The Andean Free Trade Agreement could undermine a class action lawsuit filed by 30,000 Ecuadorians against Chevron for oil contamination in the Amazon that led to massive environmental destruction and widespread health problems. Senators Patrick […]
A Guatemalan Court dropped charges against former dictator Efrain Rios Montt, which alleged the former general orchestrated a violent protest in 2003 that left one journalist dead. Rios Montt led a successful military coup in […]
The sixth World Social Forum (WSF) has ended and all the thousands of activists and journalists have gone home, most unaware of the parallel events held by the Alternative Social Forum (ASF). The ASF hosted a diverse group of participants all in agreement of the necessary autonomy of social movements, voiced their critique of Latin American energy policy and questioned the state appropriation of social movements in Venezuela.
When the residents of Junín, Ecuador declare that copper mining will begin only "over my dead body", I get the sense they mean it. Never have I personally known a more determined and dedicated group of people. Aside from everyday acts of resistance to Ascendant Copper Corporation and its locally hired cronies, the people of Junín and surrounding communities of Intag imperiled by the proposed mine repeatedly use formidable acts to demonstrate their discontent and opposition to mining projects.
As a result of the rapid expansion of genetically modified soybeans into the area, peasants and Indigenous people in Eastern Paraguay have become the targets of land evictions, pesticide poisoning and assassinations.
Haiti’s election was marred with scuffles, stampedes, murders and confusion in what the U.S. ambassador has called a "triumph for the Haitian people." Many polling places were disorganized and unable to open on time. "Some […]
Costa Rican electoral officials began a recount on Tuesday to determine the winner of a presidential race in which the two candidates were separated by a mere .3 percent with most of the polling places […]
Look out Coke, Pepsi and Seagram’s. Indigenous campesinos from Western Colombia have a new market for their coca crops: soft drinks. Nasa Indians approached officials in Bogota to license their new cola, named Coca Sek, […]
Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro have often met as the leaders of their countries, and they have clearly developed a warm personal friendship as well. The Bush administration, Fox News, and the Venezuelan opposition try to use this as "proof" that Chavez is taking orders from Castro, that Chavez intends to turn Venezuela into a "communist dictatorship," with capitalism severely curtailed, and freedom of speech limited.
"But the greatest doubt – considering that over half of all Garifuna communities are located in protected areas or their respective buffer zones – is if the dedication to environmental protection work really exists or if it can be reduced to a formula for territorial control, so that later the protected areas can be raffled off among the same old sorcerers as always." (The Fraternal Black Order of Honduras)
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