Year: 2006
Bolivia’s Gas Nationalization: A South American Affair
The diplomatic whirlwind following Evo Morales’ takeover of Bolivia’s gas fields has revealed that South American unity is far stronger than critics of the region’s progressive governments like to believe.
Police Brutality in Atenco, Mexico
San Salvador Atenco, Mexico—At 7 AM this past Wednesday, May 3rd, state police blocked 60 flower vendors from setting up their stands at the Texcoco local market in the State of Mexico, about 20 miles east of Mexico City. The police beat and arrested those who resisted.
A Day Without Gringos
At May Day in Mexico City 200.000 workers spilled out of the city’s famous Zocalo into surrounding streets. This year’s theme obviously centered on the plight of Mexico’s 26,000,000 countrymen and women living abroad in […]
Cubans Thank Zapatistas for Their Show of Solidarity
Workers at the Martin Luther King Center in Havana, Cuba received 8 tons of corn and 400 liters of gasoline from Zapatista communities nustled in the highlands and jungles of Chiapas, Mexico. The center will […]
Southern Cone Presidents Will Meet
Presidents Lula da Silva, Evo Morales, Néstor Kirchner and Hugo Chávez will meet in Puerto de Iguazú, Argentina this Thursday, May 4. The South American presidents will discuss common strategies in energy sector development, according […]
Canadian Power Co. Lambasted by Belizeans
Belizean environmentalists and community leaders gathered May 2 to protest Canadian power company Fortis´ rate hikes and repeated failures to comply with environmental regulations. The protests came on the eve of the company´s annual meeting […]
Brazilian Oil Firm Abandons Road Project in Ecuador
Pressure from international environmental groups and growing criticism from Ecuador´s government has forced Brazil´s national oil company Petrobras to abandon plans to build an access road into Yasuni National Park (located in the Ecuadorian Amazon). […]
Bolivia’s Nationalization by Decree
The smell of gas hangs strongly in the air as a crowd of flag-waving Bolivians celebrate outside the Petrobras Gualberto Villaroel oil and gas refinery. A state worker clad in a tan work suit and hardhat props a wooden ladder against the front wall of the refinery just beneath the blue metal letters that read PETROBRAS, and ascends the ladder as the crowd looks on.
Bolivia Nationalizes Gas Reserves: Investors Nervous
On May 1st Bolivian President Evo Morales nationalized Bolivia’s natural gas reserves. The extent to which this nationalization will take place is still unknown. He ordered the military to occupy gas fields in 56 locations around the country, threatening to kick out foreign companies that did not acknowledge state control.