The Andes

Colombia: gains seen as peasants end strike

Colombian campesinos ended their national strike and lifted road blockades after the government agreed to suspend a law barring seed-saving to protect corporate GMOs.

Central America

Guatemala: mineral interests behind massacre?

Indigenous authorities in the Guatemalan pueblo of Nacahuil reject government claims that a massacre there was the work of drug gangs, pointing to violence against mining opponents.

Europe

Sweden: Sámi protest British mining company

Swedish police have repeatedly broken up a protest occupation by Sámi indigenous people against iron mining in a crucial reindeer herding area above the Arctic Circle. 

North Africa

Strike shuts Mauritania mega-mine

Canada-based Kinross Gold is said to be rethinking plans for expansion of its massive open-pit mine at Tasiast, Mauritania, after a strike shut the facility for 10 days this month.

Central Asia

Tibet: anti-mining protests spread

Over 100 ethnic Tibetans were injured and one man committed suicide as Chinese military forces broke up protests against diamond mining in Kham region, Qinghai province. 

The Andes

Peru: high court rules for indigenous rights

Peru’s Supreme Court ruled that decrees on application of the Prior Consultation Law issued by the Energy and Mines Ministry fail to meet standards for indigenous rights.

South Asia

India: tribal people expel mining company

In a vote ordered by India's courts, the Dongria Kondh tribe overwhelmingly rejected plans by British mining giant Vedanta Resources for an open-pit bauxite mine on their lands.