Archives

Ecuador: Correa Pushes Mining, Targets International Human Rights Observers in Intag

October 9, 2013 Glen David Kuecker 0

The government of Ecuadorian President Rafeal Correa sent the national mining company, ENAMI, into the Intag region last month in order to begin work necessary for a legally required environmental impact study for the proposed large-scale, open-pit copper mine near the agrarian community of Junín. Community members successfully prevented ENAMI from entering their community by using an age-old peasant community tactic, the road blockade.

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Re-militarizing the Police: Turning the Clock Back in Honduras

October 7, 2013 Rosemary Joyce and Russell Sheptak 0

The new military police are better armed than the civilian police they will replace in this mission. For example, they will be armed with Israeli Galil ACE 21 assault rifles carrying 35-round magazines, capable of firing 700 rounds per minute. The prospect of these boots on the ground treating neighborhoods in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula as battlefields should be troubling, even to those who applaud this latest move in the name of increasing security, including the US State Department, which Liberal party congress member Jose Azcona said in July had encouraged the formation of such a force during the previous presidential administration.

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Massive Indigenous Rights Movement Launches Across Brazil

October 3, 2013 Amazon Watch 0

Hundreds of indigenous peoples representing Brazil’s native communities converged on government buildings in the nation’s capital yesterday to decry unprecedented and growing attacks on their constitutional rights and territories. The historic mobilization coincides with the 25th anniversary of the founding of Brazil’s constitution with its groundbreaking affirmation of indigenous rights and aims to preserve these rights in the face of powerful economic interests behind a spate of pending laws seeking access to resources on native territories.

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After 65 Years—Will Peace Finally Come to Colombia? An Interview with Ricardo Esquivia

October 3, 2013 Dan La Botz (with Lillian Hall) 0

Ricardo Esquivia helped establish the Commission for Restoration, Life, and Peace of the Colombian Council of Evangelical Churches (CEDECOL), where he facilitated the development of five regional commissions of pastors and lay leaders to help Protestant churches provide emergency assistance to the displaced, to develop small-scale economic projects, and to work with local leaders to build a grassroots movement for peace. He has participated in national and regional dialogues with legal and illegal armed groups in Colombia.

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Guatemala: The Deported Return

October 2, 2013 James Rodríguez 0

Marvin Castillo, 29, from Chiantla, Huehuetenango, waits in line before registering at the Migration Office in Guatemala City’s La Aurora Airport after having been deported from the United States. Marvin declares: “I already spent four years in Cincinnati from 2003 to 2007, but I got deported. My wife and kids are with my in-laws here in Chiantla. I was held for two months in a Texas detention center this time. The gringos treat us like animals, but I will have to try again at some point as there is no work here, and I did not even finish my primary education.”

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Abortion Rights in Latin America: A Tale of Varying Woes

October 2, 2013 Sam Pothecary 0

Every year, on September 28th, women’s groups mobilize for the Global Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion. The movement started in Latin America and the Caribbean in 1990 to demand that their governments decriminalize abortion, provide access to safe and affordable abortion services, and end the stigma and discrimination towards women who choose to have an abortion.

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Breaking U.N. Protocol, Brazil Lambastes U.S. Spying

September 25, 2013 Thalif Deen 0

Throwing diplomatic protocol to the winds, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff launched a blistering attack on the United States for illegally infiltrating its communications network, surreptitiously intercepting phone calls, and breaking into the Brazilian Mission to the United Nations. […]

The Great Soy Expansion: Brazilian Land Grabs in Eastern Bolivia

September 22, 2013 Miguel Urioste F. de C., 0

In the last two decades, the best agricultural lands in Bolivia have been put into commercial production by large-scale producers closely linked to foreign investors, particularly Brazilians. Foreigners now control more than one million hectares of prime agricultural and ranching lands in Bolivia, primarily in the eastern lowland department of Santa Cruz, an important agro-export region dominated by transnational corporations.

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