Posted on 02/11/2008 6:45:42 PM PST by GAB-1955
Camponi, Guyane (Reuters) -- President Nicholas Sarkozy starts Monday at Campoini, near the northern border of Brazil, for a visit of a day and a half to French Guyana, the poorest département of France.
He chose this Indian village of 1,400 inhabitants deep in the Amazon forest to call for the fight against one of the sore places in this overseas département (DOM) larger than Portugal and 95% covered by forests: clandestine gold mining.
There are in French Guyana, according to estimates, 3,000 to 8,000 clandestine gold seekers, coming from nearby Brazil or Surinam, responding to more than 500 illegal construction sites.
Out of the pillage of resources of Guyane, they are responsible for perhaps irremediable damage to the environment because of mercury and the techniques of nonstop washing of soils by water that they use massively.
Nicolas Sarkozy, in suit and tie, travelled by pirouge on the Canopi river to reach the village, draped with tricolors, where he met with costumed chiefs, bare-chested and dressed in red loincloths.
200 meters away, on the other side of the river, one is able to see a Brazilian village, Villa Brazil 2, in place of the distraction of the gold panners. ...
(Excerpt) Read more at lemonde.fr ...
How do you know?
What are American Indians doing in Guyana? Are they operating a casino?
That’s the French term; South American tribes to them are also “American Indians.”
hmm, isn’t Guyana where the Jonestown mass suicide was death cult was about 30 years ago?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.