The Amazon
Brazil: protesters briefly reoccupy Belo Monte dam
Area residents carried out the fifth occupation in less than a year at a construction site for the $13 billion Belo Monte dam to protest environmental damage.
Tag: control of water
The Andes
Ecuador: campesinos march on World Water Day
World Water Day marches in Ecuador ironically coincided with the start of a brief jail sentence for three campesino leaders in Cuenca, convicted in a protest over water rights.
Central America
Panama: Ngöbe-Buglé renew anti-dam protests
Indigenous Ngöbe-Buglé activists continue to protest hydroelectric projects they say threaten their way of life in their own territory, despite previous pacts with the government.
The Andes
Peru: two dead in miners’ protest
A clash broke out as riot troops from Peru's National Police force evicted a group of informal miners from their encampment in northern La Libertad region, leaving two miners dead.
Southern Cone
Chile: hydro projects threaten sacred Mapuche sites
Plans for a major hydroelectric plant in southern Chile have been stalled by environmental concerns and oppostion from Mapuche communities fearing the loss of sacred sites.
The Andes
Peru: Newmont denies plans to quit Cajamarca
Peru’s Yanacocha mining company, facing an ultimatum from protesters to leave the contested Conga site, denied press reports that it plans to quit gold-rich Cajamarca region.
Palestine
Negev Bedouin struggle for water, land
The Israeli high court dismissed an appeal by an “unrecognized” Bedouin village demanding access to water. A land titling plan for the Bedouin is being blocked by the military.
Central America
Honduras: Lenca communities on ‘maximum alert’
Lenca indigenous communities in Honduras have declared a state of “maximum alert,” pledging to resist hydro-electric and mineral development projects slated for their lands.
The Andes
Peru: police surround Conga occupation
Hundreds of National Police troops have surrounded a protest encampment estabished by campesinos at the site of the Conga mining project in northern Peru.
Southeast Asia
Malaysia: 10 dead in stand-off with Sulu partisans
The Sultanate of Sulu claims that 10 members of the royal army were killed in an attack by Malaysian authorities on a village siezed by the Sulu partisans in Sabah state on Borneo.
The Andes
Ecuador left opposition reacts to Correa re-election
Ecuador’s indigenous movement reacted to the re-election of President Rafael Correa by calling upon him to end the extractive model and criminalization of protest.
The Andes
Peru: mining company rejects Conga referendum
The Yanacocha mining company issued a statement warning that a consulta by local villagers on the Conga project could “place in danger all the mineral industry” of Peru.