Archives – Page 40 – Upside Down World

Zapatistas Decide to Do Away with Subcomandante Marcos

June 4, 2014 Orsetta Bellani, Translated by Danica Jorden 0

“It is our conviction and our practice that we don’t need leaders or chieftains, messiahs, or saviors, in order to rise up and fight, only a little humility, a lot of dignity and a great deal of organization; the rest either serves the collective or is useless,” Marcos said, suggesting a criticism of the revolutionary vanguard, as the EZLN managed to transform “leading by obeying” into the centrality of the collective in the face of the individual.

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From Mexico to Brazil, climate change threatens coffee growers in Latin America

June 3, 2014 By Diego Cupolo 0

Coffee, like gold, sugar and oil, has long been one of Latin America’s major exports, sustaining everyone from independent farmers in mountain regions to corporate bankers in capital cities. Over the last decade, changing climate patterns have intensified droughts and plagues in the region, creating conditions less suitable for coffee production and wreaking havoc on the industry that came to define, even shape, many hillsides in rural Central and South America.

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Photo Essay: Zapatistas Show Dignified Rage and Demand Justice and an End to Violence Targeting their Communities

June 3, 2014 Tim Russo 0

Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos rides horseback in front of the Zapatista support base members in La Realidad during an homage to fallen compañero – Galeano – killed in a paramilitary attack against Zapatista members in La Realidad on May 2, 2014. Thousands gathered in La Realidad to show there digna rabia, dignified rage, demand justice and an end to the on-going violence directed towards Zapatista indigenous communities in Chiapas.

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Self-Determination as Anti-Extractivism: How Indigenous Resistance Challenges World Politics

June 3, 2014 Manuela Picq 0

Governments have been busy criminalizing Indigenous claims to consultation that challenge extractive models of development. Indigenous opposition to extractivism ultimately promotes self-determination rights, questioning the states’ authority over land by placing its sovereignty into historical context. In that sense, Indigeneity is a valuable approach to understanding world politics.

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Ecuador Pushes for Greater South-South Cooperation and Stronger Public Disability Assistance Policies

June 2, 2014 Nathan Singham 0

The most recent report published by the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB) found that Ecuador was the largest recipient of bilateral south-south cooperation projects in Latin America. However, the report also noted that Ecuador has become an increasingly important provider in bilateral cooperation projects, specifically in the area of social assistance programs which accounted for 35 percent of all south-to-south projects carried out by the Ecuadorian government.

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Digging up the Dirt on Canadian Mining in Latin America

May 29, 2014 Sandra Cuffe 0

Goldcorp’s San Martin gold mine in Honduras is one of five emblematic cases in the spotlight at the Permanent People’s Tribunal, celebrating its 40th session in Montreal from May 29 to June 1. Goldcorp’s mine is also one of the case studies examined in a new report on Canadian mining in Latin America. Produced by a working group of Latin American organizations, the report draws on 22 case studies spanning nine Latin American countries to document a litany of harms, ranging from environmental and health impacts to forced displacement and criminalization.

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Colombia’s U’was Say No to Gas Drilling in Their Territory

May 28, 2014 David Hill 0

Plans by Colombia’s state-owned firm Ecopetrol to drill for gas in the north of the country have been suspended following opposition from the indigenous U’wa people. An organization representing 17 U´wa communities, Asou’wa, raised the alarm about the drilling in late February reporting the arrival of “an avalanche of heavy machinery” and an increasing army presence.

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Bolivia’s Conamaq Indigenous Movement: “We will not sell ourselves to any government or political party”

May 26, 2014 Pablo Peralta M. 0

“We’ve become leaders of [Conamaq] during difficult years … but here we stand. As long as we have energy, the struggle continues. We will not sell ourselves to any government or political party.” – Mama Nilda Rojas, Conamaq indigenous movement leader.

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“Here the People Govern’: Autonomy and Resistance in San Francisco Opalaca, Honduras

May 25, 2014 Brigitte Gynther 0

Every day and night for four consecutive months, the Lenca people of San Francisco Opalaca have been maintaining a 24-hour blockade and vigil at the entrance to their Mayor’s office, thus preventing the ruling party-imposed candidate from taking office. The Honduran government claims National Party candidate Socorro Sanchez won the Mayoral race in Opalaca during last November’s elections. However, the people of Opalaca know otherwise.

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Guatemala: Violent Eviction of the La Puya Peaceful Mining Resistance

May 24, 2014 James Rodríguez, MiMundo.org 0

After two years and two months of peacefully blocking the entrance to U.S.-based Kappes, Cassiday & Associates (KCA) El Tambor gold mine, local residents of San Jose del Golfo and San Pedro Ayampuc were violently evicted by Guatemalan Police forces in order to introduce heavy machinery inside the industrial site. Led by the local women, members of the La Puya resistance prayed and sang until they were faced with tear gas. Numerous locals were injured and detained.

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