Defending the Forests

Defending the Forests:The Struggle of the Campesino Environmentalists of Guerrero/ Defender los Bosques: La lucha de los campesinos ecologistas de guerrero

(2000, 18:10 min., Spanish w/ English Subtitles)

The deforestation of Guerrero's Petatlán and Coyuca de Catalán mountain ranges dates back to the 1950's. In the 1970's, under then-governor Ruben Figueroa Figueroa logging increased, accompanied by militarization and repression of Guerrero's rural communities. In 1994, with the signing of NAFTA, the transnational Boise Cascade Corporation began what resulted in the exploitation of thousands of kilometers of virgin forests, leaving in its wake deserts.

Defending the Forests is the story of the Organization of the Campesino Environmentalists (OCE) created in 1998, and their success in halting Boise Cascade's exploitation of their forests. The video describes, through the members of the O.C.E., the Mexican government's campaign to destroy the O.C.E. with the arrest and torture by the Mexican Military of O.C.E. co-founders Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera. Both were recently sentenced to prison terms of seven and 10 years on false charges of weapons and drug trafficking for their courageous activism in defense of the forests.

La Deforestación de los Bosques de la Sierra Petalán y Coyutla de Catatlán, en Guerrero, data desde 1950. En el gobierno de Rubén Figueroa se incremento la tala junto con la militarización y represión de las comunidades. Inicia, la explotación de miles de kilómetros de bosques dejando a su paso desierto. En 1998 surge la organización de Campesinos Ecologistas de la Sierra de Petatlán, con el objetivo de parar la tala de los Bosques. Un año después Rodolfo y Teodoro miembros de la OCE, son detenidos y torturados a raíz de la ola de persecución y represión que han sufrido los ecologistas.

Festivals:

2000, Vermont International Film Festival, Burlington, VT USA

2001, DUTV Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA USA

2001, American Museum of Natural History, New York City USA

2001, Arizona International Film Festival, Tucson , Arizona USA

2001, Free Speech TV, Boulder, CO USA

2001, Green Channel-KETV, Canada

2001, International Environmental Film Festival, Barcelona, Spain

2001, Outer Limits Film Festival, New York City

2001, Planet In Focus, Toronto, Canada

2001, Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah USA

2001, Voladero International Festival of Film and Video, Monterrey, Mexico