Year: 2013
Defending Indigenous Lands and Waters in Honduras: The Case of Rio Blanco
On September 12, Berta Caceres, Tomás Gomez, and Aureliano Molina, leaders of the indigenous Lenca organization Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) must appear in court. Their charges? Usurpation of land, coercion, and causing more than $3 million in damages to DESA, a hydroelectric dam company. […]
A War Without War Correspondents in Mexico
Every day in Mexico it is increasingly dangerous to be a journalist. During protests or events criticizing the Mexican government, public security forces often take or even destroy journalists’ equipment. According to a list published by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Mexico is among the top twelve countries in terms of impunity for the murder, disappearance, and abuse of journalists.
Mexico: The Eye is on the Mines
The backdrop of the whole situation, declares the former Naa Savi coordinator, includes mining projects and companies who want to enter the area. “If we allow the army to enter communal territory, they will never leave. The government has its eye on exploiting the mines, they want us to fight amongst ourselves, so that they can come in and militarize the territory. That’s the bottom line here.” Carrasco believes it’s false that the government is fighting organized crime because “they are fighting the Indigenous people, that’s their goal.”
Enforced Disappearances Still an Appalling Reality in the Americas
Enforced disappearances in the Americas are not only an inheritance of the dark past of the authoritarian governments of the 1970s and 80s, but also an appalling ongoing practice, Amnesty International said as it marked […]
Ecuador: The Rights of Nature Threatened in Yasuní National Park
UNESCO designated the Yasuní National Park as a world biosphere reserve in 1989 because it contains 100,000 species of animals, many which are not found anywhere else in the world. Each hectare of the forest reportedly contains more tree species than in all of North America. Not drilling in the pristine rainforest would both protect its rich mix of wildlife and plant life and help halt climate change by preventing the release of more than 400 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Guatemalan Indigenous Organizations File Complaint over Mining Law with Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Sources: Western Peoples’ Council (CPO) – Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) – MiningWatch Canada – Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) Guatemala’s Western Peoples’ Council of Mayan organizations (CPO) filed a […]
Free Trade: Colombia Protests and Rural Development
Source: Horizons of Friendship In recent days, Colombian farmers led nation-wide strikes protesting the impacts of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), high fuel prices, and rural policies that have pushed many further into poverty. Farmers claim […]
Uruguay Prepares for Iron Rush: Civil Society Opposes Proposed Mining Legislation
A bill that would regulate large-scale mining operations is making its way through Uruguay’s two houses of parliament, despite a lack of political consensus and vocal opposition from environmental organisations and other sectors of civil society. The proposed legislation declares that large-scale mining would serve the “public interest”. But critics charge that the bill was drafted to serve the interests of the Aratirí project planned by the Indian mining group Zamin Ferrous, aimed at the production of 18 million tons of iron ore annually.