Excerpt from aljazeera.com
Indigenous protesters have stormed the COP30 climate summit venue in Belem, Brazil, confronting security guards as they demanded climate action and forest protection.
The demonstrators on Tuesday tried to enter the United Nations compound, where thousands of international delegates are gathered for the climate talks. Many carried flags advocating for land rights and signs declaring, “Our land is not for sale.”
“We can’t eat money,” said Nato, an Indigenous leader from the Tupinamba community, who uses only one name. “We want our lands free from agribusiness, oil exploration, illegal miners and illegal loggers.”
Security personnel pushed back against the protesters, barricading the entrance with tables. A witness reported that one guard was evacuated in a wheelchair while holding his stomach. A security guard told the Reuters news agency he suffered a cut above his eye after being struck with a heavy drumstick thrown from the crowd. Security confiscated several weighty sticks from the protesters.