Month: July 2014
Fracking Fights Loom Large in Mexico
Mexico is emerging as the next big battleground in conflicts over hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, as the method of extracting natural gas is commonly known. While Mexican lawmakers consider regulatory legislation to put into practice the 2013 energy reform that opened up their county’s oil and gas reserves to private investors, anti-fracking forces are mobilizing for a moratorium or an outright ban of the controversial practice from the Mexican Congress.
Brazil: Where Indian Lives are not Worth a Traffic Sign
Public prosecutors in Brazil have called on the government to pay 1.4 million reais (US$ 630,000) in compensation to Guarani Indians and to instal road signs, after eight Indians from one community were run over […]
The Caribbean: A Clean Energy Revolution on the Front Lines of Climate Change
Clean energy technologies are slowly making headway throughout the Caribbean. And the nearby United States, the world’s number-one historical emitter of carbon emissions, should pay attention. Source: FPIF Lefties Food Stall, a pint-sized eatery serving […]
Argentina: Communities to Resist Oil Extraction in National Park
Argentina has approved a proposal from Chinese Petrol Company JHP and state-owned Jujuy Mining and Energy (JEMSE) to carry out an environmental impact study on an oil-drilling project in Calilegua National Park. The park, located in the northern province of Jujuy, is one of the most bio-diverse environments in Argentina.
Guatemalan Government Moves to Expel Witnesses to Police Violence at US-Canadian Mine Site
Last week, Guatemalan authorities informed two Peace Brigades International (PBI) volunteers that their temporary residence permits were cancelled and that they have ten days to leave the country. Both volunteers witnessed a violent eviction on […]
The U.S. Re-militarization of Central America and Mexico
Source: NACLA Report on the Americas During his brief visit to Costa Rica in May 2013, President Obama appeared eager to downplay the U.S. regional security agenda, emphasizing instead trade relations, energy cooperation, and youth […]
Salvadoran Peasant Farmers Clash With U.S. Over Seeds
JIQUILISCO, El Salvador, Jul 5 2014 (IPS) – Under a searing sun, surrounded by a sea of young maize plants, Gladys Cortez expresses her fears that her employment in the cooperative that produces seed for […]
Mining and Post-Conflict in Colombia
A meeting in Popayán, capital of the Cauca department, was the excuse for learning about a complex and violent reality. The war between the military, paramilitaries, guerrillas, and drug traffickers is intertwined with savage extractivism, with illegal mining its worst expression.
Popular Agrarian Reform: An Alternative to the Capitalist Model
In the face of this agribusiness model that looks to the production of dollars and commodities, rather than foods, we urgently need to renegotiate, throughout the whole planet, the principle that food cannot be a mere commodity. […]