Archives – Page 182 – Upside Down World

How Green is the Latin American Left? A Look at Ecuador, Venezuela and Bolivia

April 3, 2008 Daniel Denvir and Thea Riofrancos 0

Planning Oil Pipeline

Across Latin America, resurgent indigenous, labor and campesino movements have contributed to the rise of new governments that declare their independence from the neoliberal economic model, promise a more equitable distribution of wealth and increased state control over natural resources. But it is uncertain how far these new governments have gone to transform the ecologically unsustainable model of development that dominates the region. […]

Military Crisis in South America: The Results of Plan Colombia

April 2, 2008 Raúl Zibechi 0

The military operative executed by Colombian soldiers on Ecuadorian soil to kill the FARC commander Raul Reyes is part of the strategy of the United States to alter the military balance in the region. In the crosshairs is Venezuelan and Ecuadorian oil; however it also serves as a check on Brazil as an emerging regional power. […]

Crisis along the Rio Dulce in Guatemala: The Death of Mario Caal

April 2, 2008 James Rodriguez 0

Funeral Procession

The imposing Rio Dulce (Sweet River), one of Guatemala’s principal tourist attractions, has witnessed the development of a transcendental conflict over land. Conflicts have arisen in the region where basic survival needs of entire communities cross paths with environmentally protected areas and business. On March 15th, a violent incursion by combined police-military forces ended with the tragic extrajudicial execution of local peasant leader Mario Caal Bolom. […]

Colombia’s Gold Bonanza: Canadian Mining Leads to ‘Economic Forced Displacement’

March 31, 2008 Micheál Ó Tuathail 0

Uncertainty prevails on the cobbled streets of Marmato – a small mining town of some 8,000 souls clinging to the side of El Burro, a site of traditional ‘subsistence’ gold mining in the Colombian Andes. Five years ago, the subsidiary of a Canadian mining company Toronto began consolidating ownership of the mountain, leading to “economic forced displacement” and the social eradication of a working community.

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The Last Rebels of the Caribbean: Garifuna Fighting for Their Lives in Honduras

March 27, 2008 Ramor Ryan 0

"We have hundreds of kilometers of beaches that aren’t developed, and it’s a waste,” said Honduran Tourism Secretary, Ana Abarca. These hundreds of kilometers of "waste" are home to 76 Garifuna villages. It is the Garifuna communities’ two most salient attributes – the beauty of their territory, and their vibrant culture – that pose a threat to their existence. The former coveted by the tourist industry, the latter commodified.

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Paraguay: Campesino Leader Charged For Confronting Crop Spraying

March 27, 2008 Marco Castillo, Regina Kretschmer, Javiera Rulli, Gaby Schwartzmann. Translated by April Howard. 0

Campesino Protest

The criminalization of social movements in Paraguay has worsened with the recent order to detain political and social leader Tomás Zayas, a municipal councilor and three campesinos, charged for “Homicidal intent and criminal association.” These accusations are due to the conflict that has developed over the last three years over intense crop spraying with pesticides. […]

Photo Essay – Bolivia: Coca Yes, Cocaine No

March 25, 2008 Roberto Guerra and Ruxandra Guidi 0

The United Nations’ International Narcotics Control Board recently made the announcement that Peru and Bolivia should, once and for all, outlaw the chewing of coca. Those are fighting words in Bolivia, where coca leaves have been grown and used in their natural form for thousands of years.

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Book Review: Behind Colombian Coal: Mining, Multinationals and Human Rights

March 25, 2008 Jeffery R. Webber 0

In the immediate aftermath of the Colombian state murders in Ecuador, massive demonstrations were held across Colombia and throughout the world on behalf of Colombians killed by state or paramilitary violence. One of the immediate consequences has been renewed paramilitary terror and threats against trade unionists and human-rights activists. All of this makes the publication of The People Behind Colombian Coal timely and important.

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UN: Mexico Violating Human Rights of Migrants

March 25, 2008 Cyril Mychalejko 0

Dr. Jorge Bustamante

Jorge Bustamante, the U.N.’s Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, said that there are "reports of rampant impunity for instances of corruption, including bribery and extortion, violence against women, and trafficking in children[and] that the impunity seems to be linked to abuses of power at the municipal, state and federal levels."

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Peru: Coca Advocates Protest Suggested UN Ban

March 20, 2008 Jenessa Stark 0

Hilaria Supa

Lima, Peru – On March 19th, a group of protestors and various indigenous activist groups gathered near the central square in Lima to raise awareness about the spiritual and cultural uses of the coca leaf, roughly two weeks after the International Narcotics Control Board of the United Nations urged the Peruvian government to consider banning the use and sale of the leaf. […]