500 YEARS OF SOLITUDE : A PROPOSAL TO END LATIN AMERICAN COLONIALISM AND TO SAVE THE RAINFORESTS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA PROLOGUE ON NOVEMBER 8, 2019, FIVE HUNDRED YEARS WILL HAVE PASSED FROM THAT FATEFUL DAY WHEN THE NINTH TLATOANI ( SPEAKER OR KING ) OF TENOCHTITLAN MET WITH THE CONQUISTADOR HERNAN CORTES AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE ISLAND'S AZTEC METROPOLIS. THIS FIRST MEETING BETWEEN THE LEADING REPRESENTATIVES OF TWO SEPARATE UNIVERSES SO TYPIFIED WHAT WOULD LATER BEFALL THEIR PEOPLES : THE NINTH TLATOANI ( MOCTEZUMA XOCOYOTZIN ) GIVING CORTES AN AZTEC CALENDAR MADE ENTIRELY OF GOLD, AND ANOTHER OF SILVER, GIFTS REPRESENTING THE CELESTIAL FRUITS OF THEIR ARTISTIC AND SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENT, AS WELL AS NECKLACES MADE OF SOLID GOLD AND PRECIOUS STONES. THE CONNIVING HERNAN CORTES ATTEMPTED TO EMBRACE MOCTEZUMA AND, FEIGNING CHRISTIAN LOVE, DECLARED, " WE HAVE COME TO YOUR HOUSE IN THESE LANDS AS FRIENDS ; YOU HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR ... " THE NINTH TLATOANI PROVIDED CORTES AND HIS SOLDIERS WITH THE VERY BEST OF FOOD AND LODGING IN THE HEART OF TENOCHTITLAN ; SIX DAYS LATER, CORTES TOOK MOCTEZUMA HOSTAGE AND, APPLYING THE LESSONS IN SUBJUGATION AND EXTERMINATION THAT HE HAD REFINED IN CUBA AND HISPANIOLA, ORCHESTRATED THE DIABOLICAL HIJACKING AND THEFT OF AN ENTIRE CIVILIZATION, IN A PATTERN WHICH WOULD BE REPEATED THIRTEEN YEARS LATER BY HIS SECOND COUSIN, FRANCISCO PIZARRO, IN THE DESTRUCTION AND UPROOTING OF THE INCA EMPIRE OF SOUTH AMERICA. CORTES NEVER SAW THE AZTEC CALENDARS ; HE ONLY SAW THE GOLD AND SILVER THAT THEY WERE EACH COMPOSED OF, AND HAD BOTH CALENDARS MELTED DOWN INTO GOLD AND SILVER INGOTS. CORTES LIKEWISE NEVER SAW THE THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS OF NATIVE MEXICANS THAT WERE ROBBED, BUTCHERED, AND EXTERMINATED IN THIS MOST AMORAL AND UNCHRISTLIKE OF CONQUESTS ; HE COULD ONLY SEE HIS OWN BLIND GREED. IT IS UNFORTUNATE THAT DANTE ALIGHIERI DID NOT LIVE IN THE 1500s, AS HE MOST ASSUREDLY WOULD HAVE ADDED A DEEPEST LEVEL OF HELL WITHIN HIS INFERNO TO ENCIRCLE CORTES, PIZARRO, AND OTHER DESTROYERS OF ENTIRE CIVILIZATIONS IN THE MOST HARROWING AND UNENDING OF PUNISHMENTS. THE REAL TRAGEDY IS THAT THIS INITIAL RAPE AND PILLAGING OF NORTH, CENTRAL, AND SOUTH AMERICA WAS CONTAINED NOT JUST TO THE LARGE SCALE THEFT OF GOLD, SILVER, AND PRECIOUS METALS FROM THESE GREAT ANCIENT AMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS, BUT IN THE GENOCIDE OF MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS OF NATIVE AMERICANS OVER THE NEXT FIVE HUNDRED YEARS, WITH THOSE WHO SURVIVED THIS MASS HOLOCAUST CONSIGNED TO THE WORSE FATE OF A LIFETIME OF SLAVERY TO THE WESTERN CENTERS OF POWER. FROM THE SILVER MINES OF DEATH TO THE MONOCULTURE PLANTATIONS OF SUGAR AND THEN COFFEE, FROM THE RUBBER BOOM TO THE INVASION OF SOY FARMING AND CATTLE RANCHING, THE EXPLOITATION OF LATIN AMERICA AND HER RESOURCES HAS CONTINUED UNABATED TO THE PRESENT DAY. [ FOR FURTHER TREATMENT ON THIS SUBJUGATION AND CONQUEST, THE READER IS URGED TO READ EDUARDO GALEANO'S OPEN VEINS OF LATIN AMERICA , AND JOHN HEMMING'S TREE OF RIVERS : THE STORY OF THE AMAZON ]. AMIDST THIS EXPLOITATION OF PEOPLES AND RESOURCES HAS BEEN THE ACCELERATED DESTRUCTION OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST : A STAGGERING 22% OF THE AMAZON JUNGLE AS IT STOOD IN 1964 HAS NOW BEEN LOST, MORE THAN WAS DESTROYED IN THE FOUR HUNDRED PREVIOUS YEARS OF CONQUEST AND PLUNDER COMBINED. THIS ESSAY AIMS AT NOTHING LESS THAN THE IMPOSSIBLE : AN ENDING TO THESE 500 YEARS OF LATIN AMERICAN SLAVERY, AND NOT ONLY AN ENDING BUT A REVERSAL, IN THE RE - IMAGINING OF A CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA RECONFIGURED AND REBORN FROM THE DESPERATE OPPORTUNISM WHICH HAS SCARRED ITS BODY BUT NOT ITS SPIRIT. AS A CENTRAL PILLAR IN THIS REBALANCE OF POWER BETWEEN LATIN AMERICA AND THE WESTERN NATIONS WOULD BE THE SAFEGUARDING OF ITS MOST CRITICAL ASSET: THE AMAZON RAINFOREST. THE FOLLOWING PROPOSAL, ORGANIZED INTO NINE ACTES, HIGHLIGHTS EIGHT INDUSTRIES WHICH ARE SEVERELY IMPACTING THE AMAZON JUNGLE, AND WAYS IN WHICH THIS DESTRUCTION CAN BE CURTAILED AND, WHERE POSSIBLE, PAUSED INDEFINITELY. THE FINAL ACTE ( ACTE IX ) WILL BE PRESENTED HERE FIRST, AS THE ENTIRE PROPOSAL ( AND REVERSAL OF THE LAST 500 YEARS ) WOULD HINGE UPON ITS ACCEPTANCE : THE CREATION OF THE WORLD PRESERVATION SANCTUARY OF AMAZONIA IN THE YEAR 2019. ACTE IX - AMAZONIA IMAGINE A WORLD WITHOUT THE AMAZON RAINFOREST. IT WOULD BE THE ENVISAGING OF AN EARTH WITH 20% LESS OXYGEN IN THE ATMOSPHERE ( THE AMAZON IS DESERVEDLY KNOWN AS THE LUNGS OF THE WORLD ), AND OF AN EARTH WHERE ONE EIGHTH OF ALL KNOWN PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES WERE WIPED OUT. IT WOULD BE THE LOSS OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST DEFENDER AGAINST GLOBAL WARMING AND RELATED CLIMATE CHANGE, AND THE LOSS OF SOUTH AMERICA'S GREATEST PROVIDER FOR AGRICULTURE ( THRU THE LARGER WEATHER PATTERNS WHICH THE AMAZON REGULATES ). BUT MOST TRAGICALLY, IT WOULD BE THE EXTINGUISHMENT OF THE MAGICAL LAND OF THE JAGUAR AND THE ANACONDA, OF TREES AND VINES WITH UNIQUE MEDICINAL PROPERTIES, OF INDIGENOUS TRIBES WITH THEIR DISTINCT CULTURAL TRADITIONS AND LANGUAGES, AND OF THE HIDDEN KNOWLEDGE OF THE JUNGLE WHICH DIES AS THE PLANT DIES. THE AMAZON RAINFOREST IS NOT ONLY THE MOST VALUABLE NATURAL RESOURCE OF SOUTH AMERICA AS WE LOOK DEEPLY INTO THE FUTURE, BUT OF THE ENTIRE PLANET ; NO CENTURY BUT OUR OWN HAS SEEN SUCH A FOREBODING SHADOW CAST OVER THE VIABILITY OF THIS NOW FRAGILE ECOSYSTEM. THE SANCTUARY OF MORE ENDANGERED PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES THAN ANY OTHER ECOSYSTEM ON THE PLANET IS NOW ITSELF ON THE ENDANGERED LIST ; WITH ITS BORDERS SHRINKING AND BEING EATEN AWAY FROM THE INSIDE BY UNAUTHORIZED ROADS AND ILLEGAL LOGGING, THE AMAZON FOREST IS NOW FAST APPROACHING THE POINT OF NO RETURN, OR THE TIPPING POINT AS REFERRED TO BY SOME SCIENTISTS, WHERE THE JUNGLE WOULD SHRINK IN THE NEXT SEVERE DROUGHT TO THREE QUARTERS ITS CURRENT SIZE, WHICH WOULD REDUCE PRECIPITATION IN THE AMAZON, DRYING OUT VAST STRETCHES OF JUNGLE AND LEADING TO EVEN LESS RAINS, IN A VICIOUS CYCLE WHICH COULD TURN THE AMAZON RAINFOREST AS WE KNOW IT INTO PART SAVANNAH LANDS AS EARLY AS 2150. WITH THE EXPANDING WORLD POPULATION DRIVING DEMAND OF THOSE EIGHT INDUSTRIES SO DAMAGING TO THE AMAZON, IT IS THE FACILE AND THE PUSILLANIMOUS CHOICE TO THROW UP ONE'S HANDS AND TO DECLARE THE EARTH LOST IN THE FACE OF CLIMATE CHANGE, HUMAN POPULATION EXPLOSION, AND THE PROJECTED LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY ( WHICH COULD TRIGGER A MASS EXTINCTION EVENT ). IT IS DISHEARTENING TO OBSERVE THE POROUS BORDERS OF THIS PRECIOUS FOREST, THE PERMEABLE POLICIES OF SOUTH AMERICAN GOVERNMENTS WHICH, AS DEMONSTRATED BY EDUARDO GALEANO, ARE PERVIOUS BY THE MANY HOLES DRILLED INTO THEIR CONSTITUTIONS BY CERTAIN MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS, MONOPOLIES, AND NATIONS -- COMPANIES WHICH HAVE VERY OFTEN INSTALLED DICTATORS AND DESPOTS IN THESE LATIN AMERICAN GOVERNMENTS TO REDUCE OR REMOVE ALTOGETHER THE LAWS AND POLICIES WHICH IMPEDE THE RIVERS OF PROFIT FLOWING INTO THEIR OVERSEAS POCKETS. THE AMAZON RAINFOREST CURRENTLY EXTENDS ACROSS THE BORDERS OF NINE NATION-STATES, GIVING IN EFFECT NINE DOORWAYS FOR THESE EIGHT INDUSTRIES TO ENTER AND EXPLOIT THE WORLD'S LARGEST RAINFOREST, FURTHER COMPLICATING A COHESIVE STRATEGY OF DEFENSE AND PRESERVATION. YET NOTWITHSTANDING THE BLEAKNESS OF THE SITUATION AGAINST THESE MONSTROUSLY POWERFUL FORCES OF UNCHECKED CAPITALISM AND GLOBAL WARMING, THERE IS ONE SOLUTION WHICH, ALTHOUGH RADICAL AND INVOLVING THE SACRIFICE OF SEVERAL NATIONS, CORPORATIONS, AND INDIVIDUALS TOWARDS ITS CREATION, WOULD HAVE THE POWER TO PROPERLY PROTECT THE AMAZON RAINFOREST FROM MONEYED INTERESTS NOW AND IN THE YEARS TO COME. THIS SOLUTION, INCLUDING THE SACRIFICE OF THE DIETARY AND CONSUMPTION HABITS OF PEOPLES AROUND THE GLOBE ( ACTES II - IV ), WOULD INVOLVE THE CREATION OF A WORLD'S FIRST : THE WORLD PRESERVATION SANCTUARY OF AMAZONIA A WORLD PRESERVATION SANCTUARY WOULD BE A TERRITORY OF SUBSTANTIAL SIZE SET APART, TO BE KEPT IN PERPETUITY IN ITS MOST UNDISTURBED AND NATURAL STATE, FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE WORLD AT LARGE. ITS SURVEILLED BORDERS, SET TO GUARD AGAINST ILLEGAL LOGGING, POACHING, DRUG TRAFFICKING, AND MINING, WOULD ENGUARD THIS GREAT GREEN HEART OF THE EARTH IN ITS PUREST STATE, AS THE WORLD'S MOST SIGNIFICANT PROTECTOR AGAINST THE DAMAGING EFFECTS OF ESCALATING CLIMATE CHANGE AND BIODIVERSITY LOSS. MODELED AFTER WORLD HERITAGE SITES AND NATIONAL PARKS BUT ON A MUCH LARGER SCALE, A WORLD PRESERVATION SANCTUARY WOULD ADDITIONALLY BE A SAFE HAVEN FOR THE REMAINING INDIGENOUS TRIBES OF THE REGION, WITH CAREFUL MONITORING OF THE STATUS OF ENDANGERED PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES. THERE ARE CURRENTLY THREE TERRITORIES PROPOSED AS WORLD PRESERVATION SANCTUARIES : AMAZONIA IN THE YEAR 2019, CONGOLIA IN THE YEAR 2032, AND PAPUA IN THE YEAR 2045. TOGETHER, THESE THREE WORLD PRESERVATION SANCTUARIES WOULD PROTECT OVER ONE - THIRD OF THE REMAINING PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES ON THE PLANET, UPON LANDS GENERATING OVER ONE - THIRD OF THE WORLD'S OXYGEN. ALL THREE TERRITORIES COMBINED COMPRISE 88 % OF THE REMAINING TROPICAL JUNGLE HABITAT ON EARTH, AND ALL THREE TERRITORIES BORDER UPON LANDS AND COUNTRIES OF EXTREME POVERTY, WHERE THE DEMAND IS INCREASING EXPONENTIALLY TO CLEARCUT THE RAINFOREST FOR SHORT TERM MONETARY GAINS AT THE EXPENSE OF THE ETERNAL WEALTH THAT IS LOST WITH THE RAZING OF THESE INIMITABLE EQUATORIAL FORESTS. AS THESE THREE WORLD PRESERVATION SANCTUARIES WOULD BE BENEFITTING ALL THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH ( THRU THEIR STABILIZING PRESENCE AGAINST THE EXTREME EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ), IT WOULD BE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING NATIONS OF THE WORLD TO CONTRIBUTE BOTH FINANCIALLY AND IN OFFERING THEIR EXPERTISE AND LABOR TOWARDS THE CREATION OF AMAZONIA AND HER RELATED INFRASTRUCTURE. IN PARTICULAR, THOSE NATIONS MOST INVOLVED IN EITHER THE EARLY CONQUEST ( SPAIN, PORTUGAL ), THE MID CONQUEST ( ENGLAND, NETHERLANDS, GERMANY, FRANCE ), OR THE LATE CONQUEST ( UNITED STATES, JAPAN, CHINA ) OF LATIN AMERICA AND HER NATURAL RESOURCES WOULD NOW BE ASKED TO RETURN THE EQUIVALENT OF 1 % OF THE RICHES THAT WERE ABSORBED INTO THEIR LANDS LEGALLY OR ILLEGALLY THRU THE EXPLOITATION AND PLUNDER OF LATIN AMERICA.* IF THIS 500 YEAR CONQUEST OF LATIN AMERICA WERE LIKENED TO A FOOTBALL MATCH, THE NATIONS OF THE NETHERLANDS, GERMANY, FRANCE, AND JAPAN, WOULD NOW BE YELLOWCARDED, WITH REDS FOR CHINA, THE UNITED STATES, AND ENGLAND; PORTUGAL AND SPAIN WOULD EACH RECEIVE THIRTEEN RED CARDS FOR THEIR ROLES IN THE EXTERMINATION OF ENTIRE TRIBES AND PEOPLES, INCLUDING WITHIN WHAT ARE NOW CUBA, THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, HAITI, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, EL SALVADOR, BELIZE, NICARAGUA, COSTA RICA, PANAMA, COLOMBIA, VENEZUELA, ECUADOR, THE GUIANAS, CHILE, ARGENTINA, URUGUAY, PARAGUAY, BOLIVIA, BRAZIL, MEXICO, AND PERU : IT HAS ONLY TAKEN 500 YEARS FOR THE REFEREE TO RAISE HER HAND. THESE NINE NATIONS, AND ABOVE ALL SPAIN AND PORTUGAL, WOULD NOW BE ASKED TO MAKE GENEROUS PAYMENTS, OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT FIFTY TWO YEARS, TOWARDS THE CREATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF AMAZONIA, AS A GIFT AND JUST REPARATION TO THE INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS OF THE AMAZON PAST AND PRESENT WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE ONSLAUGHT OF TOLEDO STEEL, SMALLPOX, AND SLAVERY. AMAZONIA, AS A WORLD PRESERVATION SANCTUARY, WOULD FOCUS UPON THREE GOALS : I) THE RETROFITTING OF ALREADY ESTABLISHED CITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE WITHIN THE PARK WITH LESS ENVIRONMENTALLY DAMAGING OPTIONS, AS ROADS, SEWAGE, AND WATER SYSTEMS, FOSSIL FUEL TRANSPORTATION ( INCLUDING BOATS ), HOUSING, AND POWER SYSTEMS WERE ALL UPGRADED AND / OR REPLACED, TO TRANSFORM THE EXISTING TOWNS AND CITIES WITHIN THE AMAZON ( AND IN PARTICULAR IQUITOS AND MANAUS ) INTO THE CLEANEST CITIES IN THE WORLD, II) THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF AMAZONIA WHICH WOULD SPECIALIZE IN THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND POTENTIALLY ATTRACT TOP RESEARCHERS AND EDUCATORS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE TO STUDY AND PROTECT THE FLORA AND FAUNA OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST ON SITE, AND III) THE CREATION OF AN ECOCITY WITHIN THE AMAZON NAMED MACONDO, WHICH WOULD HOUSE A COMMUNITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGNED FROM THE GROUND UP TO BE IN HARMONY WITH THE SURROUNDING AMAZONIAN ECOSYSTEM, AND WHICH WOULD HOLD AT ITS VERY CENTER THE FIRST DISNEYLAND PARK EVER CREATED IN LATIN AMERICA: EPCOT AMAZONIA. ACTE VIII - EPCOT AMAZONIA " WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR, MAKES NO DIFFERENCE WHO YOU ARE, ANYTHING YOUR HEART DESIRES WILL COME TO YOU ; IF YOUR HEART IS IN YOUR DREAM, NO REQUEST IS TOO EXTREME, WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR, AS DREAMERS DO ... " - JIMINY CRICKET, 1940 IN AN UNPRECEDENTED GIFT TO THE LATIN AMERICAN NATIONS, THE FIRST DISNEYLAND PARK SOUTH OF THE EQUATOR ( AND THE FOCAL POINT OF THE WORLD PRESERVATION SANCTUARY OF AMAZONIA ) WOULD BE ESTABLISHED, IN AN UNDISCLOSED NATURAL SETTING WITHIN THE AMAZON RAINFOREST. EPCOT AMAZONIA WOULD BE UNLIKE ANY OTHER DISNEYLAND PARK ON EARTH ; WHILE HAVING ONLY THIRTEEN RIDES OR ATTRACTIONS, THESE RIDES WOULD OFFER AN IN - DEPTH EXPOSITION OF THE AMAZON JUNGLE, AS WELL AS A SENSORY INTENSIVE EDUCATION OF THE GREAT ANCIENT AMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS OF MESOAMERICA AND SOUTH AMERICA, AS WELL AS CELEBRATING THE LIVES OF GREAT LATIN AMERICAN ARTISTS PAST AND PRESENT. TO ILLUSTRATE, LET US VISIT THESE THIRTEEN ATTRACTIONS : I ) THE MONORAIL, BASED ON THE ORIGINAL DISNEYLAND MONORAIL COMBINED WITH MAGLEV TECHNOLOGY, WOULD HAVE DESIGN MOTIFS BASED ON THE ANACONDA, COTOMACHACO, AND SACHAMAMA SNAKES OF THE AMAZON, AND WOULD BE THE ONLY ENTRANCE TO THE PARK ( EPCOT AMAZONIA WOULD HAVE NO PARKING LOT ). THE MONORAIL, AS A MAGLEV SYSTEM, WOULD WIND ITS WAY SILENTLY THRU THE AMAZON JUNGLE, OFFERING UNPARALLELED VIEWS OF THE RAINFOREST WHILE BEING A ZERO EMISSIONS TRANSPORT. THE MONORAIL WOULD SLOW DOWN IN A CERTAIN SECTION OF THE JUNGLE ALONG THE WAY TO OFFER A GLIMPSE OF AN ANACONDA WITHIN ITS NATURAL HABITAT, AS WELL AS THE RARELY SEEN SACHAMAMA AND COTOMACHACO. THIS MONORAIL WOULD THEN ENTER INTO THE SMILE OF A VERY LARGE CHESHIRE CAT, DISEMBARKING WITHIN ALICE'S WONDERLAND. II ) WONDERLAND, WHILE THE OFFICIAL ENTRANCE TO EPCOT AMAZONIA, WOULD BE AS A PARK IN ITSELF, FULLY DEVOTED TO THE ADVENTURES AND VISIONS OF ALICE AS DOCUMENTED IN BOTH ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND AND THROUGH THE LOOKING - GLASS, AND WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE. AN EXTENDED TEA GARDEN ( WHERE GUESTS WOULD BE OFFERED THEIR CHOICE OF COMPLIMENTARY TEAS FROM CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA ) WOULD LEAD TO A CENTRAL COURT WHERE GUESTS COULD PLAY CHESS OVERLOOKING A GIGANTIC CHESSBOARD, WATCH A FILM WITHIN ONE OF THE THREE CINEMA PALACES WITHIN EPCOT AMAZONIA ( THE BLUE CATERPILLAR ), AND EVEN CHECK IN FOR AN EXTENDED STAY WITHIN THE QUEEN OF HEARTS HOTEL ( ONE OF THREE OVERNIGHT LODGING POSSIBILITIES WITHIN THE PARK ). THERE WOULD BE THREE ATTRACTIONS WITHIN WONDERLAND : THE TEACUPS ( MODELED ON THE DISNEYLAND RIDE BUT WITH THE ART MOTIFS OF CERTAIN AMAZONIAN TRIBES AND MESOAMERICAN CULTURES PAINTED ON EACH TEACUP ), THE JABBERWOCKY ( A MAZE OF GUIDED TRAILS INTO THE JUNGLE, WHERE ONE COULD COME FACE TO FACE WITH THE CHESHIRE CAT, THE BLUE CATERPILLAR, THE JABBERWOCK, OR EVEN THE ANCIENT AMAZONSAURUS ), AND DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE, BASED ON THE ORIGINAL ALICE IN WONDERLAND RIDE BUT ONE WHICH GAVE EACH GUEST THE OPTION OF EITHER RETURNING BACK TO WONDERLAND, OR TO CONTINUE DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE WHICH WOULD JOURNEY THRU AN ENTIRELY SEPARATE SEGMENT OF WONDERLAND, TO EXIT AT THE ENTRANCE TO ADVENTURELAND. III ) ADVENTURELAND, BEING WITHIN THE ACTUAL AMAZON RAINFOREST, WOULD OFFER THE UNPARALLELED EXPERIENCE OF ENCOUNTERING BOTH REAL AND ANIMATRONIC RECREATIONS OF THE DIVERSE FLORA AND FAUNA OF THE AMAZON. THERE WOULD BE TWO ATTRACTIONS WITHIN ADVENTURELAND : METAMORFOSIS ( ONE OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST BUTTERFLY SANCTUARIES, WHERE GUESTS COULD WALK AMIDST SOME OF THE RAREST AND MOST BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLIES OF THE AMAZON ) AND THE JUNGLE CRUISE, WHERE GUESTS COULD JOURNEY INTO THE HEART OF THE JUNGLE, TO ENCOUNTER DIVERSE SPECIES OF MONKEYS, SLOTHS, ARMADILLOS, ANTEATERS, IGUANAS, ARAPAIMAS, TAPIRS, TOADS, TOUCANS, MACAWS, AND EVEN THE ELUSIVE JAGUAR. THIS SECTION OF EPCOT AMAZONIA WOULD NOT ONLY BE AN ATTRACTION, BUT A WILDLIFE SANCTUARY FOR RARE AND ENDANGERED PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES, AND A SHELTER FOR INJURED AND RESCUED ANIMALS. THE JUNGLE CRUISE WOULD ALSO WIND THRU THE FORESTED AREAS OF NATIVE AMAZONIAN TRIBES, WHERE CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS FROM THESE TRIBES WOULD EMERGE FROM THE SHADOWS IN FULL CEREMONIAL REGALIA, AS IF GUESTS WERE TRANSPORTED 500 YEARS INTO THE PAST TO WITNESS THE EXTRAORDINARY CUSTOMS, RITUALS, AND DANCES OF THESE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES. THE JUNGLE CRUISE WOULD NOT END WHERE IT BEGAN, BUT WOULD AGAIN BE THE MEANS OF TRANSPORT TO THE NEXT SECTION OF THE PARK, AND QUITE POSSIBLY ITS VERY EPICENTER : MACONDO. IV ) MACONDO, AT THE VERY CORE OF EPCOT AMAZONIA, WOULD BE AT ONCE A RE-CREATION OF THE MYTHICAL TOWN OF GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ' CIEN ANOS DE SOLEDAD AND, IN THE SPIRIT OF THE EPCOT CENTER IN FLORIDA, AN EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN CENTER FOR ECO - ( ECO-LOGICALLY SENSITIVE AND ECO-NOMICALLY FEASIBLE ) HOUSING AND CITY INFRASTRUCTURE ( SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR THE TROPICAL RAINFOREST BIOME BUT WITH OTHER DESIGN MODELS WHICH COULD BE USED THROUGHOUT CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA ). MACONDO WOULD GENERATE ONE - HALF OF ITS ENERGY CONSUMPTION FROM SOLAR POWER, IN A MIRRORING OF JOSE ARCADIO BUENDIA'S ( A MAIN CHARACTER IN CIEN ANOS DE SOLEDAD ) DESIRE TO HARNESS THE ENERGIES OF THE SUN WITH A GIANT MAGNIFYING GLASS. AND IN A LITERAL MIRRORING OF " THE DREAM " OF JOSE ARCADIO BUENDIA ( IN THE SECOND CHAPTER OF CIEN ANOS DE SOLEDAD, WHEN HE DREMPT THAT A CITY AROSE FROM THE GROUND WITH WALLS OF MIRRORS, AND WHICH WAS NAMED MACONDO ), THE WALLS AND OUTER SURFACES OF THE ARCHITECTURE OF MACONDO WOULD BE STUDDED WITH INFINITIES OF TINY MIRRORS, HEXAGONAL IN SHAPE AND STRUCTURE, WHICH WOULD CAUSE THE BUILDINGS OF MACONDO TO TWINKLE AS RARE DIAMONDS BENEATH THE FOREST CANOPY. TO ILLUSTRATE THE MULTI - FACETED NATURE OF THIS CENTRAL COMPONENT OF EPCOT AMAZONIA, LET US TRAVEL IN DEPTH THRU ITS PASSAGEWAYS, EXPLORE ITS CAUSEWAYS TO THE DISTANT PAST AND FUTURE, AND DETAIL ITS COMMITMENT TO BOTH THE PRESERVATION OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST, AND THE HONORING OF ONE OF LATIN AMERICA'S GREATEST WRITERS : GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ. ACTE VII - MACONDO ~ " JOSE ARCADIO BUENDIA SONO ESA NOCHE QUE EN AQUEL LUGAR SE LEVANTABA UNA CIUDAD RUIDOSA CON CASAS DE PAREDES DE ESPEJO. PREGUNTO QUE CIUDAD ERA AQUELLA, Y LE CONTESTARON CON UN NOMBRE QUE NUNCA HABIA OIDO, QUE NO TENIA SIGNIFICADO ALGUNO, PERO QUE TUVO EN EL SUENO UNA RESONANCIA SOBRENATURAL : MACONDO. " - CIEN ANOS DE SOLEDAD, P. 36 OF THE MANY THINGS THAT MACONDO WOULD BE, IT WOULD FIRST BE AS A LIVING TRIBUTE TO ONE OF THE GREATEST LATIN AMERICAN ARTISTS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY ( OR OF ANY CENTURY ), GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ. MACONDO WOULD HAVE ONLY ONE ATTRACTION, A MAGIC CARPET RIDE THRU THE FANTASTIC WORLD OF MELQUIADES AND THE BUENDIAS THRU ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF INCREDIBLE EXPERIMENTS, OF SPANISH GALLEONS LOST IN THE JUNGLE BLOOMING WITH ORCHIDS, OF GOLDEN SALAMANDERS AND A LARGE DIAMONDLIKE BLOCK OF ICE, AND OF CIEN ANOS DE SOLEDAD. THIS SOLE ATTRACTION WOULD EXIT AT THE MOUTH OF A RIVER OF CLEAR WATERS, WHERE TWENTY ADOBE HOUSES " DE BARRO Y CANABRAVA " OVERLOOK A RIVERBED OF POLISHED STONES, WHITE AND ENORMOUS LIKE PREHISTORIC EGGS. FROM HERE, A RE - CREATION OF THE VILLAGE WHICH JOSE ARCADIO BUENDIA FOUNDED, WOULD EMERGE A SINGLE PATHWAY WHICH WOULD BRANCH OUT OVER MANY KILOMETERS INTO A GREAT TREE OF TRAILS, OPEN TO HIKERS AND RUNNERS, STUDENTS AND SCIENTISTS, TO EXPLORE THE INNER DEPTHS OF THE AMAZON IN A SOUTH AMERICAN VERSION OF THE JOHN MUIR TRAIL. ENTERING THIS NETWORK OF PATHWAYS WOULD NOT BE WITHOUT ITS DANGERS ( FROM WILD ANIMALS AND THUNDERSTORMS ), BUT WITH CHECKPOINTS ESTABLISHED AND SMALL OUTPOSTS STATIONED AT KEY SECTIONS OF THE TRAILS ( IN A SIMILAR MANNER TO THE CHECKPOINTS FOR THE INCA TRAIL AND MACHU PICCHU / HUAYNA PICCHU IN PERU ), AN EXPEDITION INTO THE INTERIOR OF THE AMAZON WOULD BE SAFER FOR BOTH THE TRAVELER AND THE AMAZONIAN ECOSYSTEM. ADMISSION TO THESE TRAILS WOULD BE HIGHLY RESTRICTED ( TO ONLY THOSE GUESTS WHO SPEND A NIGHT WITHIN ONE OF THE TWENTY ADOBE HOUSES OF MACONDO ) IN AN EFFORT TO BOTH LIMIT THE ENCROACHMENT OF THE HUMAN PRESENCE UPON THIS FRAGILE ECOSYSTEM, AND TO MAINTAIN THE RELATIVE SOLITUDE OF THE JUNGLE. WITH EACH CHECKPOINT / WAYSTATION PROVIDING SHELTER, FOOD, PURIFIED WATER, AND BATHROOMS, MULTI - DAY EXCURSIONS DEEP INTO THE AMAZON WOULD BE POSSIBLE IN A MANNER LEAST DISRUPTIVE TO THE NATIVE PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES, WHILE OFFERING PRESENT AND FUTURE SCIENTISTS, STUDENTS, AND VISITORS TO EPCOT AMAZONIA A SAFE YET RIGOROUS PASSAGEWAY DEEP INTO THE HEART OF THE AMAZON. THE CITY OF MACONDO WOULD BE A LAND OF CIRCLES AND PARABOLAS, FORMS AND STRUCTURES MORE RESEMBLING EXOTIC BEEHIVES AND THE CIRCULAR ARCHITECTURE OF THE CHACHAPOYAS THAN THE WESTERN WORLD'S STRUCTURES OF SQUARES AND RECTANGLES. MACONDO WOULD HAVE NO CENTRAL SQUARE, BUT RATHER A CENTRAL SPIRAL ; AT ITS CORE WOULD BE A RE - CREATION OF THE CORICANCHA ( IN CUSCO, PERU ) AS IT WOULD HAVE APPEARED IN THE LATE 1400s, AS A GLIMMERING GOLDEN HEARTBEAT THAT WAS THE MOST SACRED OF SITES TO THE LARGEST CIVILIZATION OF PRE - CONQUEST SOUTH AMERICA, THE INCAS. ( THIS WOULD BE THE FIRST OF THREE RE - CREATIONS OF ANCIENT CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE AS THEY WOULD HAVE APPEARED IN THEIR OWN EPOCH ) MACONDO WOULD INCLUDE A FULLY EQUIPPED HOSPITAL, AN ACADEMY FOR GIFTED INDIGENOUS STUDENTS FROM ALL NATIONS OF LATIN AMERICA, A CINEMA PALACE ( THE BUNUEL THEATRE, WHICH WOULD RESEMBLE THE BASILICA OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE IN MEXICO CITY CROSSED WITH AN ANDALUSIAN EYE ), A MEXICAN RESTAURANT DEDICATED TO FRIDA KAHLO DISPLAYING ORIGINAL ARTWORKS AND PHOTOGRAPHS FROM HER LIFE, AND AN INDIGENOUS ARTISTS WORKSHOP WHERE GUESTS COULD WATCH ARTISANS OF AMAZONIAN TRIBES IN THE DESIGN OF THEIR CEREMONIAL ATTIRE, BODYPAINT, BEADWORK, WOVEN WARES AND OTHER ARTISTIC CREATIONS. MACONDO COULD ALSO HOST ARTISTS FROM SELECTED CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES ( THE AWA OF EASTERN BRAZIL, THE SHIPIBO OF NORTHERN PERU, THE ONA OF TIERRA DEL FUEGO ), WHERE THEIR VIBRANT ARTWORKS AND CULTURE WOULD BE ON DISPLAY AS IN A LIVING MUSEUM, WITH REENACTMENTS AND EXPOSITIONS OF THEIR MYTHOLOGIES AND HISTORIES, IN - DEPTH EXHIBITIONS OF THEIR UNIQUE ARTWORKS AND WORLD VIEWS ( TO THE STANDARD OF MOMA, LACMA, THE BRITISH MUSEUM ), AND EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS ALLOWING GUESTS TO LEARN CERTAIN ART METHODS DIRECTLY FROM THESE GIFTED INDIGENOUS ARTISTS. THE STREETS OF MACONDO WOULD HAVE NO CARS, MOPEDS, MOTORCYCLES, OR EVEN BICYCLES : THE ONLY TRAFFIC ENCOUNTERED WOULD BE FOOT TRAFFIC. AND THERE WOULD TECHNICALLY BE ONLY TWO STREETS IN MACONDO : ONE ( THE TOROSHOMO ROAD ) WOULD SPIRAL OUT FROM THE CENTRAL CORICANCHA THRU TWO AND ONE HALF TURNS, WITH ALL BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES FOLLOWING THIS SHELL - SHAPED SPIRAL ( WHICH FROM HIGH ABOVE MIGHT APPEAR AS THE CROSS - SECTION OF A GINORMOUS FASCIOLARIA GIGANTEA CONCH SHELL ). THE LARGER STRUCTURES ( THE ARTISTS WORKSHOPS, THE BUNUEL THEATRE, FRIDA RESTAURANT, ACADEMY, AND HOSPITAL ) WOULD BE STATIONED AT IRREGULAR INTERVALS ALONG THIS SPIRALING PATHWAY, WITH HOUSING IN BETWEEN AND AMIDST THESE LARGER STRUCTURES. MACONDO WOULD HOUSE THE ENTIRE CAST AND CREW OF EPCOT AMAZONIA, GUEST ARTISANS FROM THROUGHOUT CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA, AS WELL AS GUEST ENTERTAINERS ( WHO COULD PERFORM WITHIN THE FULLY SOUND - REINFORCED BUNUEL THEATRE, INCLUDING PERFORMANCES IN THE ROUND ). THE SECOND ROAD ( THE YANAMAYU ROAD ) WOULD LEAD OUT DIRECTLY FROM THE CORICANCHA ON A RAISED LOW ARCING PATHWAY OR BRIDGE, OVER TWO TURNS OF THE TOROSHOMO ROAD AND HER SPIRALS, TO REACH A CONTINUANCE OF THE YANAMAYU ROAD NOW AS A CAUSEWAY OR RAISED PATHWAY OVER THE WATERS OF A SMALL LAKE. THIS CAUSEWAY WOULD LEAD TO A SMALL ISLAND IN THE MIDST OF THIS LAKE WITH A RE - CREATION OF THE TEMPLE OF QUETZALCOATL AS IT APPEARED IN THE TEOTIHUACAN ERA.** THIS 1 : 4 SCALE REPRODUCTION WOULD SHOW THE QUETZAL HEADS EMERGING FROM THE SIDES OF THE PYRAMID AND CONCH SHELL IMAGERY IN ALL THEIR ORIGINAL COLORATION, WITH BRILLIANT BLUES, EARTHY ORANGES, AND ELECTRIC GREENS, RECALLING THE COLOR PALETTE AND YARN PAINTINGS OF THE HUICHOL TRIBE OF NORTHERN MEXICO. AS THE CURRENT SITE OF THE TEMPLE OF QUETZALCOATL OUTSIDE MEXICO CITY IS IN SEMI - RUINS, WITH ONLY ISOLATED PORTIONS OF THE ORIGINAL TABLERO STILL VISIBLE, THIS RE - CREATION WOULD BE AS A RESTORATION OF ONE OF THE MOST SACRED TEMPLES OF ANCIENT MESOAMERICA WHICH, LIKE THE CORICANCHA, HAS BEEN PARTIALLY DESTROYED AND TARNISHED FROM HER ORIGINAL GLORY. ACTE VI - EPCOT AMAZONIA ( LA DEUXIEME PARTIE ) WITHIN MACONDO WOULD NOT ONLY BE A PORTAL TO THE DISTANT PAST, BUT TO THE FARTHEST FUTURE : THE EXIT TO THE CIEN ANOS DE SOLEDAD RIDE / ATTRACTION WOULD LEAD TO THE TWENTY ADOBE HOUSES OF THE ORIGINAL MACONDO ( WITH THE EXPLORATORY YUYANAPAQ TRAIL BEGINNING FROM THIS POINT ), AS WELL AS A PATHWAY WHICH WOULD CURVE IN A LOW ARC SIMILAR TO THE YANAMAYU ROAD, BUT WHICH WOULD LEAD TO A MONORAIL STATION OF THE FUTURE, AND A MONORAIL SYSTEM WITH ONE DESTINATION : TOMORROWLAND. V ) TOMORROWLAND, WHILE BEING BASED UPON THE ORIGINAL DISNEYLAND'S CONCEPTION OF EXPLORING THE FRONTIERS OF SPACE AND SCIENCE, WOULD ALSO BE THE DISCOVERY OF AN ECO - CITY OF THE RAINFOREST 500 YEARS INTO THE FUTURE. AN ARRAY OF CAREFULLY CONSTRUCTED SOLAR PANELS WOULD BLOSSOM AMIDST THE TREES, AS RARE SILVER FLOWERS AND ANGLED FRAGMENTS REMINISCENT OF THE QOLQECANCHA, GLISTENING AGAINST THE TREES. BELOW THE FOREST CANOPY, THE MONORAIL WOULD DISEMBARK WITHIN AN AREA OF PRISTINE RAINFOREST, WHERE NO STRUCTURES OF TOMORROWLAND WOULD YET BE VISIBLE, AND WITH THE MONORAIL SPEEDING AWAY BACKWARDS, IT WOULD BE AS A STEP INTO THE FUTURE FIVE HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW, WHICH WOULD ( OPTIMISTICALLY ) STILL INCLUDE THE PRIMEVAL RAINFOREST. AFTER WALKING OVER ONE FINAL PATHWAY, A VISTA WOULD OPEN UP OF A NATURAL CLEARING IN THE NEAR DISTANCE, WITH AN OBSERVATION TOWER SURROUNDED BY SPHERICAL STRUCTURES WHOSE SURFACES WOULD REFLECT THE DREAMS OF THE JUNGLE. THE OBSERVATION TOWER WOULD BE AS A MINI SPACE NEEDLE ( AT ONE FOURTH THE HEIGHT OF THE SEATTLE SPACE NEEDLE ( 184 METERS ), MEASURING 46 METERS IN HEIGHT ); A LARGE ROTATING OBSERVATION DECK WOULD HOVER OVER THE AMAZONIAN FOREST CANOPY FOR A RARE 360 DEGREE VIEW OF THE UPPER DECK OF THE RAINFOREST, AS AN INFINITE SPRAWLING SEA OF ENDLESS GREEN MUSHROOMING TO THE HORIZONS. ONE HEMISPHERE OF THIS ELLIPTICAL OBSERVATION DECK WOULD BE A PERUVIAN RESTAURANT DEDICATED TO THE SOPRANO SINGER YMA SUMAC, WITH ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE OF HER PERFORMANCES DISPLAYED IN UNIQUE FORMS, INCLUDING AN ANIMATRONIC RECREATION OF THE SINGER HERSELF. THIS RESTAURANT WOULD ALSO FEATURE PAINTINGS OF THE PERUVIAN ABSTRACT ARTIST FERNANDO DE SZYSZLO, AND WOULD SERVE DISHES FROM AMAZONIAN PERU, QUINOA AND ALPACA CUISINE FROM THE HIGHLANDS, AND TRADITIONAL CREATIONS FROM LIMA AND TRUJILLO. THE OTHER HEMISPHERE OF THE OBSERVATION DECK WOULD BE A BRAZILIAN RESTAURANT / ACAI BAR DEDICATED TO PERHAPS THE GREATEST FOOTBALL PLAYER OF ALL TIME, PELE. WITH PROJECTIONS OF MOMENTS FROM HIS STORIED CAREER THROUGHOUT THE RESTAURANT, AS WELL AS AN ANIMATRONIC " BICYCLE KICK " RECREATION, PELE WOULD BE HONORED FOR HIS GREAT ARTISTRY AND IMAGINATION, IN A RESTAURANT DEVOTED TO THE GAME OF FOOTBALL. WITH EACH GUEST TABLE HAVING ITS OWN VIEWING SCREEN ( WHERE THE SECOND HALF OF ONE OF THE FIFTY TWO GREATEST WORLD CUP MATCHES OF ALL TIME WOULD BE DISPLAYED ACCORDING TO EACH TABLE'S CHOOSING ), A CENTRAL BIG SCREEN WOULD SHOW WORLD CUP MATCHES OF PELE'S ERA, INCLUDING THE FOUR WORLD CUPS ( 1958, 1962, 1966, AND 1970 ) IN WHICH HE PARTICIPATED. THE BRAZILIAN SUPERFRUIT ACAI WOULD BE SERVED IN BOWLS AND SMOOTHIES ALONGSIDE TRADITIONAL AMAZONIAN CUISINE, BRAZILIAN CHICKEN SANDWICHES, AND DISHES OF FISH AND OCELLATED TURKEY. DESSERTS WOULD INCLUDE BLUE AGAVE PUMPKIN PIE ( SEE ACTE IV ), GUAVA BOWLS, CUPUACU PUDDING, AND PAPAYAS SLICED INTO MINIATURE FOOTBALLS. A " PENALTY BOX " WOULD ALSO ALLOW GUESTS TO KICK A FOOTBALL INTO A GOAL NETTING WHICH WOULD MEASURE MOVEMENT AND BALL VELOCITY, MATCHING THE TRAJECTORY OF THE BALL WITH ONE OF THE WORLD CUP PENALTY KICKS WITHIN ITS DATABASE, RESULTING IN A CLOSEST MATCH DISPLAYED FOR ALL TO SEE. FINALLY, THE MUSIC OF THE BRAZILIAN MUSICIAN SERGIO MENDES WOULD BE PLAYED WITHIN THE ATRIUM OF THIS HEMISPHERE, HONORING ONE OF SOUTH AMERICA'S MUSICAL ICONS. THIS AMAZONIAN SPACE NEEDLE WOULD ALSO HOUSE A SMALL OBSERVATORY AT ITS TOP TO VIEW THE STARS AND PLANETS THRU TELESCOPES, AND THE ENTIRE STRUCTURE WOULD BE PROTECTED BY TWENTY NINE LIGHTNING RODS WHICH WOULD SAFELY CHANNEL LIGHTNING STRIKES TO GROUND, MAKING THE OBSERVATION TOWER ONE OF THE SAFEST PLACES TO BE WITHIN DURING A THUNDERSTORM. FURTHERMORE, NOT ALL OF THE TREMENDOUS ENERGIES FROM A LIGHTNING BOLT STRIKE WOULD BE LOST : A SMALL AMOUNT OF POTENTIAL ENERGY WOULD BE HARVESTED INDIRECTLY FROM EACH LIGHTNING ROD THRU HYDROELECTRIC AND/OR GAS DIFFERENTIAL, TO POWER AT FIRST VARIOUS LIGHT AND WATER DISPLAYS ALONG THE BODY OF THE OBSERVATION DECK, BUT IN THE FUTURE TO PROVIDE THE ENTIRE ENERGY REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ROTATION OF THE OBSERVATION DECK ( WHICH WOULD NOT BE AS IMPOSSIBLE AS IT SOUNDS -- THE SEATTLE SPACE NEEDLE IS ROTATED WITH ONLY A 1 1/2 HORSEPOWER MOTOR ). THE MISSION OF THE AMAZONIAN SPACE NEEDLE AND THE ENTIRETY OF TOMORROWLAND WOULD BE TO GENERATE THE TOTALITY OF THEIR REQUIRED ENERGY NEEDS THRU ALTERNATIVE ( NON - FOSSIL FUEL ) MEANS, INCLUDING WIND, SOLAR, HYDROELECTRIC, AND GEOTHERMAL POWER SOURCES. IN THIS WAY EPCOT AMAZONIA WOULD BE LESS ABOUT CONVEYING A SLEEK SPACE AGE AESTHETIC AS IT WAS DREAMT OF IN THE 1950S AND 1960s, OPTING INSTEAD FOR A MORE ORGANIC AND OSCAR NIEMEYER INFLUENCED ZONE OF FLOWING LINES AND SINUOUS SHAPES WHICH WOULD MELD AS A CONTINUOUS CURVATURE INTO THE INFINITIES OF THE SURROUNDING JUNGLE. WITHIN TOMORROWLAND WOULD BE A PHANTASMAGORIC JOURNEY TO THE END OF TIME IN THE GREATEST ROLLER COASTER OF THE GALAXY, AND AN EXPLORATION THRU THE UNIVERSE OF THE GREATEST FILM NEVER MADE. IN A RECREATION BASED ON THE 1979 FILM THE BLACK HOLE, A JOURNEY PAST THE EVENT HORIZON INTO THE HEART OF THE BLACK HOLE SINGULARITY WOULD BE EMBARKED UPON BY FOUR PERSON SHUTTLES IN ONE OF THE MOST HEART ACCELERATING AND TECHNOVISUALLY EXPLODING ROLLER COASTERS EVER ATTEMPTED BY DISNEY. TO COMPLEMENT THIS INTERGALACTIC THRILLER WOULD BE AN ODYSSEY THRU THE WORLDS OF THE HARKONNEN AND ATREIDES IN A TRIBUTE TO DUNE AS ENVISIONED IN THE MID - 1970s BY THE CHILEAN FILMMAKER ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY. NOTHING MORE WILL BE DESCRIBED OF THIS ATTRACTION OTHER THAN IT WOULD BE A QUEST THRU THE PLANETS OF GIEDI PRIME, KAITAIN, CALADAN, AND ARRAKIS AS CONJURED BY THE DESIGN TEAM THAT JODOROWSKY HAD ASSEMBLED IN 1975 OF MOEBIUS, CHRIS FOSS, DAN O'BANNON AND H. R. GIGER . FLESHING OUT THE WORLDS OF GIEDI PRIME, THE EMPEROR'S PALACE, AND ARRAKIS WOULD BE THE ORIGINAL CAST SELECTION OF ORSON WELLES AS THE BARON HARKONNEN, GLORIA SWANSON AS THE REVEREND MOTHER GAIUS HELEN MOHIAM, MICK JAGGER AS FEYD RAUTHA, BRONTIS JODOROWSKY AS PAUL ATREIDES, GERALDINE CHAPLIN AS LADY JESSICA, AND SALVADOR DALI AS THE MAD EMPEROR OF THE UNIVERSE. GUESTS OF EPCOT AMAZONIA COULD SPEND THE NIGHT WITHIN TOMORROWLAND AT THE EMPEROR'S PALACE ( AS ENVISIONED BY ART DESIGNER CHRIS FOSS AND ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY ), JOINING THE QUEEN OF HEARTS HOTEL AND THE TWENTY ADOBE HOUSES OF MACONDO AS THE THIRD LODGING OPTION WITHIN THE PARK. THE EMPEROR'S PALACE WOULD ALSO HOUSE THE THIRD MOVIE THEATRE OF EPCOT AMAZONIA ( THE HOLY MOUNTAIN THEATRE ) AS WELL AS THE THIRD ATTRACTION WITHIN TOMORROWLAND, THE SINGING TABLETS. BASED ON THE LEGEND OF THE SINGING TABLETS BY THE GUATEMALAN POET MIGUEL ANGEL ASTURIAS, THIS ATTRACTION WOULD ENTER THE COLOURFUL DREAMSCAPES OF THIS SURREALIST PHILOSOPHER - POET. ADJOINING THIS ATTRACTION WOULD BE THE GUATEMALAN - HONDURAN RESTAURANT OXWITIK, COMPLETE WITH A HIEROGLYPHIC STAIRCASE - FOUNTAIN, MAYAN BALLCOURT, AND AN ANIMATRONIC RECREATION OF UAXACLAJUUN UB ' AAH K ' AWIIL, THE THIRTEENTH HOLY LORD OF COPAN. FINALLY, THE INNER CHAMBER OF THE EMPEROR'S PALACE WOULD FEATURE THE PERMANENT EXHIBITION LAS VENAS ABIERTAS ( HIGHLIGHTING THE ISSUES AND HISTORIES EXAMINED BY THE URUGUAYAN JOURNALIST EDUARDO GALEANO IN HIS BOOK OPEN VEINS OF LATIN AMERICA ), AS WELL AS THE ARGENTINE - CHILEAN BISTRO POESIA SIN FIN HONORING THE POETS PABLO NERUDA, JORGE LUIS BORGES, NICANOR PARRA, AND GABRIELA MISTRAL. THUS, AT THE CENTRAL CORE OF THE EMPEROR'S PALACE WOULD BE THIS DEEPEST REMEMBRANCE OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA'S PAST, IN A MIRRORING OF MACONDO, AND A CONJOINING OF THE EXTREMITIES OF TIME THROUGH THE WORDS AND VISIONS OF LATIN AMERICA'S GREATEST POETS AND REVOLUTIONARIES PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE. AS THE DUNE ATTRACTION WITHIN TOMORROWLAND WOULD HAVE MORE MATURE DEPICTIONS AND THEMES, ACCESS WOULD BE LIMITED TO GUESTS 18 AND OLDER, IN AN EFFORT TO RECREATE WITHOUT COMPROMISE THE ORIGINAL SCENES FROM THE WILD IMAGINATION OF JODOROWSKY AND HIS VISION OF FRANK HERBERT'S DUNE. FOR THOSE WHO WOULD WISH TO BYPASS ALTOGETHER THE ECCENTRICITIES OF JODOROWSKY'S ART, THE EMPEROR'S PALACE WOULD ALSO SERVE AS THE PORTAL TO TRAVEL VIA SPACEFOLDER VESSELS TO THE FINAL SEGMENT OF EPCOT AMAZONIA : FANTASYLAND. THE SPACEFOLDER SKYWAY WOULD OFFER A RARE MID - CANOPY VIEW OF THE RAINFOREST, WITH THE UNIQUE FLORA AND FAUNA FOUND EXCLUSIVELY WITHIN THIS ZONE OF THE JUNGLE. THESE SPACING GUILD VESSELS WOULD BE AS GLITTERING GONDOLAS FLOATING THRU THE ENDLESS NETWORK OF BRANCHES AND TREES, ARTERIES AND VEINS OF THE PRIMEVAL HEART OF AMAZONIA, ARRIVING FINALLY AT THE FIFTH DIMENSION : FANTASYLAND. WITHIN THE FANTASYLAND OF EPCOT AMAZONIA WOULD BE THE FINAL THREE ATTRACTIONS OF THE PARK : 1) FANTASIA, BASED ON THE 1940 ANIMATED MUSICAL FANTASY, WHICH WOULD INCLUDE BOTH ABSTRACT AND NATURAL VISUALS SET TO MASTERWORKS OF CLASSICAL MUSIC, A FLIGHT ABOVE THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE, AND ENDING IN A CONSERVATORY / ACADEMY FOR ASPIRING CONDUCTORS AND STUDENTS OF MUSIC AS INSPIRED BY VENEZUELA'S EL SISTEMA ( AS THE FIRST ATTRACTION OF ITS KIND IN ANY DISNEYLAND PARK ), 2) SLEEPING BEAUTY, A JOURNEY THRU THE MAGIC CASTLE AND THE LAND OF THE FAIRIES, TO AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE PRINCE AND MALEFICENT, IN A FULL - FLEDGED ATTRACTION DEVOTED TO THIS DISNEY CLASSIC, AND 3) ITS A SMALL WORLD, AMAZONIAN EDITION, WHERE ANCIENT AMERICAN CULTURES ARE HIGHLIGHTED, WITH MINIATURE RECREATIONS OF THE MANY AMAZING ARCHITECTURAL WONDERS THROUGHOUT CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA. GUESTS WOULD BE ABLE TO FLOAT PAST MINIATURE RECREATIONS OF MACHU PICCHU, PALENQUE, COPAN, AND TIKAL AS THEY APPEARED 500 YEARS AGO, PAST THE CHILDREN OF THE ANCIENT MAYA, PARACAS, CHAVIN, OLMEC, THE AMAZONIAN TRIBES IN THEIR DISTINCT COLORS AND COSTUMES, THE GUARANI AND YANOMAMI, THE COCAMA AND ASSURINI, IN A GREAT EFFORT TO REPRESENT AS EXTENSIVELY AS POSSIBLE THE MANY PEOPLES AND TRIBES OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA PAST AND PRESENT. THIS ATTRACTION WOULD END WITH A RIO DE JANEIRO STYLE CARNIVAL PARADE, DISPLAYING THE DREAMS AND THE VISIONS OF THE JUNGLE WITH THE FANTASTIC FLOATS AND EXPLOSIVE COLORS THAT COULD NOW MIRROR WONDERLAND IN THE OUTLANDISHNESS OF DESIGN AND LATITUDE OF IMAGINATION. THE PARADE WOULD END AT TINKERBELL STATION OF THE MONORAIL LINE, WHICH WOULD RECEIVE GUESTS TO TRANSPORT THEM SAFELY AWAY FROM A YAWNING CHESHIRE CAT AND THE THREE HEADED COTOMACHACO TO THE WORLD OF REALITY OUTSIDE OF EPCOT AMAZONIA AND MACONDO. ACTE V - WHY EPCOT AMAZONIA ? FIRSTLY, THE IDEA OF A THEME PARK WITHIN A TROPICAL RAINFOREST AS A MEANS OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND FINANCIAL PRESERVATION IS NOT NEW : CHIEF EDITOR WILBUR E. GARRETT, IN THE OCTOBER 1989 ISSUE OF NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE, OFFERED THE IDEA OF TURNING " SOME [ TROPICAL RAINFORESTS ] INTO LIVING THEME PARKS ", WHERE " ONLY IMAGINATIVE PLANS AND QUICK ACTION THAT PROVIDE ALTERNATIVE INCOME " COULD SAVE THESE ECOSYSTEMS FROM BECOMING CLEARED FOR FARMLAND AND ILLEGAL ( AND LEGAL ) TIMBER. TWENTY FIVE YEARS LATER, NOT ONLY HAS NOTHING BEEN DONE ON THE SCALE ENVISIONED BY THIS EDITOR, BUT THE IMBALANCE OF RAINFOREST ECOSYSTEMS ACROSS THE GLOBE HAS GROWN FAR WORSE AND EVER CLOSER TO THE PRECIPICE OF DESTRUCTION AND CATASTROPHIC CONSEQUENCE. IT IS AT THIS DELICATE POINT IN THE WORLD'S HISTORY, WHERE THE FORCES OF CORPORATE CAPITALISM SEEM TO OVERPOWER ALL THINGS WHICH STAND IN THE WAY OF ITS OWN SELF - PROMOTION AND RICHES, THAT THE AMAZON RAINFOREST NEEDS A GOLDEN GOAL, A NINTH INNING HOME RUN, A LAST SECOND BUZZER - BEATING SHOT TO REPEL AND OVERCOME THE LOOMING THUNDERSTORMS WHICH BEAR UPON ITS VERY EXISTENCE. ALTHOUGH THERE COULD IN THEORY BE SEVERAL VIABLE PROPOSALS FOR LIVING THEME PARKS AND CENTERS FOR ECOTOURISM, IT IS THE AUTHOR'S HUMBLE OPINION THAT ONLY A DISNEYLAND PARK COULD GENERATE THE VAST FUNDS NECESSARY TO PROTECT THE ENTIRE REMAINING TERRITORY OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST, AN AREA ALMOST AS LARGE AS THE CONTIGUOUS UNITED STATES. PERHAPS ONLY A DISNEYLAND PARK WOULD HAVE THE IMMEDIATE GLOBAL CACHET AND MAGICAL PIXIE DUST WHICH COULD ATTRACT ENOUGH INVESTMENT DOLLARS AND CAPITAL TO BE BUILT IN THE FIRST PLACE, AND ONLY A DISNEYLAND WHCH COULD ATTRACT ENOUGH LONG - TERM VISITORS TO HELP SUSTAIN AMAZONIA FINANCIALLY. BUT ONLY A DISNEYLAND WHICH IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER DISNEY PARK ON EARTH, AND WHICH REMEMBERS AND HONORS THE DEEP ARTISTIC AND CULTURAL TRADITIONS, ARCHITECTURAL WONDERS, AND NATURAL BEAUTY OF NOT ONLY THE AMAZON BASIN BUT THE LANDS AND PEOPLES WHICH SURROUND IT THROUGHOUT CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA. AND ONLY A DISNEYLAND PARK SUCH AS EPCOT AMAZONIA, WHERE A FULL 100% OF THE ENTRANCE FEES COLLECTED WOULD GO TOWARDS THE CONTINUED PRESERVATION AND PROTECTION OF AMAZONIA, THAT EACH VISITOR BY THEIR VERY PRESENCE WOULD BE CONTRIBUTING TO THIS GREATEST OF CONSERVATION EFFORTS. WHILE SOME MAY VIEW THIS PROPOSED AMAZONIAN DISNEYLAND AS A CHIMERA BORDERING ON THE IMPOSSIBLE, AKIN TO THE TUGGING OF THE MOLLY AIDA STEAMSHIP ACROSS A STEEP AND MUDDY MOUNTAIN IN WERNER HERZOG'S 1982 FILM FITZCARRALDO, IT CAN LIKEWISE BE ARGUED THAT CONSERVING THE AMAZONIAN ECOSYSTEM ( GIVEN THE FORCES OF GLOBAL DEMAND AND THE WEAKNESS TO ENFORCE CONSERVATION LAWS ON THE PART OF SOUTH AMERICAN GOVERNMENTS ) IS THE TRUE CHIMERA, UNLESS A PROJECT SUCH AS EPCOT AMAZONIA IS LAUNCHED SUCCESSFULLY. FOR HOW ELSE CAN YOU STOP AN EVER GROWING AND EXPANDING POPULATION OF BRAZILIANS, PERUVIANS, AND OTHER RESIDENTS OF THE AMAZONIAN BASIN FROM CLEARCUTTING TREES OF THE FOREST EITHER SELECTIVELY OR IN FULL FOR THE PURPOSE OF THEIR OWN SURVIVAL ? HOW ELSE TO STOP THE CRUSHING FINANCIAL INCENTIVE TO CREATE MORE MONOCULTURE CASH CROP ZONES AND CATTLE PASTURES AT THE EXPENSE OF LARGE SWATHS OF THE AMAZON JUNGLE IRREPLACEABLY DESTROYED EACH YEAR, TO THE DETRIMENT OF NOT ONLY PRESENT POPULATIONS BUT FUTURE SCIENCE, AND UNTOLD AND UNBORN BILLIONS UPON BILLIONS OF HUMANS TO COME, WHO WILL INHERIT THIS EARTH FROM US EITHER WITH AN AMAZON RAINFOREST INTACT, OR ONE SEVERELY STUNTED AND SUFFOCATED TO A FATE AFFECTING THE HEALTH OF POPULATIONS AND ECOSYSTEMS AROUND THE WORLD ? THOSE WHO NAIVELY BELIEVE THAT FUTURE SCIENTISTS WILL HAVE THE ABILITY TO MANUFACTURE A RAINFOREST AND SUCCESSFULLY CONTROL THE WEATHER PATTERNS OF EARTH DESPITE THE CARELESS RUINATION AND POLLUTIONS OUR GENERATION HAS BROUGHT FORTH AGAINST THE EARTH ARE THE TRULY DELUSIONAL, UNABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE TRUE GLOBAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COSTS THE VAST LOSS OF THE AMAZON WOULD BRING, BOTH IN EXACERBATING THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND RUNAWAY LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY. AS AN ORGANISM DIES IF ITS HEART IS DISEASED, SO TOO WILL THE GLOBAL NETWORK OF PLANT AND ANIMAL LIFE AS THEY EXIST TODAY BE GREATLY WEAKENED AND FOREVER ALTERED WITH THE LOSS OF THEIR LUNGS AND INDEED THEIR HEART, THE AMAZON RAINFOREST. CREATING AN EPCOT AMAZONIA WOULD BE AS A CORNERSTONE TO AT ONCE GARNER WORLD ATTENTION AND FINANCIALLY SECURE THE BORDERS OF THE CURRENT AMAZON FROM THE PRESSURES OF LEGAL AND ILLEGAL AGRICULTURAL, NARCOTIC, AND RESOURCE DRIVEN PURSUITS. BUT THE BIRTH OF EPCOT AMAZONIA WOULD NOT BE ENOUGH : TO FORCEFULLY AND ENDURINGLY COMBAT THESE IMMENSE FINANCIAL PRESSURES FROM THE GLOBAL DEMAND FOR CASH CROPS AND RESOURCES, IT IS PERHAPS BEST TO ATTACK SIMULTANEOUSLY THE VERY DEMAND ITSELF. IT IS ONLY THROUGH A CONCERTED ALTERATION OF THE GLOBAL CONSUMPTION HABITS OF THESE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AND NATURAL RESOURCES ENDEMIC TO THE AMAZON ( TO BE DISCUSSED IN ACTES II THRU IV ) THAT, TOGETHER WITH AN EPCOT AMAZONIA, THE AMAZON RAINFOREST STANDS A FIGHTING CHANCE. ACTE IV - KING SUGAR AND QUEEN SOY WHEN THE ROOTS OF THE FIRST SUGARCANE PLANT IN THE AMERICAS SANK INTO THE FERTILE SOILS OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC IN 1492, A VAST SHADOW WAS THEN CAST BY THIS INNOCUOUS PLANT UPON THE RAINFORESTS AND PRISTINE JUNGLES OF THE CARIBBEAN ISLANDS, NORTHEAST BRAZIL, MEXICO, AND PERU. GALEANO RECOUNTS THAT " FOR ALMOST THREE CENTURIES AFTER THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA, NO AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT HAD MORE IMPORTANCE FOR EUROPEAN COMMERCE THAN AMERICAN SUGAR " ; INDEED, IN THOSE THREE CENTURIES, " KING SUGAR " WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT GLOBAL AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY BY A LANDSLIDE, ACCOUNTING FOR NEARLY A THIRD OF EUROPE'S ENTIRE ECONOMY IN THOSE CENTURIES, AND LEAVING A WAKE OF LEACHED LANDS AND MORE IMPOVERISHED HUMANS BEHIND IT. IF THE SPREAD OF SUGAR MONOCULTURE IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA CAN BE LIKENED TO THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF A VIRULENT DISEASE, THESE THREE CENTURIES ( 1492 - 1792 ) SAW ONE OF THE MOST SEVERE OF OUTBREAKS IN BRAZIL ( WHICH BECAME THE WORLD'S TOP PRODUCER OF SUGAR UNTIL THE MIDDLE OF THE 17TH CENTURY ). THE NORTHEAST OF BRAZIL FROM BAHIA TO CEARA HAD TRANSFORMED ITSELF FROM A TROPICAL PARADISE TO AN ERODED WASTELAND, WHERE THE NATIVE FAUNA OF DEER AND TAPIRS, ARMADILLOS AND ANTEATERS, DISSOLVED WITHIN THE CARNIVOROUS APPETITES OF THIS MOST BESTIAL OF PESTILENCES, DRIVEN SOLELY BY THE SWEET TOOTH OF HOMO SAPIENS. THE REIGN OF THE DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY IN THE YEARS 1630 TO 1654 OVER NORTHEAST BRAZIL BROUGHT THE SUGAR INVASION TO A HEIGHTENED LEVEL OF ACRIDITY, LEADING TO ITS ORGANIZED SPREAD INTO BARBADOS AND THE CARIBBEAN WITH INCREASED VIGOR. THE ATLANTIC TRIANGULAR TRADE OF SLAVES TO HARVEST SUGAR TO DISTILL INTO RUM TO PURCHASE MORE SLAVES ONLY COMPOUNDED THE EXTENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN DAMAGE, LEAVING ONLY CARCASSES BEHIND OF FRAGMENTED FORESTS AND SOILS WEAKENED TO LESS THAN ONE THIRD OF THEIR ORIGINAL PRODUCTIVITY. A SUBSTATE ENSUED, DEPENDENT UPON THE AGENT WHICH HAD DESTROYED IT, LIVING UPON A LAND STRIPPED OF LIFE, AND SACRIFICED TO THE PRINCIPLE THAT IF A THING MAKES MONEY SOMEWHERE IT IS WORTH PRODUCING UNEQUIVOCALLY. A FALSE ECONOMY HOLDS THE CONCERNS OF THE PRESENT AS PARAMOUNT TO BOTH THE FADING PAST AND THE EVER MORE DISTANT FUTURE ; IT IS THUS NO SURPRISE THAT THE UNIQUE TROPICAL FORESTS OF BARBADOS, CUBA, THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, HAITI, AND OTHER ISLANDS OF THE CARIBBEAN HAVE BEEN DEVOURED BY THE SUGARCANE, AS SO MANY SCHOOLS OF PIRANHA LEAVING ONLY THE BONES OF A MEAL BEHIND FOLLOWING THEIR CYCLONIC FEEDING FRENZY. FORTUNATELY FOR THE WORLD OF TODAY, NEARLY THE ENTIRETY OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST PROPER WAS DEEMED TOO DIFFICULT TO USE FOR SUGARCANE PLANTATIONS DURING THOSE THREE CENTURIES ( AS THE MAJORITY OF THE AMAZON JUNGLE LIES ABOVE A THIN AND NUTRIENT POOR TOPSOIL ), ELSE WE MAY ALREADY BE REFERRING TO THE AMAZON RAINFOREST IN THE PAST TENSE. WITH ADVANCES IN AGRICULTURE HOWEVER HAS COME THE ABILITY IN RECENT YEARS TO BE ABLE TO GROW SUGARCANE IN CERTAIN PARTS OF THE AMAZON JUNGLE DESPITE THE MEAGRE TOPSOIL ; FEDERAL BILL 626 - 2011, APPROVED IN MAY 2013 BY THE SENATE OF BRAZIL, NOW ALLOWS SUGARCANE PRODUCTION IN AMAZONIA LEGAL, WITH PRESSURE FROM BOTH THE SUGAR AND THE ETHANOL INDUSTRIES TO EXPAND FROM SATELLITE OUTPOSTS. BRAZILIAN SENIOR RESEARCHER PAULO BARRETO ( FROM THE INSTITUTO DO HOMEM E DO MEIO AMBIENTE DA AMAZONIA ) ARGUES THAT " THE PROBLEM IS IF ETHANOL BECOMES A GLOBAL COMMODITY: THIS WOULD BE A NEGATIVE AS IT WOULD CREATE A DEMAND FOR EVEN GREATER DEFORESTATION, EVEN IF INDIRECTLY ". BRAZILIAN GEOGRAPHER JOAO HUMBERTO CAMELINI ( OF THE BRAZILIAN STATE UNIVERSITY AT CAMPESINAS ) ESTIMATES THAT " WHEN A REGULATED CULTURE LIKE SUGARCANE RECEIVES FORMAL AUTHORIZATION AND INCENTIVES FOR OCCUPATION, THIS IMPLIES THE EXCLUSIVE USE OF LARGE PORTIONS OF LAND AROUND THE [ SUGAR AND ETHANOL ] PLANTS, WITHIN A RADIUS OF APPROXIMATELY 40 OR 50 KILOMETERS, WHICH . . . CREATES A GREAT DEAL OF PRESSURE FOR DEFORESTATION WHICH IS BOTH CLANDESTINE AND DIFFICULT TO INSPECT ". HOW BEST TO CONFRONT THIS LONG STANDING SPECTRE OF SUGARCANE, ONE OF THE EIGHT INDUSTRIES MOST DAMAGING TO BOTH THE PRESENT AND FUTURE OUTLOOK OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST ? WHICH WEAPON TO WIELD AGAINST THE MULTI BILLION DOLLAR SUGAR AND ETHANOL INDUSTRIES, POSSESSORS OF ENOUGH POWER HISTORICALLY TO INFLUENCE THE LAWS OF GOVERNMENTS, AND EVEN TO CREATE THEM ? THE ANSWER IS IN THE POWER OF THE INDIVIDUAL : TO CONSCIOUSLY SEVERELY CURTAIL OR ELIMINATE THE PERSONAL DEMAND OF EACH PRODUCT FROM THESE EIGHT AMAZON KILLERS. IN THE CASE OF SUGARCANE, THE CHALLENGE WOULD BE TO ELIMINATE SUGAR FROM THE DIET, PARTICULARLY GRANULATED SUGAR AND SUGAR PRODUCTS SUCH AS SODA AND PASTRIES. THE DIET REGIMEN WOULD BE COMPLETELY VOLUNTARY, ALLOWING TOTAL PERSONAL FREEDOM TO CONTINUE TO EAT AND DRINK SUGAR PRODUCTS IF THAT INDIVIDUAL SO CHOSE. THE PROPOSAL WOULD BE TO ESTABLISH THESE DIET REGIMEN GUIDELINES AS A FRAMEWORK ( AKIN TO THE FOUR FOOD GROUPS ) AND AS A PERSONAL MANTRA TO ACTIVELY COMBAT THE TIDAL FORCES FROM THESE EIGHT ELEPHANTINE INDUSTRIES. WHAT WOULD OCCUR IF, OVER TIME, ENOUGH INDIVIDUALS THE WORLD OVER TOOK " THE PLEDGE OF AMAZONIA ", SAY ONE EIGHTH OF THE CURRENT WORLD POPULATION ? THE POWER OF NINE HUNDRED MILLION VOICES, THRU THE CONSCIOUS CURTAILMENT OF DEMAND, WOULD STRIKE AT THE ACHILLES TENDON OF THESE GIANT MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS AND CONGLOMERATES, NAMELY IN THE GLOBAL DEMAND OF THEIR PRODUCTS. IMAGINE IF NINE HUNDRED MILLION INDIVIDUALS ON EARTH TODAY PLEDGED TO REPLACE GRANULATED SUGARS ON THEIR TABLES WITH NATURAL SUGARS ( SUCH AS FRUITS, BLUE AGAVE, AND HONEY ), AND TO ELIMINATE CANDIES, PASTRIES, AND SODA DRINKS FROM THEIR DIET, AS A PERSONAL SACRIFICE TOWARDS THE PRESERVATION OF AMAZONIA ? THE RESULTANT DROP IN GLOBAL DEMAND WOULD STIFLE THIS SUGARCANE INFESTATION INTO THE TROPICAL FORESTS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA, CONQUERING IN SYMBOL AND REALITY THIS AGRICULTURAL BEHEMOTH AT THE BOTTOM OF SO MUCH ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN DESPOLIATION OVER THE LAST 500 YEARS. IDEALLY, THE SUGARCANE PLANT, NATIVE TO SOUTHEAST ASIA, WOULD BE RETURNED TO ASIA, THAT THIS FOREIGN INVADER BE REMOVED FROM THE SOILS WHICH IT HAS RAVAGED, NEVER HAVING BEEN NEEDED BY THE ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF THE AMERICAS, AND NEVER HAVING BEING FOUND NECESSARY FOR THE SURVIVAL OF THE HUMAN ORGANISM. SUGAR IS A LUXURY FOR DEVELOPED NATIONS WHILE THE NATIONS WHICH PRODUCE SUGARCANE SUFFER FROM MALNUTRITION AND STARVE ; IT IS THUS THAT THE MANTRA BEGINS : NO SUGAR ACCOMPANYING THE SPECTRE OF SUGARCANE IS AN EVEN MORE FOREBODING BLIGHT UPON THE JUNGLES OF AMAZONIA : THE SOYBEAN. INTRODUCED TO BRAZILIAN SOIL BY JAPANESE COLONISTS IN RECENT TIMES, THE SOYA PLANT NOW COMMANDS LARGE MONOCULTURE PLANTATIONS ACROSS SOUTHERN BRAZIL, HORIZON TO HORIZON FOR A BEAN LARGELY USED FOR ANIMAL FEED AND HUMAN CONSUMPTION IN ASIA. THE DISCOVERY THAT THIS PLANT IS ONE OF THE FEW CROPS WHICH CAN GROW UPON RAINFOREST SOIL HAS LED TO AN INCREASINGLY LARGER AREA OF SOUTHEAST AMAZONIA BEING CONVERTED " FROM MAGNIFICENT FORESTS HOME TO MILLIONS OF SPECIES OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS " INTO FORESTS OF TRACTORS, HARVESTERS, AND EXPENSIVE FERTILIZERS, PESTICIDES, AND HERBICIDES. IN THE WORDS OF BRAZILIAN FATHER EDILBERTO SENA, AS RECOUNTED BY JOHN HEMMING IN TREE OF RIVERS : THE STORY OF THE AMAZON, " THEY SEE SOYA AS A COMMODITY, BUT WE SEE IT AS THE DEATH OF THE FOREST ". COMPOUNDING THE VISIBLE INFESTATION AND DEFORESTATION CAUSED BY THE PRODUCTION OF SOYBEAN IS THE UNSEEN SEEPAGE OF THIS TOXIC MIX OF ACID - NEUTRALIZING LIME, FERTILIZERS, AND PESTICIDES INTO THE WATERSHED AND WATERWAYS OF AMAZONIA AND SOUTHERN BRAZIL, WITH PERHAPS THE MOST DAMNING FUTURE CONSEQUENCES FOR THE FISH, AMPHIBIANS, AND PLANTLIFE SURROUNDING THESE CAPILLARY SYSTEMS AND GREAT ARTERIAL BRANCHES OF THE AMAZON BASIN. WITH BRAZIL NOW SET TO OVERTAKE THE UNITED STATES IN BEING THE WORLD'S LARGEST EXPORTER OF SOYA ( WITH A PROJECTED HARVEST FOR 2015 OF 94 MILLION METRIC TONS ), THIS SMALL BEAN ENDEMIC TO ASIA NOW THREATENS THE EXTINCTION OF COUNTLESS NATIVE PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES WITHIN THE AMAZON BASIN, CONTINUING IN GALEANO'S WORDS THE " FIVE CENTURIES OF THE PILLAGE OF A CONTINENT ". NO SOY ACTE III - THE KILLER C ' s IN THE BRAZILIAN NORTH, WITHIN THE STATE OF PARA, WAS PLANTED IN 1727 ANOTHER FOREIGN PLANT NEVER BEFORE INTRODUCED TO THE SOILS OF BRAZIL, WHICH LIKE THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN SUGARCANE AND EAST ASIAN SOY HAS MONOPOLIZED TODAY VAST STRETCHES OF THE MOST FERTILE LANDS, PARTICULARLY IN THE BRAZILIAN STATES OF MINAIS GERAIS, SAO PAOLO, AND PARANA. EDUARDO GALEANO RECOUNTS HOW IN BRAZIL " THE RIO PARAIBA BECAME THE COUNTRY'S RICHEST AREA, TO BE QUICKLY RUINED BY A PLANT WHOSE DESTRUCTIVE FORM OF CULTIVATION LEFT FORESTS RAZED, NATURAL RESOURCES EXHAUSTED, AND GENERAL DECADENCE IN ITS WAKE. PREVIOUSLY VIRGIN LANDS WERE PITILESSLY ERODED AS THE PLUNDER - MARCH ADVANCED, WEAKENING THE [ NATIVE ] PLANTS AND MAKING THEM VULNERABLE TO DISEASES . . . " THIS PLANT NOW INCREASINGLY THREATENS THE RAINFORESTS OF AMAZONIA, IN AN EFFORT TO SUPPLY THE VORACIOUS WORLD DEMAND FOR A BEVERAGE SECOND IN POPULARITY ONLY TO WATER. THIS PLANT, AND THE THIRD OF THE EIGHT INDUSTRIES SO PERNICIOUS TO THE PRESENT AND FUTURE VIABILITY OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST, IS COFFEE. WHILE THOSE COFFEE DRINKERS WHO REQUEST SHADE GROWN OVER SUN GROWN BEANS ARE CLEARLY MAKING THE MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY CHOICE, THE TRUTH IS THAT CHOOSING TO DRINK COFFEE IN ANY OF ITS FORMS IS SUPPORTING AN INDUSTRY WHICH IS CONTINUING TO BEAR ITS TEETH INTO THE NATURAL BIODIVERSITY OF THE RAINFORESTS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA. EVEN SO CALLED " RAINFOREST ALLIANCE CERTIFIED COFFEE " CAN BE MISLEADING WHEN THE RAINFOREST SEAL HIDES THE FACT THAT ONLY 30% OF THOSE BEANS USED TO MAKE THAT CUP OF COFFEE REQUIRE THE RAINFOREST ALLIANCE CERTIFICATION ! FURTHER, EVEN IF 100% OF THOSE BEANS WERE ACTUALLY RAINFOREST CERTIFIED, THE COFFEE PLANTATIONS CREATED TO PRODUCE THOSE BEANS ARE STILL DISPLACING THE NATIVE FLORA AND FAUNA OF THOSE TROPICAL FORESTS, AS WELL AS INTRODUCING NON - NATIVE DISEASES AND / OR TOXINS INTO THE SURROUNDING ENVIRONMENTS. ADDITIONALLY, THE VOLATILITY OF BOTH THE PRICE AND YIELD OF COFFEE ( WHICH IN THE WORDS OF EDUARDO GALEANO RESEMBLES " THE ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM OF A LUNATIC " ) HAS PLAYED HAVOC WITHIN THE FIFTEEN NATIONS SOUTH OF THE RIO GRANDE DEPENDENT UPON COFFEE PRODUCTION ( AND ABOVE ALL BRAZIL AND COLOMBIA ). THE COFFEE RUST FUNGUS, OR " ROYA ", HAS INFECTED LARGE SWATHS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICAN COFFEE PLANTATIONS, BRINGING FURTHER VOLATILITY IN RECENT YEARS TO AN ALREADY CHAOTIC MARKETPLACE. THE WESTERN CENTERS OF POWER WHICH CONTROL THE COFFEE INDUSTRY ARE QUICK TO FILL THIS GLOBAL DEMAND AT ALL COSTS, FEEDING THIS WESTERN ADDICTION FOR A LUXURY DRINK BORN FROM THE HANDS OF MALNOURISHED COUNTRIES. GALEANO RECORDS THAT " IN THE UNITED STATES AND EUROPE COFFEE CREATES INCOME AND JOBS AND MOBILIZES SUBSTANTIAL CAPITAL ; IN LATIN AMERICA IT PAYS HUNGER WAGES AND SHARPENS ECONOMIC DEFORMATION. " OF THE EIGHT INDUSTRIES CASTING GARGANTUAN SHADOWS OVER THE REMAINING RAINFORESTS OF AMAZONIA, THE SHADOW CAST BY THE COFFEE PLANT IS PERHAPS THE MOST NEBULOUS. TO THOSE OPEN TO AN ALTERNATIVE BEVERAGE IN PLACE OF THEIR MORNING CUP, HERE ARE THREE ALTERNATIVE BEVERAGES TO TRY : YERBA MATE ( GROWN IN SOUTH AMERICA FROM ANCIENT TIMES, WITH SEVERAL HEALTH BENEFITS IF DRUNK IN MODERATION AND WITH AIR DRYED LEAVES ), XOCOATL, A CHOCOLATE - INFUSED BEVERAGE OF ANCIENT MESOAMERICA ( WHICH WOULD REQUIRE GENUINE GUATEMALAN OR HONDURAN CHOCOLATE ), AND ACAI, THE BRAZILIAN SUPERFRUIT SERVED IN BOWLS AND SMOOTHIES WITH EXCEEDINGLY HIGH LEVELS OF ANTHOCYANINS, VITAMIN C, AND ELLAGIC ACID FOR A HEALTHY HEART AND IMMUNE SYSTEM. DRINKING A CUP OF YERBA MATE AT DAWN OR EATING AN ACAI BOWL AT MIDDAY WOULD BE PROMOTING THE GROWTH OF PLANTS WHICH HAVE NOT ONLY HAD A HISTORY OF CULTIVATION WITHIN PRE - COLOMBIAN AMERICA, BUT WHICH WERE TIED TO THE CULTURES AND RELIGIONS OF THE ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF THE AMERICAS. FURTHER, YERBA MATE, XOCOATL, AND ACAI ALL POSSESS LONGER LASTING HEALTH BENEFITS OVER COFFEE TO THOSE WHO CONSUME THESE BEVERAGES IN MODERATION AS THEY WERE SERVED IN PRE - CONQUEST TIMES. IDEALLY, THE COFFEE PLANT WOULD BE RETURNED OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT ONE HUNDRED YEARS BACK TO ITS NATIVE LANDS OF ETHIOPIA AND EAST AFRICA, WITH PERHAPS ONLY THE MOST ECO - CONSCIOUS GROWERS IN BRAZIL, COLOMBIA, GUATEMALA, AND THE REST OF LATIN AMERICA ALLOWED TO CONTINUE PRODUCTION IN A MANNER LEAST DISRUPTIVE TO THE AMAZON AND SURROUNDING FORESTS. BUT ONLY WITH A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN GLOBAL DEMAND CAN WE HOPE FOR THIS RESULT, AND WITH THIS HOPE PROCEEDS THE MANTRA : NO COFFEE ALONGSIDE THE KILLER C OF COFFEE COMES THE #1 CAUSE OF DEFORESTATION WITHIN THE BORDERS OF AMAZONIA, ACCOUNTING FOR NO LESS THAN THREE - QUARTERS OF THE RAZING OF ANCIENT MAJESTIC PRISTINE MAGICAL AMAZONIAN FOREST. AS DETAILED BY JOHN HEMMING, " SOARING WORLD DEMAND TURNED BRAZIL, WHICH USED TO SUPPLY ONLY ITS DOMESTIC MARKET, INTO THE WORLD'S #1 LEADING BEEF EXPORTER ", WHERE " EXPORTS INCREASED FIVEFOLD BETWEEN 1997 AND 2003 . . . WITH 80 % OF THIS GROWTH SUPPLIED FROM AMAZONIAN RANCHES ". THIS KILLER C, AND THE FOURTH OF THE EIGHT INDUSTRIES MOST THREATENING TO THE FUTURE VIABILITY OF THE AMAZONIAN RAINFOREST, IS CATTLE. THE STEAKS FAVORED BY AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN CONSUMERS, THE FAST FOOD HAMBURGERS OF MCDONALDS AND BURGER KING, AS WELL AS THE DEMAND FOR COW DAIRY HAS LED TO THE PROLIFERATION OF LARGE AND MEDIUM - SIZED CATTLE RANCHES, WHERE PRISTINE RAINFORESTS ARE CLEARCUT TO PROVIDE GRAZING PASTURES FOR THESE BEASTS WHICH COMPOUND THE CARBON RELEASED INTO THE ATMOSPHERE ( FROM DEFORESTATION ) BY THEIR VOLUMINOUS PRODUCTION OF METHANE. HEMMING CHRONICLES HOW " THE HERD IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON DOUBLED IN THE FINAL DECADE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, TO 57 MILLION. IT NOW OCCUPIES 340,000 SQUARE KILOMETERS ( 130,000 SQUARE MILES ) OF PASTURE, WHICH IS SIX TIMES THE AREA DEVOTED TO CROPS . . " THESE CATTLE PASTURES INCREASE THE RISK OF FIRES IN THEIR ADJOINING AREAS AND CAUSE SEVERE ECOSYSTEM DEGRADATION THRU SOIL EROSION, RIVER SILTATION, AND ORGANIC CONTAMINATION, IN ADDITION TO THE HUGE RELEASE OF GREENHOUSE GASES INTO THE ATMOSPHERE THRU THE LOSS OF THE FOREST. PERHAPS THOSE CHICK - FIL - A BILLBOARDS HAVE IT RIGHT - - THE DEMAND FOR BEEF NEEDS TO BE CURTAILED DRAMATICALLY AND IMMEDIATELY TO PRESERVE NOT ONLY THE LIVES OF COWS FROM THE CUTTING BOARD, BUT THE VERY LIFE OF THE AMAZONIAN ECOSYSTEM ITSELF. A RESURGENCE IN CATTLE - RANCHING HAS DEVELOPED WITHIN THE LAST TWENTY YEARS DUE TO " NEW TECHNIQUES OF PLANTING GRASSES ON RAINFOREST SOILS AND CATTLE HUSBANDRY IN THE TROPICS " ( HEMMING ), GREATLY INCREASING THE PRESSURES ON SMALL BRAZILIAN FARMERS TO DEFOREST AND RAISE CATTLE FOR SHORT TERM FINANCIAL GAIN. THESE CATTLE RANCHES HAVE FREQUENTLY BEEN CONVERTED INTO SOYA PLANTATIONS, LEADING TO NEW AREAS OF THE AMAZON CLEARED FOR PASTURE TO CONTINUE THIS DEADLY CYCLE. TO THOSE ADDICTED TO THEIR BEEF PATTIES AND STEAKS ( WHICH ARE TIED TO MYRIAD CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES AND CANCERS ), THE AUTHOR OFFERS A MORE CONCERTED EFFORT TO EAT TURKEY, FISH, CHICKEN, AND EGGS, AS WELL AS THE OCCASIONAL OSTRICH, BUFFALO, OR ALPACA. GOAT AND SHEEP CHEESE COULD ALSO BE CONSUMED IN PLACE OF COW DAIRY PRODUCTS, WITH A MYRIAD OF BENEFITS OVER COW'S MILK ( FROM BEING NATURALLY HOMOGENIZED TO LESS ALLERGENIC WITH 90 % LOWER LEVELS OF ALPHA S1 CASEIN THAN COW'S MILK, AS WELL AS LESS LACTOSE ). THE CATTLE INDUSTRY, LIKE THE SUGARCANE, SOY, AND COFFEE INDUSTRIES, IS A BEHEMOTH SET TO PLOW OVER ANY CONCERNS ENVIRONMENTAL OR OTHERWISE WHICH STAND IN THE WAY OF ITS PROFITS. NO CATTLE ACTE II : THE FINAL FOUR ( KILLERS OF AMAZONIA ) ON OCTOBER 16, 2013, APPROXIMATELY 100 AMAZONIAN WOMAN OF EASTERN ECUADOR TOOK PART IN A PROTEST MARCH IN QUITO AFTER WALKING FIVE DAYS FROM THEIR VILLAGES TO VOICE THEIR STRONG OBJECTION. THE POSTER CARRIED BY ONE, WHOSE WINDWORN FACE APPROACHED THE MENTAL VISAGE OF A PRIMEVAL JUNGLE PRIESTESS, READ SIMPLY " DEBAJO EL PETROLEO ARRIBA LA VIDA ", WHICH MEANS " BELOW THE OIL, ABOVE THE LIFE ". HER OUTRAGE WAS CENTERED AGAINST THE EXTRACTION OF OIL IN YASUNI NATIONAL PARK OF EAST ECUADOR, CONSIDERED BY MANY TO BE NEAR THE NEXUS OF THE HIGHEST BIODIVERSITY ON EARTH, WITH OVER 600 SPECIES OF BIRDS, 130 OF REPTILES, 200 MAMMALS, 160 OF FROGS, AND OVER 2000 DISTINCT SPECIES OF TREES. TRYING AND FAILING TO GET THE WORLD TO PAY ECUADOR HALF OF THE MONETARY VALUE OF THE OIL UNDERNEATH YASUNI NATIONAL PARK, PRESIDENT RAFAEL CORREA IN 2013 REVERSED HIS PLEDGE TO PROTECT THIS AMAZONIAN NATIONAL PARK FROM OIL INTERESTS AND, EAGER FOR THE ESTIMATED $7 BILLION WHICH THE OIL RESERVES IN QUESTION WOULD GENERATE, PUSHED FORWARD HIS PLAN TO EXTRACT OIL FROM THE YASUNI ( EVEN ILLEGALLY DISQUALIFYING VOTES NEEDED TO FORCE A NATIONAL REFERENDUM BECAUSE THEIR NAMES WEREN'T WRITTEN IN BLUE INK ). BUT THEN AGAIN, BIG OIL HAS ALWAYS HAD THEIR HANDS DEEP IN THE POCKETS OF CORRUPT GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, CLERKS, KINGS, AND EVEN PRESIDENTS. AS OF MAY 2014, ECUADOR'S ENVIRONMENTAL MINISTER LORENA TAPIA REPORTS THAT PERMITS FOR DRILLING HAVE BEEN SIGNED FOR THE 6,500 SQUARE MILE RESERVE ( KNOWN AS BLOCK 43) ; PETROAMAZONAS NOW HAS THE GREEN LIGHT TO BEGIN CONSTRUCTION ON ACCESS ROADS AND CAMPS, IN PREPARATION FOR OIL PRODUCTION AS SOON AS 2016. DESPITE AN INTERNATIONAL OUTCRY, AND THE DISSENT OF THE ECUADORIAN PEOPLE ( AND MOST URGENTLY THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES THREATENED WITH LOSING THEIR TRIBAL LANDS ), PRESIDENT CORREA'S DECREE NUMBER 74, WHICH ABANDONED THE YASUNI - ITT INITIATIVE TO PRESERVE THESE LANDS FROM OIL EXTRACTION, HAS BEEN YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE FRAILTY FOUND WITHIN THIRD WORLD GOVERNMENTS FACING FIRST WORLD DOLLARS FOR THE CONTINUED EXPLOITATION OF LATIN AMERICA AND HER RESOURCES. NO OIL 1992 WAS THE YEAR OF THE UNITED NATIONS EARTH SUMMIT HELD IN RIO DE JANEIRO ON THE 500TH ANNIVERSARY OF COLOMBUS' DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. THE LARGEST EVENT OF ITS KIND CENTERED ON THE ENVIRONMENT, IT DREW MORE HEADS OF GOVERNMENT TO ATTEND THAN ANY OTHER PREVIOUS EVENT, AND IN THE WORDS OF JOHN HEMMING, CONCLUDED WITH A " RESULTING FEELING OF OPTIMISM, " THAT SOMETHING MIGHT BE DONE TO CHECK DEFORESTATION . . . BEFORE IT WAS TOO LATE ". DEFORESTATION NOT ONLY CONTINUED HOWEVER BUT MULTIPLIED, WITH A MARKED SURGE IN LEGAL AND ILLEGAL LOGGING, THE 6TH OF THE EIGHT INDUSTRIES MOST DAMAGING TO THE AMAZON'S FUTURE. THE INTENSE DEMAND FOR HARDWOODS SUCH AS MAHOGANY, EBONY, AND ROSEWOOD FOR USE IN BUILDINGS, FURNITURE, MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, AND FLOORING HAS LED TO AN OVERABUNDANCE OF SELECTIVE LOGGING, EVEN DEEP WITHIN PROTECTED FORESTS AND INDIGENOUS RESERVES. IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE FELLING OF ONE MAHOGANY TREE CAUSES THE DEATH OF 27 SURROUNDING TREES, DUE TO COLLATERAL TREE MORTALITY ( MANY OF THESE RAINFOREST TREES ARE CONNECTED BY VINES AND CREEPERS ) AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION THRU THE ACTUAL HAULING AND TRANSPORTATION OF THE LOGS. A 2005 STANFORD STUDY REVEALED THAT " 10 - 15,000 SQUARE KILOMETERS OF FOREST ARE LOGGED EACH YEAR IN BRAZIL ALONE ", WITH SELECTIVE LOGGING CAUSING " WIDESPREAD COLLATERAL DAMAGE TO REMAINING TREES, SUBCANOPY VEGETATION, AND SOILS, WITH IMPACTS ON EROSION, HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, CARBON STORAGE, AND PLANT AND ANIMAL POPULATIONS. " THE ADDED DANGER IS THAT SELECTIVE LOGGING CANNOT BE MONITORED VIA SATELLITE AS READILY, OFTEN BEING DEEPLY CAMOUFLAGED WITHIN THE CANOPY OF THE FOREST. THE STRIPPING OF SOUTHEAST ASIA ' S TROPICAL FORESTS HAS LEAD TO MULTINATIONAL TIMBER COMPANIES ( AND PARTICULARLY FROM JAPAN, WHICH ACCOUNTS FOR OVER HALF OF THE WORLD ' S INTERNATIONAL TIMBER TRADE ) EXPANDING OPERATIONS WITHIN THE AMAZON JUNGLE AND CONTINUING DUBIOUS POLICIES TOWARDS DETERMINING THE LEGALITY OF THE SOURCING. THE DEMAND FOR THESE HARDWOODS FROM THE DEVELOPED NATIONS FUELS THE ILLEGAL LOGGING ( WHICH IS ESTIMATED AT ABOUT 60 % OF ALL LOGGING IN THE AMAZON BASIN ) ; AS WITH THE OTHER AMAZONIA KILLING INDUSTRIES, A SPOTLIGHT ON THE WORLD ' S DEMAND, AND HOW THIS DEMAND CAN BE CURTAILED OR ELIMINATED, IS THE TRUE PANACEA. A MAJOR SHIFT TO USING RECYCLED WOODS AND WOOD ALTERNATIVES WILL NEED TO OCCUR NOW AND IN THE FUTURE, ALONG WITH A MARKED CULTURAL SHIFT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND JAPAN, WHICH HAVE A UNIQUE HISTORY IN THE USE OF TIMBER AND HARDWOODS. FOR THOSE WHO LIVE WITHIN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, A MORE CONCERTED EFFORT TO NOT PURCHASE FURNITURE, INSTRUMENTS, AND OTHER WOOD ITEMS SOURCED FROM THE AMAZON AND RELATED TROPICAL FORESTS IS A STEP FORWARD IN FIGHTING THIS INSIDIOUS DEMAND, WHICH TURNS A FIELD OF UNIQUE TROPICAL TREES OF INESTIMABLE VALUE INTO DOLLAR SIGNS, DISRUPTING THE DELICATE EQUILIBRIUM OF THE RAINFOREST AND LEADING DIRECTLY TO THE EXTINCTION OF UNTOLD THOUSANDS OF PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES ACROSS AMAZONIA. IT SHOULD BE REMEMBERED THAT A VAST AMOUNT OF THE FURNITURE AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS MANUFACTURED IN CHINA USE HARDWOODS AND OTHER TIMBERS FROM AMAZONIAN FORESTS, BOTH LEGALLY AND ILLEGALLY. BY PURCHASING THESE TYPES OF PRODUCTS ( FURNITURE, MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, AND FLOORING FOR EXAMPLE ) SOURCED FROM AMAZONIAN FORESTS, THE CONSUMER IS PERPETUATING THIS VICIOUS CYCLE OF INCREASED SELECTIVE LOGGING AND CLEARCUTTING TO MEET THE RISING WORLD DEMAND FROM PARTICULARLY ASIA AND THE UNITED STATES. SOMETIMES WOOD IS INFINITELY MORE VALUABLE AS A TREE ; FUTURE GENERATIONS WILL BE SURE TO DECRY THE SHORTSIGHTEDNESS OF THIS GENERATION IN POWER WHICH, DESPITE GREAT TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES INCLUDING THE SEARCH FOR LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS AND SOLAR SYSTEMS, CANNOT ADEQUATELY PROTECT THE WEALTH OF LIFE SPECIES UPON ITS OWN. THE WORLD HAS BECOME A SLAVE UNTO ITSELF, BEHOLDEN TO A SELF - PERPETUATING PRINCIPLE, DETERMINED TO EAT AT ITS TAIL UNTIL THERE IS NO MORE OF IT BUT AN OPEN MOUTH. THE LEADERS BEHOLDEN TO THIS GLUTTONOUS SYSTEM HAVE NOT ONLY LOST SIGHT OF THE FOREST FOR THE TREES - THEY HAVE LOST SIGHT OF THE TREES THEMSELVES, THE ENTIRE FOREST VANISHED WITH THE INCREASINGLY ILLEGAL PLUNDER OF AMAZONIA'S REMAINING TREASURES THROUGH SELECTIVE LOGGING AND THE TARGETING OF THESE ENDANGERED TREES. NO PRECIOUS WOODS FOR OVER TWO CENTURIES AFTER THE DISCOVERY OF BRAZIL, IT WAS THOUGHT THAT, UNLIKE THE RICH KINGDOMS OF THE INCA AND THE AZTECS, THE TRIBES AND SOILS OF BRAZIL WERE DEVOID OF GOLD, OTHER THAN OCCASIONAL FINDS AND JEWELRY OBTAINED THROUGH TRADE WITH FAR AWAY TRIBES. THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN 1693 WITHIN THE MINAS GERAIS REGION OF BRAZIL LED TO, IN GALEANO'S WORDS, " A RUSH : THE LARGEST AMOUNT OF GOLD EVER DISCOVERED IN THE WORLD TILL THEN WAS EXTRACTED IN THE SHORTEST SPACE OF TIME. " MORE GOLD WOULD COME OUT OF BRAZIL IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY THAN THE GOLD ACQUIRED BY SPAIN FROM ALL OF ITS COLONIES ( INCLUDING PERU AND MEXICO ) IN THE PREVIOUS TWO CENTURIES COMBINED. ALONG WITH THE GOLD RUSH CAME THE VAST SCARIFICATION OF BOTH THE LAND AND ITS NATIVE POPULATIONS, WITH THE MOST DEBASE FORMS OF SLAVERY AND HUMAN MALTREATMENT ACCOMPANYING THE MOST ENVIRONMENTALLY DAMAGING FORMS OF EXTRACTION FOR THE GOLD AND LATER DIAMONDS OF MINAS GERAIS. WHILE GOLD, SILVER, AND PRECIOUS STONES WERE CHIEFLY WHAT THE CONQUISTADORES AND EARLY EXPLOITERS OF LATIN AMERICA WERE AFTER, WHAT THREATENS THE FUTURE OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST MANY TIMES MORE PROFOUNDLY HOWEVER IS THE INCREASING GLOBAL DEMAND FOR CERTAIN RARE MINERALS AND ELEMENTS USED IN THE WEAPONS, COMPUTERS, AND INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS OF MODERN SOCIETY. GALEANO REPORTS HOW THE U.S. AIR FORCE, UNDER AN AGREEMENT SIGNED IN 1964, FLEW OVER AND PHOTOGRAPHED THE ENTIRETY OF BRAZILIAN AMAZONIA, USING " SCINTILLOMETERS TO DETECT DEPOSITS OF RADIOACTIVE MINERALS, ELECTROMAGNETIC DEVICES FOR X-RAY PHOTOGRAPHY OF SUBSOILS RICH IN NONFERROUS MINERALS, AND MAGNETOMETERS TO DETECT AND MEASURE THE IRON " BURIED WITHIN THE SOILS OF AMAZONIA. WHAT WAS FOUND WERE SOILS RICH IN " GYPSUM, HEMATITE, MAGNETITE, TANTALITE, TITANIUM, THORIUM, BAUXITE, ZINC, CHROME, AND MERCURY ", IN ADDITION TO GOLD, SILVER, DIAMONDS, COPPER, AND IRON ( WITH THE WORLD'S LARGEST IRON - ORE DEPOSIT IN THE CARAJAS HILLS BETWEEN THE ARAGUAIA AND XINGU RIVERS ). THE BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENT IN 1968 BROUGHT FORTH ( UNDER THEIR PARLIAMENTARY INVESTIGATION COMMISSION ) A VOLUMINOUS REPORT DETAILING THE " SALE OR USURPATION OF 20 MILLION - ODD HECTARES OF LAND " WITHIN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON ( MAINLY BY U.S. INTERESTS AND MULTINATIONAL FIRMS ), WITH THE PRIMARY MOTIVE OF THIS LAND RUSH BEING " THE CLANDESTINE EXPLOITATION OF HIGHLY VALUABLE MINERALS " FROM THE AMAZONIAN SOILS, INCLUDING RADIOACTIVE ELEMENTS. THE BAUXITE USED TO MAKE ALUMINUM, THE CHROME USED FOR JET ENGINES, THE THORIUM USED FOR HIGH - END OPTICS AND FUTURE NUCLEAR REACTORS, THE ZINC USED TO GALVANIZE STEEL, THE TITANIUM FOR THE AEROSPACE INDUSTRY AND THE TANTALITE USED FOR CELLPHONES AND COMPUTERS, ALL CAST AN OMINOUS CONGLOMERATE SHADOW UPON THE SOILS OF AMAZONIA. WILL THE DEVELOPED WORLD SELL ITS OWN FUTURE, AND THE RICHES OF THE NATURAL RAINFORESTS, FOR CONVENIENCE DEVICES AND LUXURY ITEMS, FAKE PLASTIC TREES, AND WEAPONS OF WAR ? WILL THE STRUGGLING GOVERNMENTS OF LATIN AMERICA BE ABLE TO RESIST THE ONSLAUGHT OF GLOBAL DEMAND FOR THESE RARE MINERALS, TURNING THEIR GREATEST TREASURES INTO WASTELANDS ? IF THE 1979 DISCOVERY OF A " NUGGET OF GOLD IN THE MUD OF SERRA PELADA " IS ANY INDICATION, THE MAD RUSH OF MINING HAS ONLY INTENSIFIED SINCE THE GOLDEN CENTURY OF MINAS GERAIS : THE KAYAPO TRIBE WATCHED AS THEIR LANDS WERE " CHURNED INTO ERODED LUNAR LANDSCAPES AND THEIR RIVERS POLLUTED WITH MINING EFFLUENT ", WITH " NEAR - NAKED MEN SCRABBLING IN THE MUD IN AN ANTLIKE FRENZY ", AS A VAST CRATER WAS CARVED INTO THE EARTH TO EXTRACT THE GOLD. WHAT HAS HAPPENED THERE IS REFLECTED IN ITS CURRENT NAME : " SERRA PELADA " IS PORTUGUESE FOR " BALD MOUNTAIN ". TO THIS DAY LARGE AREAS AROUND THIS NOW ABANDONED MINE ( WHICH HAS TURNED INTO AN EXTREMELY POLLUTED LAKE ) ARE CONTAMINATED WITH DANGEROUSLY HIGH LEVELS OF MERCURY ( USED IN THE GOLD EXTRACTION PROCESS ), WITH THOSE DOWNRIVER FROM SERRA PELADA FORCED TO CONSUME FISH WITH MERCURY LEVELS MANY TIMES OVER THE LIMITS FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION AS ESTABLISHED BY THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION. NO PRECIOUS METALS THE EIGHTH OF THE EIGHT INDUSTRIES SO DAMAGING TO THE VIABILITY OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST ISN'T AN INDUSTRY AT ALL, BUT IT IS REFERRED TO BY HEMMING AS " THE GREATEST DESTROYER OF RAIN FORESTS ". THIS PHENOMENON BEGAN LARGELY IN THE LATE 1950s AND HAS RESULTED IN LARGE AREAS OF DESTRUCTION FANNING OUT FROM ITS PLACES OF OCCURRENCE, SOMETIMES APPEARING IN SATELLITE IMAGERY AS THE SKELETONS OF FISH, WITH LARGE AREAS OF DESTRUCTION AROUND ITS BONES. THIS SEEMINGLY INNOCUOUS BUT PROVEN DEVASTATER OF AMAZONIAN FORESTS ( AND THE EIGHTH AMAZONIAN KILLER ) ARE THE ROADS, PARTICULARLY PAVED ROADS, WHICH HAVE CUT INTO PREVIOUSLY REMOTE AND UNSPOILED AREAS OF THE AMAZON JUNGLE. THE CONSTRUCTION OF BR - 364, A NOW PAVED HIGHWAY RUNNING FROM CUIABA IN MATO GROSSO TO PORTO VELHO ON THE MADEIRA RIVER, HAS MORPHED, IN THE WORDS OF JOHN HEMMING, INTO " THE ARTERY FOR THE GREATEST MIGRATION INTO VIRGIN TERRITORY OF SOUTH AMERICAN HISTORY ", CREATING A " TREMENDOUS ARC OF DEFORESTATION " WITHIN ONE OF THE MOST SENSITIVE TERRITORIES, THE GEOLOGICALLY ANCIENT CENTRAL BRAZILIAN SHIELD. THE TRANSAMAZONICA HIGHWAY ( BR - 230 ), LAUNCHED BY BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT EMILIO MEDICI IN 1971 " WITH NO RESEARCH OR PLANNING ", HAS GROWN FROM A PENETRATION ROAD GOING NOWHERE INTO THE THIRD LONGEST HIGHWAY IN BRAZIL AT OVER 4,000 KILOMETERS, WHERE IT SERVES AS A MAIN THOROUGHFARE FOR ILLEGAL LOGGING AND DEFORESTATION. [ TWO - THIRDS OF ALL FOREST CLEARING IN AMAZONIA OCCURS WITHIN FIFTY KILOMETERS OF A MAJOR ROAD ] THE CONSTRUCTION OF THESE TWO HIGHWAYS AND THE ROAD OF THE JAGUAR ( BR - 010 / BR - 153 ) HAS GREATLY ACCELERATED A POPULATION EXPLOSION OF BOTH HUMANS AND CATTLE WITHIN AMAZONIA : HEMMING NOTES THAT " IN THE FOUR DECADES BETWEEN 1960 AND 2000 . . . THE POPULATION OF BRAZILIAN AMAZONIA INCREASED TENFOLD, FROM TWO TO TWENTY MILLION ", WITH THE CATTLE POPULATION " GROWN FROM ALMOST NONE TO FIVE MILLION HEAD ". THE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS HAS CALCULATED THAT WITHIN THE BRAZILIAN STATE OF RONDONIA ( WHICH THE BR - 364 TRAVERSES ) " 51,000 SQUARE KILOMETERS ( ALMOST 20,000 SQUARE MILES ) OF FOREST HAD BEEN DESTROYED BY 1987 - 22 PER CENT OF RONDONIA'S TOTAL ", WITH THE MAJORITY ( 32,000 SQUARE KILOMETERS ) " DEGENERATED INTO USELESS CAPOEIRA BRUSHWOOD ". ANOTHER HIGHWAY, THE BR - 163 ROAD FROM CUIABA NORTH TO SANTAREM, MAY BECOME A " MORE VIRULENT DESTROYER THAN THE BR - 364 ACROSS RONDONIA " AS IT " SLICES THROUGH RATHER THAN SKIRTS THE MAIN MASS OF FOREST ", AND HAS DEEPENED BRAZIL'S INVOLVEMENT WITH SOYA PRODUCTION AND EXPORT. THESE HIGHWAYS BECOME AS THE SPINAL COLUMN OF THE FISH SKELETON, WITH THE MANY FEEDER ROADS ALONG THESE HIGHWAYS AS THE " RIBS OF TREELESS STRIPS JUTTING OUT FROM IT ". IN THE CASE OF THE BR - 163 HOWEVER, THE DESTRUCTION NO LONGER RESEMBLES A SKELETON, BUT THE REMAINS OF A NUCLEAR BOMB FULL OF SOYA : THE AMERICAN SOYBEAN EXPERT KORY MELBY " SAW PLANTATIONS OF IT [ SOY ] STRETCHING TO THE HORIZON FOR HOUR AFTER HOUR AS HE DROVE OVER A PAVED SECTION OF THE BR - 163 IN 2001 ". IN 2004, THE BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCED PLANS TO PAVE THE BR - 163 HIGHWAY IN ITS ENTIRETY TO FACILITATE THE TRANSPORT OF SOY, WITH ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL INITIATIVES TO MITIGATE RESULTANT DESTRUCTION. WITH OVER 80 % OF THE BR - 163 NOW PAVED HOWEVER, THESE PROMISED INITIATIVES AND PROTECTED AREAS HAVE BEEN LARGELY REDUCED, REDEFINED, AND IGNORED, WITH CONSIDERABLE DEFORESTATION FROM CATTLE RANCHES AND LOGGERS ALREADY OCCURRING. THE CONTINUED CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS WITHIN THE AMAZON RAINFOREST TRULY ARE ROADS TO NOWHERE, FACILITATING THE GROWTH OF THE AMAZONIA KILLING INDUSTRIES AT THE ETERNAL EXPENSE OF SPECIES EXTINCTION, CATASTROPHIC CLIMATE DISRUPTION, AND THE DISPLACEMENT AND CONTAMINATION OF INDIGENOUS TRIBES BY THE PESTICIDES & CHEMICALS USED IN AGRICULTURE, CATTLE RANCHING, AND WESTERN BORNE DISEASES. NO NEW ROADS ACTE I : THE MOST DAMNING AMAZONIAN KILLER OF THEM ALL " THE THING THE ECOLOGICALLY ILLITERATE DON'T REALIZE ABOUT AN ECOSYSTEM " KYNES SAID, " IS THAT IT'S A SYSTEM. A SYSTEM ! A SYSTEM MAINTAINS A CERTAIN FLUID STABILITY THAT CAN BE DESTROYED BY A MISSTEP IN JUST ONE NICHE. A SYSTEM HAS ORDER, A FLOWING FROM POINT TO POINT. IF SOMETHING DAMS THAT FLOW, ORDER COLLAPSES. THE UNTRAINED MIGHT MISS THAT COLLAPSE UNTIL IT WAS TOO LATE. THAT'S WHY THE HIGHEST FUNCTION OF ECOLOGY IS THE UNDERSTANDING OF CONSEQUENCES. " - PARDOT KYNES, FIRST PLANETOLOGIST OF ARRAKIS APPENDIX I : THE ECOLOGY OF DUNE ( FRANK HERBERT ) THERE IS IN FACT A NINTH AMAZONIAN KILLER, WITH LONG - TERM EFFECTS SO DAMAGING AND DELETERIOUS TO THE INTRICATE RHYTHMS OF THE AMAZONIAN ECOSYSTEM THAT ITS CONTINUED OCCURRENCE THREATENS TO PERMANENTLY EFFACE THE AMAZON RAINFOREST AS WE KNOW IT. AS A SYSTEM OF RIVERS CONNECTED TO ITS MAIN TRUNK ( THE AMAZON RIVER ), THE AMAZON BASIN LAYS PREY TO THE DAMNING EFFECTS OF A MANMADE CONSTRUCTION : DAMS. WATER IS PREVALENT IN THE AMAZON WITH THE RAINS OF THE TROPICS AND THE WATERWAYS STEMMING FROM THE LARGEST RIVER ON EARTH, BUT THE CONSTRUCTION OF HYDROELECTRIC DAMS LITERALLY DROWNS LARGE SECTIONS OF THE RAINFOREST, DISRUPTING AND DISPLACING THOUSANDS OF PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES, AS WELL AS INDIGENOUS TRIBES, IN MULTIFARIOUS WAYS. THE TUCURUI DAM, BUILT ON THE TOCANTINS RIVER IN 1984 LARGELY TO SUPPLY ELECTRICITY FOR INDUSTRIAL INTERESTS ( THE ALUMINUM INDUSTRY ), " CAUSED MASSIVE FLOODING FROM ITS 200 KILOMETER LONG RESERVOIR " AS REPORTED BY HEMMING. THE BALBINA HYDROELECTRIC DAM, OPENED IN 1987, " FLOODED AN UNACCEPTABLE 400,000 HECTARES ( 1,500 SQUARE MILES ) OF VIRGIN FOREST, MUCH OF IT INDIGENOUS LAND ". A MOVE BY THE BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENT UNDER THE STATE - OWNED ELECTRIC COMPANY ( ELETRONORTE ) TO CONSTRUCT A SIX - DAM COMPLEX ON THE XINGU RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARY ( THE IRIRI ) WAS STOPPED ONLY BY THE CONCERTED EFFORT OF INDIGENOUS TRIBES, LED BY THE KAYAPO, TO HALT CONSTRUCTION. [ OVER 25,000 INDIGENOUS PEOPLE FROM 18 DISTINCT ETHNIC GROUPS LIVE ALONG THE XINGU ] UNDETERRED, THE BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENT NOW PLANS TO CONSTRUCT THE THIRD LARGEST HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT IN THE WORLD, THE BELO MONTE DAM, ON THE XINGU RIVER, THIS TIME DIVERTING NEARLY THE ENTIRE FLOW OF THE XINGU THRU TWO ARTIFICIAL CANALS, LEAVING OVER A 100 KILOMETER STRETCH OF THE XINGU ' S BIG BEND WITHOUT WATER, STRANDING INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES AND SEVERELY ENDANGERING THE AMAZONIAN PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES OF THE AREA. THE CONSTRUCTION OF HYDROELECTRIC DAMS IN THE AMAZONIAN BASIN IS BEYOND TINKERING WITH NATURE AND EXTREME SHORT - SIGHTEDNESS -- IT IS THE PLAYING OF GOD WHILE LACKING HER INTELLIGENCE, AND IT IS THE IRREVERSIBLE TRADE OF AN INFINITY OF WEALTH AND DIVERSITY FOR A PROVISIONAL BOWL OF POTTAGE. NO NEW DAMS EPILOGUE THE MOST DAMNING AMAZONIAN KILLER OF THEM ALL HOWEVER, IS NEITHER DAMS NOR CATTLE, SOY NOR COFFEE, NEITHER PRECIOUS WOODS NOR METALS ; THE MOST DAMNING AMAZONIAN DESTROYER OF THEM ALL IS HUMAN APATHY. APATHY TOWARDS THE FUTURE INHABITANTS OF THIS EARTH, APATHY TOWARDS PRESENT INJUSTICES COMMITTED AGAINST THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF THE AMERICAS, APATHY TOWARDS ANY INCONVENIENT LIFESTYLE CHANGE WHICH COULD SERVE A LARGER PURPOSE, AND APATHY TOWARDS THE 8.92 MILLION LIFE SPECIES ON EARTH WHICH ARE NOT HOMO SAPIENS. HELEN KELLER ASSERTED THAT IN THE REALM OF VICES, APATHY WAS THE " WORST OF THEM ALL " ; THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHER ROBERT HUTCHINS PROJECTED THAT " THE DEATH OF DEMOCRACY IS NOT LIKELY TO BE AN ASSASSINATION FROM AMBUSH : IT WILL BE A SLOW EXTINCTION FROM APATHY, INDIFFERENCE, AND UNDERNOURISHMENT. " TO THIS QUOTE WE MAY INSERT " THE DEATH OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST IS NOT LIKELY TO BE AN ASSASSINATION FROM AMBUSH. INSTEAD, IT WILL BE A SLOW EXTINCTION FROM APATHY, INDIFFERENCE, AND UNDERNOURISHMENT. " SO HOW BEST TO PREVENT THIS SLOW EXTINCTION, SLOW ACCORDING TO THE MYOPIC VISION OF HOMO SAPIENS, BUT UTTERLY RAPID AND IRREVERSIBLE TO THE LARGE SCALE TIMETABLES OF THE EARTH AND ITS LIFEFORMS WHICH HAVE DEVELOPED OVER MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF YEARS ? DOES THE WORLD HAVE THE WILLPOWER AND THE INTELLIGENCE TO PREVENT THIS TRAGEDY, AS GLOBAL ECONOMIC FORCES PARADE AROUND A PRINCIPLE WHICH REWARDS ONLY THE PRESENT AND THE PRIVILEGED, DISREGARDING THE PAST, SPURNING THE FUTURE, AND FORGETTING THE IMPOVERISHED AND THE ENDANGERED ? WITHIN THE PRESENT ECONOMIC CLIMATE, THE STRONGEST STEP FORWARD LIES WITHIN THE POWER OF EACH INDIVIDUAL, TO BECOME INFORMED BEYOND THE SCOPE OF THIS ESSAY, TO READ JOHN HEMMING'S TREE OF RIVERS : THE STORY OF THE AMAZON AND EDUARDO GALEANO'S OPEN VEINS OF LATIN AMERICA, AS A PRIMER FOR WHAT HAS OCCURRED TO LATIN AMERICA AND THE AMAZON RAINFOREST OVER THE PAST 500 YEARS. FINALLY, TO THOSE WHO MAY FEEL THE DESIRE TO BECOME PART OF THE SOLUTION TOWARDS PROTECTING THE GREAT RAINFORESTS AND RIVERS WITHIN AMAZONIA, THREE STEPS ARE SUGGESTED, IN THE HERCULEAN EFFORT TO GUARD AGAINST HUMAN APATHY : 1) TAKE THE PLEDGE OF AMAZONIA, THAT YOU WILL PERSONALLY MODIFY OR ELIMINATE YOUR DAILY USE AND SUPPORT OF THE NINE AMAZONIAN KILLERS, AS OUTLINED IN ACTES I - IV. NO SUGAR NO SOY NO COFFEE NO CATTLE NO OIL NO PRECIOUS WOODS NO PRECIOUS METALS NO NEW ROADS NO NEW DAMS 2) WRITE A LETTER TO THE NEWLY CROWNED KING FELIPE VI OF SPAIN, AND TO THE PORTUGESE PRESIDENT ANIBAL CAVACO SILVA, TO ASK THAT THEY INAUGURATE THE AMAZONIA FUND, AS THE LONG OVERDUE RESTITUTION TO THE LANDS AND PEOPLES OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA WHICH WERE EXTERMINATED AND DESTROYED UNDER THE BANNERS OF THEIR FLAGS, AS DETAILED BY BOTH GALEANO AND HEMMING. THE AMAZONIA FUND WOULD CONSIST OF THE LONG TERM EFFORTS BY BOTH SPAIN AND PORTUGAL TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL RESTITUTION TO THE NATIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA FOR THE RICHES APPROPRIATED DURING THE YEARS OF CONQUEST. 3) WRITE A LETTER TO THE CURRENT CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF DISNEY, ROBERT A. IGER, TO THOUGHTFULLY CONSIDER THE EPCOT AMAZONIA PROJECT, AS AN EVOLUTION OF THE DISNEY THEMEPARK PARADIGM INTO A FORCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION WHICH COULD NOT ONLY HELP REHABILITATE THE IMAGE OF THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY WORLDWIDE, BUT QUITE LITERALLY SAVE THE EARTH. ROBERT A. IGER CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY 500 SOUTH BUENA VISTA STREET BURBANK, CA 91521 - 4873 U.S.A. THE INDIGENOUS INHABITANTS OF THE AMERICAS HAVE STOOD ALONE THRU THE CONQUEST AND ITS RESULTANT PLUNDER, THROUGH THE MASS GENOCIDE ON BOTH CONTINENTS, THRU THE FORCED SLAVERY AND DESPOLIATION OF THEIR ANCESTRAL LANDS, AND THROUGH 500 YEARS OF SOLITUDE ; IT IS THE AUTHOR'S DEEPEST HOPE THAT ON NOVEMBER 8, 2019, THE WORLD PRESERVATION SANCTUARY OF AMAZONIA MIGHT BE ESTABLISHED, AS A MAJOR STEP FORWARD TOWARDS THE REVERSAL OF THIS CALLOUS DESTRUCTION, AND AS A BEACON AND REMEMBRANCE OF BOTH THE GREAT ARTISTIC AND ARCHITECTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA, AND OF THOSE PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES WHICH CAN AND HOPEFULLY WILL BE PRESERVED THRU THE FORESIGHT AND CONCERTED EFFORTS OF THOSE BRAVE ENOUGH TO ACT AND THOUGHTFUL ENOUGH TO CARE. " NO ONE HAS EVER LIVED IN THE PAST, OR WILL EVER LIVE IN THE FUTURE, ONLY THE PRESENT " EXPLAINS THE ROBOTIC VOICE OF ALPHA 60 IN GODARD'S ALPHAVILLE ; TO THIS, LET US EXPAND OUR VIEW, TO LIVE IN BOTH THE DEEPEST PAST AND THE FATHOMLESS FUTURE, THAT OUR DECISIONS MAY BE GUIDED NOT BY WHAT BENEFITS OUR PRESENT OR OUR SPECIES, BUT WHICH SPANS THE BREADTH OF TIME AND SPACE, TO LOOK UPON OTHER PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES AS OUR EQUALS, AND TO EMBRACE OUR FUTURE DESCENDANTS BY PRESERVING THEIR PLANET, AS WE REMEMBER AND ACKNOWLEDGE OUR ANCIENT ANCESTORS AND THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF THE AMERICAS. THE EARTH WAS GIVEN ONLY ONE AMAZONIA ; LET US PROTECT IT AS WE WOULD PROTECT OUR DEEPEST LOVE, AND AS WE WOULD FIGHT FOR THAT WHICH WE TREASURE THE MOST. FOR TRULY, THE GREATEST RICHES UPON THE EARTH ( AS THE FUTURE GENERATIONS OF THIS WORLD WILL BE SURE TO ATTEST ) ARE NOT MADE OF GOLD, NOR OF SILVER, NOR OF THE PLASTICS AND CONVENIENCE ITEMS WHICH INCREASINGLY INFILTRATE THIS SPHERE, BUT OF THE INESTIMABLE NATURAL BEAUTY AND BIODIVERSITY OF THESE PRECIOUS RAINFORESTS, OF THE COUNTLESS AND INDEED UNKNOWN PROPERTIES OF MYRIAD AMAZONIAN PLANT SPECIES UPON THE HUMAN ORGANISM WORTH TRILLIONS TO FUTURE GENERATIONS, AND OF THE SYMPHONIES OF MOTHER NATURE AND THE CREATIONS OF GOD WHICH CAN STILL BE HEARD WITHIN THE REMOTE JUNGLES OF PAPUA, THE LUSH RAINFORESTS OF CONGOLIA, AND THE MAJESTIC MYSTERIES OF AMAZONIA. Y NOVEMBER 8, 2014 * THE 1 PERCENT OF THE RICHES AND NATURAL RESOURCES PLUNDERED AND EXTORTED FROM THE LANDS OF AMAZONIA BY EACH COUNTRY WOULD BE TABULATED BY A SPECIALLY FORMED PANEL OF TWENTY TWO HISTORIANS, PHILOSOPHERS, AND WRITERS, INCLUDING ( IF POSSIBLE ) EDUARDO GALEANO AS THE HONORARY CHAIRPERSON. AFTER A NINE MONTH REVIEW AND DELIBERATION, THIS PANEL WOULD VOTE TO ESTABLISH THE REQUESTED DONATIONS FROM THESE NINE NATIONS ( SPAIN, PORTUGAL, UNITED STATES, ENGLAND, NETHERLANDS, CHINA, JAPAN, FRANCE & GERMANY ) IN DIRECT PROPORTION TO BOTH THE AMOUNTS ABSORBED AS VERIFIED THRU HISTORICAL RECORDS AND THE AMOUNTS UNSEEN THRU ILLEGAL PLUNDER, ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION, AND GENOCIDE. THIS PANEL WOULD BE COMPRISED OF ELEVEN FEMALES AND ELEVEN MALES, EACH CHOSEN FOR THEIR HONESTY, INTELLIGENCE, AND EXPERTISE IN THE REALMS OF JURISPRUDENCE AND THE HISTORIES OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA. ** FOR AN ACCURATE RENDITION OF THE ORIGINAL COLORATION OF THE TEMPLE OF QUETZAL - COATL AS DESIGNED AND BUILT BY THE TEOTIHUACANO CIVILIZATION, THE READER IS INVITED TO READ " TEOTIHUACAN : THE CITY OF THE GODS " AS PUBLISHED BY IMMAGINE UNIVERSALE IN 2005 ( ITALY ), PARTICULARLY PLATES III AND IV. |