The Amazon

Peru: Amazonian leaders press land demarcation

Amazonian leaders issued an open letter to President Ollanta Humala demanding that funds for the continued demarcation of indigenous lands be included in Peru's 2013 budget.

The Andes

Colombia: indigenous peace proposal advanced

An “Indigenous and Popular Peace Proposal” has been issued to bring demands for territorial autonomy to the talks between the Colombian government and FARC rebels.

MILITARY INTERVENTION IN MALI

“Nothing But Their Eyes to Cry With”

by Stefan Simanowitz, Toward Freedom

This June, following a short but bloody battle, Islamic fighters ousted the Tuareg National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) from the city of Gao. After a hiatus of nearly five months, fighting has again erupted between the MNLA and fighters from the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA). On Friday, amid conflicting reports, there was fighting near Mali’s border with Niger and Burkina Faso and more skirmishes took place on Monday. The MNLA claimed to have launched an offensive aimed at regaining the Gao region while the MUJWA have said they have attacked the MNLA and have taken control of the town of Menaka. While the situation is currently unclear, even if MNLA forces suffered heavier losses, the fact that they have been engaged in fighting with Islamists has added a new dimension to the complex conflict in the northern Mali.

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Afghanistan

Pakistan to Lebanon: Shi’ites under attack

Bomb attacks on Shi’ite processions marking Ashura claimed lives in Pakistan, while Sunnis and Shi’ites clashed in Kabul and a planned attack on Shi’ites was thwarted  in Lebanon.