The Ambiguous Avaaz

Originally published in Italian by il manifesto

TERRA TERRA – Marinella Correggia

2012.03.06

In the Libyan case, Avaaz has acted very quickly, good for taking the media lies about the “massacre of thousands of civilians by Gaddafi.” We have not seen subsequently make appeals to stop the war or NATO to protect civilians and Tawergha of Sirte. (It is now very active – even how to request funds – the demonization of the Syrian regime).

And here is the case Tipnis, a million hectares of forest that have been granted the status of indigenous territory by the government of Evo Morales in 2009. I live about two thousand people in 64 communities. On August 15, representatives of these communities have started a march towards the capital, La Paz to protest against the planned highway. Avaaz has condemned the Bolivian government with high-sounding tones and collected in a short time hundreds of thousands of signatures email environmentalists from around the world.

Certainly the people of Tipnis has legitimate concerns about the impact of the highway. The question is at least controversial. But Avaaz, along with some large international NGOs of Arab television Al Jazeera appears to use these concerns to weaken politically Morales with a complaint to the entire field, making into the hands of the Bolivian right. Now the complaints are many and among them is the small survey of a Swiss site (http://www.sinistra.ch/?p=1627) explains: “Avaaz distorts the facts by stating that foreign firms will divide the ‘Amazonia (…) and that it will wage a predatory fever. But no mention of the fact that the destruction has already in place and that just the Morales government is promoting a law to add new protective rules of the national park. The proposed law comminerebbe prison sentences of between ten and twenty years in prison for illegal settlements, the cultivation of coca or cutting of trees in the park. ”

On Tipnis, Avaaz has returned to the office a few days ago, denouncing renewed “enormous pressure from the Bolivian government on indigenous communities for the construction of the highway. (…) The government, backed by the Brazilian and international interests in oil and coca, has launched a counteroffensive to circumvent the law. ”

According to the newspaper Change Bolivia (http://www.cambio.bo/opinion/20120215/la_campana_internacional_contra_evo_morales_64561.htm ) the destabilization campaign against Morales is orchestrated by NGOs funded by the United States and among these Avaaz, which moreover promote the program REDD (reducing emissions from degradation and deforestation), a false solution to climate crisis.

Created in 2007 by a group of people close to MoveOn, the online activist group funded by the Soros Foundation, Avaaz from Ricken Patel is chaired and supported by former Members of Congress and business-class liberals. His tactic is very simple: it promotes dozens if not hundreds of petitions on environmental issues, human rights, democratic, anti-corruption (eg the fight against censorship on the Internet or the recognition of Palestine). There are even attacks on Western governments and against the excessive power of the banks. Among the many themes of “innocent” are part of strategic issues for the owners of Avaaz. Obtaining membership and funds from hundreds of thousands of supporters.

http://www.ilmanifesto.it/area-abbonati/in-edicola/manip2n1/20120306/manip2pg/14/manip2pz/319130/