Colombia: World Leader in Forced Displacement
(IPS) – “We want to shout out to the world, and no one will be able to keep us silent: forced displacement is still happening in Colombia, which is why we are asking for solidarity. […]
Month: February 2011
In Brazil, Peasants Claim Farmland
The Landless Workers Movement has given 350,000 families a new livelihood since 1988 Source: On the Commons Like in so many other Latin American countries, Brazil’s national history is rooted in colonialism, exploitation and […]
Mexico’s Federal Police Open Fire on Protesters, Throwing Merida Initiative Accountability Into Question
Mexican Federal Police allegedly shot radio journalist Gilardo Mota Figueroa as he covered a protest last Tuesday against President Felipe Calderón’s visit to Oaxaca City. Mota Figueroa told Crónica de Oaxaca that during clashes with Oaxaca’s teachers union, a Federal Police officer opened fire on the crowd from a distance of about six meters (or about twenty feet). One of the bullets struck Mota Figueroa in the leg. Another 2-4 bullets were embedded in an armored SUV that authorities had left parked on the street.
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The New Latin American “Progresismo” and the Extractivism of the 21st Century
The advent of progressive governments in South America in the last decade gave environmentalists the hope that this would be the beginning of a truly sustainable economic development. But post-neoliberal “progresismo” has brought new complications in the environmental front, according to numerous activists and experts.
Action Alert! Q’eqchi’ Leaders Massacred in Guatemala
Source: Guatemala Solidarity Project Thousands of q’eqchi’ peasants near Livingston, Guatemala had been anticipating February 14, 2011 as a possible day of joy and celebration. Instead it became a day of unbearable grief after the bodies […]
People’s Power: Participatory Budgeting from Brazil to Chicago
For more than 20 years, the people of Porto Alegre, Brazil have been directly determining how the city spends it’s money. Chicago’s 49th Ward became the first US community to adopt the practice in 2009, and is now repeating the process.
Tourism Is Poisoning the Mexican Caribbean
(Tierramérica) – The booming tourist industry along Mexico’s Caribbean coast, particularly in the area of Cancún and the “Riviera Maya,” is polluting the world’s largest underwater cave system and harming the world’s second largest coral […]
Water Evaporates in Peru’s For-Export Crops
(Tierramérica) – As freshwater disappears from the super-populated Peruvian coast, the most water-intensive crops are expanding unabated as highly profitable exports. Observers warn about the harm this is causing and demand greater responsibility from the […]
What Wikileaks Teaches Us About Obama and Latin America
Source: www.CommonDreams.org President Obama has given little indication of the strategy for his upcoming trip through Chile, Brazil, and El Salvador. Will “the great listener” promote cooperation and understanding, or carry on the Bush administration’s […]