The Andes
Bogotá, FARC reach deal on land reform
Negotiators from Colombia's government and the FARC rebels signed an agreement on agrarian reform, calling for redistribution of illegally held or underused lands.
Tag: land
The Amazon
Brazil: indigenous people occupy Congress
Some 700 indigenous representatives occupied Brazil’s lower-house Chamber of Deupites in a final effort to stop attempts to change the law concerning their territorial rights.
The Andes
Colombia dropped from human rights ‘blacklist’
The Inter-American Commission for Human Rights formally removed Colombia from its human rights “black list”—as deadly terror continues against campesino leaders.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan: opium crop breaks record
Opium cultivation in Afghanistan is expected to increase for a third straight year, expanding even to new areas of the country, warns the UN Office of Drugs and Crime.
The Andes
Colombia: peace talks advance amid violence
Colombian peasants held a mass meeting to press for agrarian reform as talks with the FARC continue in Havana—but fighting and repression continue around the country.
Central Asia
China: Mongol herders’ protest march blocked
Police in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region blocked an attempted cross-country march by traditional Mongol herders, with police assaulting hundreds in two incidents.
Palestine
Jerusalem: troops fire on Palestinian protesters
As Obama left Israel for Jordan, two Palestinian youths were critically wounded when Israeli forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets on protesters at Anata north of Jerusalem.
Palestine
Israeli forces surround new ‘village’
As President Obama arrived in Israel, security forces surrounded a new tent village erected by Palestinian activists to protest the planned settlement corridor east of Jerusalem.
Central America
Honduras: 200-km march protests ‘model cities,’ mining law
Hundreds of campesinos marched from the northern town of La Barca to protest new laws expanding mining and enabling the creation of autonomous “model cities.”
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.
The Andes
Contradictory legacy of Hugo Chávez
Whether the gains of Hugo Chávez's Bolivarian Revolution will survive his passing depends on how genuinely it is based on popular power, not just that of a charismatic leader.
Africa
Kenya: land at issue in electoral tensions
Separatists on Kenya's coast are boycotting the elections, claiming their territory was illegally annexed, its lands usurped from the inhabitants and handed out to settlers.