Madrid, November 12 (European Press) –
A group of activists attempted to storm the UN-administered Blue Zone during the COP30 climate summit in Belem, Brazil, on Tuesday, to demand “taxes on billionaires” and also to protest oil exploitation in the Amazon region, before they were expelled by security personnel after a confrontation.
The demonstrators managed to enter Parque da Cidade, which has been closed these weeks for use as a summit headquarters, and initially avoided police officers. During their tour, they also addressed Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whom they stressed was playing a “role” and “destroying the climate” through licensed oil exploration in the Amazon Basin.
“The government is lying, saying that the Amazon is fine, that the indigenous people are fine. If we were healthy, we would not be here to protest,” said the shaman and NATO activist Tubinamba, who was present at the time of the invasion, according to the Brazilian newspaper Folha.
The demonstrators coming from the Global March for Health and Climate in the streets of the city arrived at the intermediate area between the security registration and arrival at the Blue Zone, where they were evacuated after a confrontation with security guards who imposed two human cordons and isolated the entrance to the Blue Zone. Two officers were slightly injured.
A spokesperson for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said: “The Brazilian and UN security team took measures to protect the site, following all applicable security protocols. The Brazilian government and UN authorities are investigating the incident. The site is safe and COP negotiations continue.”
For their part, the organizations participating in the Global March for Health and Climate wanted to “clarify publicly that they have nothing to do with the incident that occurred at the entrance to the Blue Zone of COP 30 after the end of the march,” according to a statement by the organizers, who highlighted that “the event was peaceful and public and was previously reported to the relevant authorities.”
This is the first time in three years that the COP has been held in a country that openly allows demonstrations, after previous sessions in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan.
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