Central America
Panama: strikes halt trade zone land sale
Days of strikes and protests in Panama’s cities forced the government to cancel a planned sale of lands in the ColĂłn Free Trade Zone to multinational corporations.
Author: CounterVortex
The Andes
Colombia: judge orders return of usurped lands
A special court for land restitution in BolĂvar, Colombia, issued an historic ruling, ordering the return of 65 hectares to 14 families who had been forced from their lands by paramilitaries.
FARC factionalizing amid peace talks?
With peace talks underway in Oslo, Colombian politicians warn that the FARC’s Southern Bloc is continuing to recruit with an eye towards continuing the insurgency.
The Andes
Bolivia enacts new ‘Law of Mother Earth’
President Evo Morales signed a new "Law of Mother Earth" that extends the agrarian reform, bans GMOs, and establishes a Climate Justice Fund to remediate impacted lands.
The Andes
Riots rock Lima —in footsteps of Hillary Clinton
Riots rocked an industrial zone of Peru's capital, with police killing two and property damage costing millions—days after Hillary Clinton visited the district to hail its development.
The Amazon
Peru: will land titling undercut Sendero?
Peru is titling campesino lands in the Huallaga Valley in a bid to undercut support for Sendero Luminoso—but communal title is being phased out under neoliberal dogma.
The Amazon
Peru: indigenous development plan for Amazon
The Inter-ethnic Association for Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (AIDESEP) issued a “Plan for the Full Life of the Amazon,” calling for indigenous-directed development projects.
The Andes
Peru: OAS rights commission to hear Conga case
Campesino leaders from Cajamarca will travel to Washington DC to testify before the Inter-American Human Rights Commission about abuses related to the Conga mine project.
Africa
Israel bombs Sudan —again?
The Sudanese government charged that Israeli airstrikes were responsible for explosions overnight at the Yarmouk Military Industrial Complex, an armaments plant in Khartoum.
Mexico
Indigenous communities rise up in Michoacán
For the second time in less than two years, an indigenous community in the Mexican state of Michoacán has erected barricades and seized control of security matters.
Greater Middle East
Egypt: independent unions under attack
Egypt’s new government has launched the most serious set of attacks on workers’ rights since the days of Mubarak, with several activists sacked or prosecuted for organizing.
Greater Middle East
Lebanon: top security official killed in car bomb
A top Lebanese security official who was bitterly opposed to Syrian leader Bashar Assad was killed in a car bomb in Beirut that also claimed the lives of seven others.