The Andes
Bolivia: how many indigenous nationalities?
Meeting with Bolivia’s jurists to hash out protocols for autonomy, traditional authorities accused the government of underestimating the number of indigenous peoples.
Author: CounterVortex
The Amazon
Peru: demands emerge for ‘plurinational state’
As Peru’s government continues to stall on implementation of the Prior Consultation Law, indigenous leaders have issued calls for declaration of a “plurinational state.”
The Andes
Peru: is Conga project cancelled?
Peru’s mining minister Jorge Merino denied media reports that the controversial gold project at Conga, in northern Cajamarca region, has been cancelled.
Central America
Guatemala militarized after armed attack
Guatemala’s President Otto Pérez Molina inaugurated a new paramilitary force after an armed attack on a National Police post left eight officers dead and a commander abducted.
Central America
Nicaragua approves China-backed canal plan
Nicaragua sealed a pact granting Chinese business magnate Wang Jing exclusive rights to build a multibillion-dollar inter-oceanic canal through the Central American nation.
North Africa
Libya: paramilitaries behind Benghazi battles?
Libyan Special Forces, army troops and protesters repeatedly clashed with a paramilitary unit in Benghazi called the Libyan Shields, leaving some 30 dead.
Iraq
Nusra Front nixes merger with Iraq Qaeda franchise
Syria’s Nusra Front appealed to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri to mediate in a dispute with the Islamic State of Iraq, rejecting the latter’s attempted hostile take-over.
Africa
Egypt threatens Ethiopia over hydro project
Egyptian politicians threatened military action as Ethiopia began diverting waters of the Blue Nile for a mammoth new hydro-electric project, abrogating a colonial-era pact.
Bedouin rally in Beersheba
Thousands of Palestinian holders of Israeli citizenship demonstrated in Beersheba against the Prawer Plan which will displace thousands of Bedouin families in the Negev desert to make way for new towns, with the housing reserved for Jewish citizens. Photo: Ma’an… Read moreBedouin rally in Beersheba
Iraq
Iraq: oil boom amid sectarian war
Iraq unveiled an ambitious energy strategy to ramp up oil production to 4.5 million barrels per day by the end of next year—as sectarian violence escalates.
Peru backslides on indigenous rights
An indigenous woman pointing to her land expropriated for a copper project at Tintaya village, Cuzco. Recent statements from the Peruvian government do not bode well for implementation of Peru’s new Indigenous Peoples Consultation Law. President Ollanta Humala contends that “there are… Read morePeru backslides on indigenous rights
Javier Diez Canseco, ¡Presente!
On May 7, thousands filled the streets of Lima, as notables and activists from across the spectrum of Peru’s political left joined the funeral march for Javier Diez Canseco, longtime leader of the progressive bloc in the country’s Congress and… Read moreJavier Diez Canseco, ¡Presente!