The Caribbean
Puerto Rico: Monsanto blows off legislative hearing
Biotech giant Monsanto does much of its research and development in Puerto Rico, but it holds in effect that it isn’t subject to Puerto Rican law.
Author: Weekly News Update on the Americas
Mexico
Mexico: army rescues 165 kidnapped migrants
Thousands of migrants continue to be killed or kidnapped each year as they try to cross Mexico to the US; activists say Mexican officials are involved in some of the crimes.
Mexico
Mexico: three Guerrero activists found murdered
Some 1,000 people turned out for the funeral of three activists found murdered five days after they disappeared following a protest.
The Amazon
Brazil: top indigenous official resigns
Indigenous protests heat up as another Terena protester is shot while trying to occupy lands the Terena say are their territory; tensions continue over the Monte Belo Dam.
Southern Cone
Argentina: eight activists arrested in mine protest
Greenpeace activists carried out a banner drop to dramatize the threat Barrick Gold’s open-pit mining poses to a biosphere reserve in the western province of San Juan.
Central America
Panama: campesinos demonstrate against dams
Campesinos are protesting three dams planned for the area where they live; meanwhile, the indigenous Ngöbe Buglé are still fighting a dam being built in their territory.
The Amazon
Brazil: indigenous protester killed in land dispute
Indigenous people occupy estates and a giant dam’s construction site to press demands for land and rights—just as a report resurfaces on atrocities from the past.
Southern Cone
Chile: Barrick Gold mine may be delayed for years
Barrick Gold is ordered to suspend work on its massive Pascua Lama mine high in the Andes; the company also gets a fine that Greenpeace dismisses as “laughable.”
The Caribbean
Haiti: activists protest UN troops, low wages
South American activists call for UN troops to leave Haiti, while Haitian unionists protest the government’s attempt to rewrite a minimum wage law via press release.
Southern Cone
Latin America: marchers reject Monsanto, back food sovereignty
In Argentina residents protest Monsanto's plan for a giant facility in their town; Mexican campesinos worry about contaminated corn; Puerto Ricans want labels on GM food.
Central America
Guatemala: thousands protest reversal of dictator’s conviction
Protesters and legal experts raise questions about a court’s decision on the RĂos Montt conviction; meanwhile, Guatemala suddenly extradites another ex-president to the US.
Central America
Honduras: indigenous leaders arrested after dam demonstration
Honduran police disperse a protest by indigenous Lenca communities; two days later, police claim to find a gun in a Lenca leader’s car.