People's Summit begins with words from Raoni and criticism of the U.N.

06/16/2012 - 13h23

The People's Summit began on Thursday with cars snaking down the bike lanes of Aterro do Flamengo, a speech from the indigenous chief Raoni, criticism of Rio+20 and its proposal of a green economy.

To get to all of the discussions, visitors tried to figure out where they were among the dozens of tents covering the 26,000 square meters of the park. Improvised maps were hung up on panels. But, even though they were color-coded, they didn't have a legend, nor did they include the most helpful "You Are Here" point.

The most well attended speech was that of Chief Raoni, 82, of the caiapó tribe, who criticized the deforestation of indigenous lands. "I am here to say that I'm alive and I'm fighting," he said to a crowd of about 150 people.

The committee that organized the summit rejects negotiations by the heads of state at Rio+20. "The capitalist system is trying to save itself by painting itself green. They're defending the interests of banks, Wall Street, the transnationals and oil companies," said North American activist Cindy Wiesner, of the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance.

Translated by ANNA EDGERTON