The Amazon
Brazil: farmers block Belo Monte to demand power
Local farmers demanding electricity and a bridge are the latest group to protest at the massive Belo Monte dam project in the Brazilian Amazon.
Author: Weekly News Update on the Americas
Mexico
Mexico: ‘energy reform’ promises privatization —and fracking
US companies are enthusiastic about Peña Nieto’s plan to let them share in the profits from Mexico’s energy sector. Mexicans are getting ready to fight against the giveaway.
Central America
Honduras: US-Korean maquila accused of CAFTA labor violations
US and Honduran unions are trying to leverage CAFTA labor agreements to get the government to act against a Lear Corporation auto parts assembly plant.
The Andes
Colombia: Coke bottler fires outsourced workers
Colombian unionists continue to have problems with Coca-Cola’s local bottlers. Meanwhile, US campus activists continue to organize against the multinational.
The Caribbean
Haiti: lawyer for homeless threatened with arrest
Activist lawyers are concerned as two are threatened with arrest and a judge dies suddenly while investigating government corruption.
Southern Cone
Chile: investors sue Barrick over Pascua Lama mine
A drop in gold prices and problems in Chile force Barrick Gold to write down its giant Pascua Lama mine by $5 billion, as investors start a suit against the multinational.
Southern Cone
Argentina: Menem faces trial for factory explosion
Already convicted of arms smuggling, now former president Menem is charged with involvement in a fatal arms factory explosion that destroyed evidence of the contraband.
Mexico
Mexico: Veracruz environmental activist murdered
Veracruz authorities implied that Noé Salomón Vázquez Ortiz was killed because of a personal dispute, not because of his activism against two local hydroelectric projects.
Central America
Costa Rica: eight arrested in turtle defender’s killing
Under international pressure, Costa Rican authorities arrested eight people in connection with the murder of an environmental activist two months earlier.
Central America
Honduras: attacks on human rights activists increase
An indigenous leader, an Afro-Honduran LGBT activist and a judge working for judicial reform were killed, and two foreign rights observers were abducted—all in less than two weeks.
The Andes
Colombia: US court throws out suit against Drummond
The Supreme Court’s April decision in the Kiobel case has already brought down another human rights suit, one charging Drummond with violations in Colombia.
Southern Cone
Brazil: police actions protested during pope’s visit
The center of attention in Brazil was supposed to be the pope’s visit, but for many people it was actions by the militarized police, such as the disappearance of a Rio construction worker.