Upside Down World – Page 243 – Upside Down World

Honduras: Campesinos Murdered as Honduran-Canadian Trade Agreement Moves Forward

August 19, 2011 Upside Down World 0

Since the June 28, 2009 coup in Honduras, campesino organizations attribute at least 45 killings in the Aguan region alone to private security forces working for the wealthy producers of African palm oil, who often act jointly with state police and military forces. The most recent surge in rural violence occurred days after Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister of Canada, signed a “free” trade agreement with Honduras.

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Mexico: March Against Drug War Rejects “National Security Law”, Calls for “Citizen Security”

August 19, 2011 Upside Down World 0

Hundreds of people streamed onto Avenida Reforma from Mexico City’s Museum of Anthropology, further proof that Mexico’s peace and justice movement has the capacity to draw citizens out to protest the drug war. Protesters demanded that the Mexican Congress throw out proposed reforms to the National Security Law that is designed to provide legal underpinnings for continuing the war on drugs strategy launched by President Felipe Calderon in December of 2006.

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Amazon Pipeline Gets Go-Ahead Amid Reports of ‘Cover-up’

August 18, 2011 Upside Down World 0

A 200km oil pipeline in the Amazon has been given the go-ahead, amidst controversy over a ‘cover-up’ of evidence that uncontacted Indians live in the region. French oil company Perenco plans to spend $350m building […]

Colombia: Grassroots Rural Movement Unites Behind Call for Peace Talks

August 18, 2011 Upside Down World 0

“Dialogue is the Path” is the slogan that drew 25,000 people to this northern Colombian oil port city on the Magdalena river that has a history of social struggle. Most of the participants came from remote corners of the country where the brutality of war is experienced in daily life in ways unimagined by city dwellers.

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Expert Witnesses Receive Death Threats after Guatemala Massacre Trial

August 13, 2011 Upside Down World 0

Four staff members of a forensic anthropology team in Guatemala have received death threats after testifying at a recent high-profile trial over a 1982 army massacre that left 250 villagers dead. Freddy Peccerelli, the founder […]

Photo Essay: Migrants Search for Justice in Mexico

August 12, 2011 Upside Down World 0

On August 1^st, a caravan of several hundred Central American migrants, family members of disappeared migrants, and migrant rights activists arrived in Mexico City to denounce Mexican authorities for their indifference and lack of action to protect undocumented migrants from organized crime, kidnapping, sexual abuse and murder.

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Hip-Hop: Straight Outta Havana

August 12, 2011 Upside Down World 0

Source: New York Times ONSTAGE is Instinto, a female trio extraordinaire. It’s my first time seeing them perform in Havana. The divas are wearing shimmering strapless dresses with high heels. As a salsa beat kicks […]

Bolivia: Amazon Road Plan Has Native People on the March Again

August 12, 2011 Upside Down World 0

Indigenous people in the eastern lowlands of Bolivia are again preparing to make the long march to La Paz, 21 years after their first such protest. They have vowed to make the trek in defence of their lands, which they say are threatened by plans for a highway to be built with the backing of the Brazilian government. […]

La audacia de los Tratados de Libre Comercio

August 12, 2011 Upside Down World 0

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Prospecting the Terrain of Struggle in Guatemala

August 12, 2011 Upside Down World 0

New developments in Guatemala have continued to put pressure on the Goldcorp company, whose controversial Marlin mine has kept churning out the gold. As some continue in land-based struggles, others are channeling resources into courts and official proceedings—with mixed results.

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