The Amazon

Peru: oil spill threatens rainforest reserve

Indigenous leaders in Peru’s Amazon protested that a leak from Pluspetrol’s oil operations is causing contamination within the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve.

The Amazon

Ecuador: indigenous leaders get prison terms

A court in Ecuador’s Amazon city of Macas convicted indigenous leaders Pedro Mashiant and Pepe Acacho on charges of “terrorism” and “sabotage”  for their roles in a 2009 protest.

The Amazon

Ecuador opens Yasuni reserve to oil interests

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa announced that he is abandoning plans for an ambitious internationally funded conservation program at Yasuni National Park in the Amazon.

Mexico

Mexican military harasses Zapatista gathering

The Zapatista rebels in Chiapas charged that military planes are overflying the settlements where they are holding an international activist gathering dubbed the Freedom School.