The Andes

New post-conflict ‘Plan Colombia’ foreseen

President Juan Manuel Santos meets at the White House with Barack Obama to mark 15 years since the initiation of the Plan Colombia—and discuss a "post-conflict" aid package.

The Andes

Ecuador passes new agrarian reform law

Ecuador's National Assembly approved a Law on Rural Lands and Ancestral Territories—hailed as a new agrarian reform but spurned by indigenous dissidents as insufficient.

North America

Paiute land at issue in Oregon militia showdown

The take-over of federal lands in eastern Oregon by a right-wing militia builds on a rancher land-grab that began when the Paiute Indians were usurped in the 1878 Bannock War.

The Amazon

Brazil: ‘zero deforestation’ push

Greenpeace sent 1.4 million signatures to Brazil's congress demanding a "zero deforestation" law—while cattle and timber barons push a bill to further open indigenous lands.