Colombian authorities are clearly hoping that a return to stability following the peace pact with the FARC rebels will mean more international investment, and especially for the resource sector. But hydro-electric, fracking and mineral projects across the country are already meeting with peasant resistance—prompting state security forces to respond with repression.
Protests are breaking out across Peru following the Christmas eve "humanitarian pardon" of imprisoned ex-dictator Alberto Fujimori by President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (PPK). The pardon came three days after PPK survived a congressional vote on removing him from office over his embroilment in the Odebrecht scandal. A right-wing bloc led by the dictator's son Kenji Fujimori abstained from the vote, allowing PPK to survive in office—and raising obvious accusations of a quid pro quo. (Photo: Tomate Colectivo)
Peru's Transport and Communications Ministry signed a contract with Chinese state-owned engineering giant SinoHydro to build the Hidrovía Amazónica, a mega-project aimed at turning the major rivers of the Amazon into arteries for delivering the resources of the rainforest basin to foreign markets. The government claims to have carried out a "prior consultation" with impacted communities along the rivers, having won 40 agreements to proceed with work.
A consortium led by China Three Gorges Corp has agreed to buy a giant hydro-electric plant under construction in Peru from scandal-mired Brazilian company Odebrecht. The Chaglla complex, slated to be Peru's third largest dam, is the latest addition to a growing string of South American hydro facilities to come under control of Chinese companies.
The daughter of assassinated Honduran environmentalist Berta Cáceres survived an armed attack, weeks after being named leader of the indigenous alliance formerly led by her mother.
El Salvador became the first country on Earth to completely ban the mining of metals—following a long campaign by campesinos and their ecologist allies.
Mining multinational AngloGold Ashanti announced it will abandon its planned mega-project at La Colosa, Colombia, following a popular vote by local residents to reject the project.
As Burma's government tries to lure hold-out ethnic rebel armies to the negotiating table, Chinese-backed oil and hydro projects emerge as a last obstacle to peace.
The high court in India's Uttarakhand state ruled that the Ganges and Yamuna are "living entities," giving a legal voice to these rivers that have seen years of ecological damage.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization warned that the Middle East and North Africa risk becoming uninhabitable in a few decades, with water reserves falling dramatically.
The US air-lifts Kurdish fighters into ISIS territory in preparation for a final assault on Raqqa—while bombing the city, deepening the growing enmity between Kurds and Arabs.
Campesinos and environmentalists held a national mobilization demanding that Colombia establish a Truth Commission for environmental crimes as part of the peace process.
