Month: October 2012
Guatemala’s Palm Industry Leaves Locals Contemplating an Uncertain Future
The growing global demand for palm oil threatens to change life irrevocably for people in the northern Guatemalan state of Petén Source: The Guardian Entering the community of Semochán involves a slow, bumpy drive off […]
Venezuela’s Mission Robinson Literacy Program Celebrates 9 Successful Years
Source: Venezuelanalysis.com Venezuela’s literacy and primary education program, Mission Robinson, yesterday celebrated its 9th anniversary, with the program having taught over 1.75 million Venezuelans to read and write since its founding. Launched by President Hugo […]
Chile: Violence and Repression against the Mapuche Population
“We are not only facing a political battle, but also an ancestral one, because the Mapuche community is fundamentally anti-capitalist,” said Millaray Huichalaf, a young machi of the Roble Carimallin sector. “That’s why any manner of organization is dangerous to this system. Today, we are rising up with clear conviction, with a political, social, and spiritual foundation, as an entire community.”
Brazil: Indigenous Community Faces Eviction
The Brazilian authorities must immediately suspend a court order to evict 170 Guarani–Kaiowá indigenous people from a portion of their ancestral lands, Amnesty International said after the community pledged to die together rather than be […]
Peru and Ecuador Set to Auction Off More of Amazon for Oil
Even as indigenous people struggle to cope with current levels of contamination and illness caused by years of oil production in the Amazon, the governments of Peru and Ecuador are preparing to sell off even more Amazonian territory to the oil industry in coming months.
Honduras Truth Commission Releases Report about Coup-Related Violence and Repression
The Commission of Truth’s report identifies three patterns of human rights violations in the framework of the coup d’état: “1) repression of public protests, excessive use of force during repression by state security agents, and criminalization of public protest; 2) selective or directed repression to the detriment of persons considered by the de facto government to be destabilizing to the regime; and 3) institutional dysfunction according to the needs of the regime imposed by the coup d’état and to the detriment of the population.”
Brazil: Symbol of Native Culture to Be Bulldozed for World Cup
(IPS) – One victim of the remodelling of Brazil’s Maracaná football stadium in preparation for the World Cup is the old Museum of the Indian, where people from different indigenous groups have attempted to keep […]