggers, brazilians, who operate in that region, who denounced multiple times but the government does nothing to stop the situation that is going on there. we protect our forest. we depend on our forest for fish , for the resources that are in the forest. we don't live in the city. we don't go to the supermarket. that is where we get what we need to live. we take care of the rivers because if you cut all the trees, the rivers dry up. so we protect the forests of the rivers -- we use the water that we depend on.

so that is why we have come here to the cop, to ask for support, support to protect our forests and first of all, to title our land. we're asking the government to title our land, but it has not paid attention to us. but that is what we're here to request. we also are asking for pensions because our families have been left without support. our husbands have been killed. and we need support. i have six children. i need to feed them.

to get them what they need. so this kind of support from the government is what we need. >>, their husbands were killed in september along with two other peruvian of our middle mentalts -- and by activist. that does it for our broadcast today. as we wrap up today's program, we will be bringing you broadcast throughout the week from the yuan climate summit called cop 20, the conference of parties, a binding summit next year in harris, france. -- in paris, france. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed

captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

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