Last Updated on March 22, 2014
https://vimeo.com/82535846
The winter in North America is the dry season in Panama. For Wounaan communities on the Pacific Coast of Panama’s Darien, the dry season means a high-stakes conflict with illegal loggers invading their land and stripping their forests. The 2012 logging season was the worst in history for the three Wounaan communities of Rio Hondo, Platanares and Maje. Hundreds of acres of pristine tropical forest were lost, rivers were destroyed, downstream communities starved and violent conflict left the leader of Platanares dead.
Across the world right now, Indigenous peoples are facing a renewed assault on their lands, rights, and ways of life.
From extractive industries pushing deeper into ancestral territories, to governments rolling back hard-won protections,
the threat is global—and it is growing.
What makes this moment especially dangerous is how little attention it receives.
Stories like this are disappearing in real time. Mainstream media
barely covers it and the coverage is fragmented. The public is left without the context
needed to understand what is truly at stake.
That is exactly why IC Magazine exists..
For more than 20 years, IC has reported on Indigenous struggles worldwide — consistently, independently, and without compromise.
We don’t follow news cycles; we trace patterns. We don’t sensationalize; we provide context.
And when the world looks away, we stay focused.
But this work is increasingly difficult to sustain.
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Please donate today if you can. Every contribution helps us to continue this crucial work.
Thank you,
John Ahni Schertow
Founder and Editor in Chief
