At least 16 people were killed and dozens injured in armed clashes that erupted as police evicted landless campesinos who had invaded a privately-owned “forest reserve” in eastern Paraguay’s fertile Canindeyu region.
Paraguay’s Indigenous Affairs Department is investigating after ranchers attempted to forge the signature of Ayoreo indigenous leaders after to failing to win their consent for a new road through their already threatened territory.
Chile’s Supreme Court halted construction of the Cuervo hydroelectric dam in Patagonia pending further environmental studies. Chile needs to double its generating capacity to meet requirements of a planned expansion in the mining sector.
A Brazilian federal judge blocked a move to try retired army colonel Sebastiao Curio Rodrigues de Moura AKA “Dr. Luchini” for abuses committed during the military dictatorship, as more human remains were unearthed at a barracks in Uruguay.
In an official report, Paraguay’s Department of Indigenous Affairs confirmed that an uncontacted tribe is living on lands in the northern Chaco region owned by the Brazilian ranching company River Plate, which is accused of wanton deforestation.
Argentina’s confederation of transport workers (CATT) has instructed its members not to work on British ships or aircraft arriving in the country, as a show of support for the Argentine government’s claim of sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.
As the 30-year anniversary of the 1982 Falklands War approaches, Argentina accuses the UK of sending a nuclear-armed submarine to the islands Buenos Aires claims as the Malvinas. The UN has been called in mediate in a conflict over offshore rights.
Brazil’s government is facing an outcry from rights groups and social movements following a violent Jan. 22 eviction of a favela (informal settlement) that the media have dubbed the “Massacre do Pinheirinho.” Some 2,000 troops from the Military Police of São Paulo… Read moreBrazil: outrage follows “Massacre of Pinheirinho”
Brazilian prosecutors plan to file criminal charges against Chevron officials for November’s 3,000-barrel oil spill off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state. The spill has not yet been contained, with oil still seeping from the ocean floor.
Following a wave of forest fires in the southern Araucania and Bio-Bio regions that left seven fire-fighters dead this week, Chile’s government suggested that “terrorism” by indigenous Mapuche activists may have been responsible.
Talks are underway between the government in Argentina’s Neuquén province and local indigenous Mapuche communities after a days-long protest occupation of a natural gas plant owned by the Houston-based Apache Corporation.
Hundreds of riot police and navy commandos invaded the Rio de Janeiro favelas of Rocinha, Vidigal and Chacara do Ceu. Brazilian authorities say they plan to pacify dozens more favelas ahead of the 2014 World Cup.
