HEAVY HEARTS TURN TO JOY AND DANCE

While delegates were inside voting on resolutions villagers and supporters did 1,000 bows outside the conference hall

The crew outside conference hall gather to rejoice - victory is found in new relationships made and new determination to keep fighting!

Late last night we received word that the IUCN's World Conservation Congress (WCC) had voted against the resolution calling for an end to the Navy base in Gangjeong village.  The official count was:

Governments - 20 yes, 68 no, 60 abstentions
NGO's - 269 yes, 120 no, 128 abstentions

I am told that in order to "win" our side needed 50% from each government and NGO's.  I also have heard that the South Korean (ROK) government got 30 votes.  So at these events the government side gets stacked and serves as a veto against resolutions that stand up against the status quo.  A rigged game from the start.

We have no information yet about any of the NGO's that voted No or abstained.  But I'd bet my life that many of them were bribed, coerced, or had serious conflicts of interest (meaning they get money from big corporations like Samsung).

Hopefully some good journalist will take this whole thing apart and give the public the real inside story.

In the end to have gotten this far, to have forced their way inside the WCC and forced a vote that the right-wing ROK "government" and Samsung DID NOT WANT was itself a major victory.  New meaningful relationships with honest environmental activists from around the world were made. Much is likely to flow from this experience.

Paco posted on Facebook some quick reactions from the WCC that included:

We are all truly grateful to so many awesome people who really came together and worked incredibly hard day and night.

We feel so cared about and know that we are not alone here.

There are people who care about justice in the world.

There are people who care about the environment and the earth.

There are people who work with their hearts and fight for truth.

There are still people who have not sold themselves to greed and power, and become liars and slaves.

So yes, to be honest we are sad that our motion did not become a resolution. Of course we cried and felt rejected once again. But tears and rejection are nothing new to Gangjeong, and after tears comes dancing! And wow, did we dance and dance and dance and sing and yell! Then we cried some more, then we hugged, then we sang and danced, then we clapped for each other, gave speeches and more hugs, then we bowed to each other, deep bows to the villagers who have fought so hard for so long and to the people who have come from far away to work so hard for us.

We will not give up! We will not stop! Our cause is just! Everyone in the world must know the Gangjeong struggle! We may lose 1,000 meaningless battles, but we will continue on. You can keep locking us in prison, You can keep deporting us and denying our entry to Korea, you can can keep beating us as you do daily, you can keep treating us like criminals and animals, you can keep mocking us as you destroy all that is precious about life. We will continue to dance! We will continue to sing! And we will love each other, our community, and even you, our enemies, with all of our hearts! And maybe one day you will join us, as many already have, and as we join in solidarity with so many other similar struggles around the world.

Samsung, Daelim, Hired Thugs, Police, Coast Guard, Courts, Judges, ROK Navy, Ministry of Defense, U.S. Navy, Politicians, ROK Government, U.S. Government: You've fought for greed and for power, through violence, lies, and theft. You've already lost because you've lost yourself. We do not fight to win, we fight because we've already won. Peace has already won. We are just here to shout it from the streets!

No Naval Base! Justice for Gangjeong! Life and peace for all creatures of the Earth!