'Amazonia Was Born Globalized'

This address by Jesuit Roberto Jaramillo to the "Many Heavens, One Earth" (http://www.quaker.org.uk/manyheavens) conference hosted by the Quakers in the UK this week touches on some A-P issues.


*"Creation arose from chaos; here, it seems that 'chaos' has made a come-back."

*"The whole dynamic reproduces the hate and violence that led Cain to kill his brother, the just man Abel."

The following statement from Fr Roberto Jaramillo SJ, the Jesuit Superior responsible for the work of the Society of Jesus in the Region of Amazonia was delivered at Windsor Castle on 2 November 2009. (http://www.jesuit.org.uk/latest/091103a)

"The Amazon River Region is not an empty natural space. Its inhabitants have been there for more than 10,000 years, long before the Anglo-Saxons came to this land of Britain. The first claim "Amazonia" makes on this forum, and would like to make on the world's population as a whole, is not to yield to the temptation of looking at this region as some immense "reservoir" of water, wood, land, natural resources, mining, grass, exotic animals, but to understand that the Amazon region has its owners, people with their traditions and their histories, their cultures and their dreams, and to accept that they should be respected and must be supported in their fight against national and international covetousness and greed.

"Through the centuries, the Amazonian people have been the faithful guardians of a God-given garden of quite extraordinary richness. The way in which they deal with that enormous diversity of life teaches us today how best to care for the planet as a sacred land for all creatures. At the core of their ways of living are the virtues of austerity and temperance, the measured use of resources, virtues which the modern world dismisses and undervalues. For the Amazonian people the Creator is present everywhere in creation; and the participation of life of all kinds in this creation implies the Creator's mindful care for each creature.

"The blind attitude of many individuals, groups, organizations, institutions and nations, motivated by the evil spirit of self interest, frequently disguised with the discourse of 'development' and even 'sustainability', expresses itself every day. It expresses itself not only in deforestation, in the contamination of water sources and rivers, in desertification, in the depredation of natural resources, in the irrational exploitation of timber, mining and fishing; but also in the concentration of land ownership in the hands of a few, in public corruption and in the abuse of authority; in unimaginable violence against Amerindian and peasant communities, in the displacement of rural inhabitants, in inhuman conditions of living in cities, in the trafficking of children and young women, in the growth of the sex tourism business, and also in the absence of democracy, of popular participation in decision making. Starvation, exclusion and marginalization; human internal displacement; unemployment, the lack of opportunities for education and social mobility; an insufficiency of basic public services, these are all consequences of this socio-ecological mess.

"Creation arose from chaos; here, it seems that 'chaos' has made a come-back. The Garden of Eden is being systematically destroyed: clean water is a luxury product (and we are living on the banks of the biggest river in the world), land is the privilege of a rich minority (in a space as big as three and a half million square kilometers), healthy, good food is a merchandise that not everyone can afford (62% of the Amazon population continues to survive with less than two US dollars a day) and our animals and natural resources have become private patrimony. The whole dynamic reproduces the hate and violence that led Cain to kill his brother, the just man Abel.

"This socio-environmental devastation has its roots not only in the lack of awareness and understanding of individual people, but in the cupidity of those who look on this land as an opportunity to maximise their profit and increase their capital. What is happening in the Amazon River Region is truly proof that the kind of civilization which we have constructed is failing and urgently needs fundamental change, including a spiritual transformation, if we are to save the planet.

"We are not trying to keep 'Amazonia' isolated from the world; she was born globalized: many cultures, many histories, many different nations; an unimaginable diversity of life as a manifestation of the incomparable generosity of the Creator. Please, help us to save this garden not because the air your children will breathe depends on the trees that grow here (which is another, refined argument from self-interest) but because the creatures of the Amazon, and first of all the Amazonian people, have the right to live in freedom and peace.
Thank you very much."

ROBERTO JARAMILLO BERNAL SJ
Amazon Jesuit's Regional Superior
http://www.jesuit.org.uk/latest/091103a