Indigenous groups in Ecuador responded to the granting of asylum to Julian Assange by protesting that “democracy begins at home,” pointing to President Correa’s own repression.
Campesinos in Peru’s northern Piura region pledge to resist announced plans by Chinese mining company Zijin to move ahead with the long-contested Río Blanco copper project.
The San José de Apartadó Peace Community in Colombia’s northern Urabá region is again under threat—seven years after the massacre that forced many residents to flee the village.
Embera indigenous communities on Colombia’s Pacific coast came under bombardment by army helicopters, while an Awá community expelled illegal gold miners from their land.
The Andean Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations (CAOI), meeting in Cundinamarca, Colombia, called for construction of a "new paradigm" for a "sustainable civilization."
Even establishment voices in Peru are calling for a suspension of the Conga mining project, as Cajamarca region remains under a state of emergency for another month.
Lisandro Tenorio, a traditional elder in Cauca, Colombia, was shot dead by unknown assassins—the latest backlash against indigenous demands that armed actors leave their lands.
Campesinos in Peru blocked roads to protest the pollution of local waters by a US-owned mining project in Áncash region, and the Pasto Grande II water diversion scheme.
Peru’s President Ollanta Humala has extended the state of emergency in the jungle area called the VRAE, where the Shining Path guerilla movement remains active.
Leaders in Peru’s Cajamarca region said they see no purpose in continuing talks with two Catholic priests trying to mediate a solution to the dispute over the Conga mining project.
The UN representative for indigenous rights, James Anaya, called on Colombia to respect demands for the removal of military forces from indigenous territories.
Colombian National Police arrested one top cartel kingpin, “Sebastian,” and extradited another, “Nano.” But a new paramilitary network linked to the cartels is fast consolidating.
