Greens Hail Landmark Victory In Fight To Save Amazon Rainforests

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/03/25/100/

Greens Hail Landmark Victory In Fight To Save Amazon Rainforests
by Andrew Gumbel

One of the world’s largest agribusiness giants was forced to close a soy export terminal in Brazil’s Amazon region this weekend, marking a major victory for environmentalists who have argued for years that the plant was built illegally and became a significant cause of rainforest depletion.

Brazilian police and environmental officers swooped on the Cargill terminal in Santarem, a deep-water port in the lower Amazon about 850 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean. They said they met no resistance as they set about closing operations.

On Friday, a Brazilian judge ruled that Cargill - a US multinational that posted more than $70bn (£36bn) in revenues last year - had failed to submit a legally required environmental impact assessment when it built the terminal in the first few years of this decade.

It was not the first time the courts had ruled against Cargill on the question, but the company had never previously been forced to suspend its operations.

The Santarem terminal has been the target of a Greenpeace environmental protection campaign from the day it opened in 2003. A Greenpeace report last year, entitled “Eating Up the Amazon”, accused Cargill of being directly or indirectly responsible for slave labour, illegal land grabs and deforestation at a rate of six football pitches per minute.

Greenpeace’s Amazon campaign coordinator in Brazil, Paulo Adario, was understandably delighted at the court ruling and closure. “A big step forward has been taken in enforcing the responsible use of natural resources and bringing greater governance in the Amazon,” he said.

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Stunning turn around
My suspicious mind says they weren't acting out of kindness

I hope south america sets up some successful, socially progressive societies