From June 10 to June 12 thousands of Brazilians demonstrated in 13 states to protest the power of transnational corporations and the growth of the agribusiness model in the country. Rallies, marches and sit-ins organized by two groups—Via Campesina (Campesino… Read moreBrazil: protesters take on agribusiness
Argentine food outlets and gas stations are preparing for shortages as truckers, blocking highways to protest business lost to a farm strike, shut down the nation’s road transport system. Traffic is halted on routes through the agricultural provinces of Buenos… Read moreArgentine truckers bock highways
On May 26 Chilean judge Victor Montiglio ordered 98 former police agents and military people to face trial for their involvement in the 1975 "Operation Colombo," in which 119 opponents of dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet were kidnapped and murdered. This… Read moreChile: “Operation Colombo” suspects to be tried
On May 15 Chilean judge Juan Eduardo Fuentes Belmar found retired army colonel Mario Manriquez Bravo guilty in the Sept. 16, 1973 murder of the internationally renowned singer Victor Jara; the judge then closed the case, despite testimony that other… Read moreChile: conviction in Victor Jara murder
Fifty environmental activists protested Barrick Gold’s controversial Pascua Lama gold mine in Chile on May 8. The event went unnoticed by Chile’s mainline media—La Tercera and El Mercurio—but was reported in La Nacion, the state-owned daily. The demonstration coincided with… Read moreChlieans protest Barrick Gold
Thousands of Argentine farmers blocked highways on May 8 to protest increased taxes on soy, a major export crop. The farmers had struck in March, halting shipments of grain throughout the country and presenting the center-left government of President Cristina… Read moreArgentina: farmers block highways
Former Roman Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo won an historic victory in Paraguay’s presidential election April 20, ending the long rule of the conservative Colorado party with a mandate to help the nation’s poor and indigenous. Winning 41% of the vote… Read moreParaguay to join South America’s anti-imperialist bloc?
Argentine farmer groups and the government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner held six hours of talks on March 28 aimed at ending a 16-day-old producers’ strike that had restricted food supplies in major cities. Strike supporters lifted some of… Read moreArgentina: farmers strike continues
On Jan. 17 the Review Court of Rome dismissed the Italian case against former Uruguayan navy captain Nestor Jorge Fernandez Troccoli, who was arrested in Salerno on Dec. 23 in connection with Operation Condor, a clandestine program of cooperation between… Read moreUruguayan ex-officer wins round in “dirty war” case
On Feb. 25 the body of retired Argentine military officer Lt. Col. Paul Alberto Navone was found by an employee of the Air Force’s Hotel Parque, in Ascochinga, a town some 55 kilometers north of Buenos Aires. He had been… Read moreArgentina: suicide of ex-officer in “dirty war” case?
A Brazilian judge banned Rio de Janeiro’s Unidos do Viradouro samba school from parading in the upcoming carnival with a float depicting victims of the Holocaust and a Hitler figure. “Carnival should not be used as an instrument of hatred,… Read moreBrazilian courts censor protest against anti-Semitism —at Jewish behest
On Jan. 7, some 100 campesinos successfully blocked the spraying of pesticides on soy fields in Ybypé community, Lima district, San Pedro department, Paraguay. Although riot police were mobilized to protect the fumigation tractors, the protesters convinced the officers of… Read moreParaguay: peasants protest pesticides
