Month: May 2013
Blood Along the Border: Environmental Activism and Violence in Juarez, Mexico
Saul Reyes Salazar is a man who understands loss. In January 2010, his sister Josefina was shot in the head, following a botched kidnapping in their hometown of Guadalupe los Bravos, across the border bridge from Tornillo, Texas. She was, at the time, one of the best-known activists in the Juarez Valley, the agricultural region that follows the Rio Grande river east of Ciudad Juarez.
‘Lost’ Report Exposes Brazilian Indian Genocide
A shocking report detailing horrific atrocities committed against Brazilian Indians in the 1940s, 50s and 60s has resurfaced – 45 years after it was mysteriously ‘destroyed’ in a fire. The Figueiredo report was commissioned by […]
Peru Backslides on Indigenous Rights
Source: Oxfam Recent statements from the Peruvian government do not bode well for implementation of Peru’s new Indigenous Peoples Consultation Law (Consultation Law). The landmark law, passed in 2011 and now being implemented, requires the […]
Report Reveals How Canadian Diplomacy Supported Deadly Blackfire Mining Project in Mexico
Source: United Steelworkers – Common Frontiers – MiningWatch Canada (Ottawa/San Cristobal de las Casas) Documents released from the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) in response to a request under the access […]
Ecuador’s Indigenous People Still Waiting to Be Consulted
The Constitution of Ecuador adopted in 2008 establishes a broad range of rights for indigenous peoples and nationalities, including the right to prior consultation, which gives them the opportunity to influence decisions that affect their lives. But this right has yet to be fully translated into legislation, as the bill for a Law on Consultation with Indigenous Communities, Peoples and Nationalities is still being studied by the National Assembly.
Using the Cold War: The Truman Administration’s Response to the Bolivian National Revolution
In light of Evo Morales’ May Day expulsion of USAID from Bolivia, here is a look back to the Harry Truman administration’s work to undermine Bolivia’s transformative National Revolution in 1952. This history’s legacy lives on; Washington’s power is woven into the fabric of Bolivian politics, from the dreams and nightmares of the National Revolution, into the MAS era of today.