Stories about Latin America from April, 2013
Chileans Debate Whether Wealth Weighs in Glaciers or Gold
Two of humankind’s most treasured resources--water and gold--have instigated a conflict between an indigenous community and a Canadian mining company over an isolated swath of Chile’s Atacama region.
Guatemala's Genocide Trial Declared Invalid
After a turbulent week in the trial proceedings against former de facto dictator Efraín Ríos Montt and former Intelligence Director José Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez in Guatemala, a lower court declared all proceedings invalid and reversed the criminal trial to the preliminary stage.
Young Haitian-Dominicans Demand Their Right to a Legal Identity
Around 50 Dominican youth of Haitian ancestry marched towards the National Palace demanding the return of their documents and, as such, their Dominican nationality, taken away arbitrarily through an administrative ruling issued by the Central Electoral Board in 2007.
Urban Art Festival Highlights Neighborhood in Puerto Rico
After the 4th annual urban art festival of "Santurce es Ley" in Santurce, Ángel Carrión strolls down the Calle Cerra, a street now converted into the mural mecca of Puerto Rico.
Brazil Accused of Spying on Belo Monte Dam Opponents
An activist collective opposed to the construction of the controversial Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in northern Brazil uncovered a spy among its members who confessed to infiltrating the the group allegedly at the behest of the dam company and the Brazilian intelligence agency. The agency is also accused of spying on dock workers in northeastern Brazil.
Book Reveals Documents from Pinochet Era
In the website Chileno, a place for discussion, debate and opinion, Ramona Wadi reviews a book by Chilean authors Carlos Dorat Guerra and Mauricio Weibel Barahona: Asociación Ilícita: los archivos secretos de la dictadura (Ceibo Ediciones, 2012) examines documents which for some reason, failed to be destroyed by the CNI in 1988...
Venezuela's Election Results Show Weakened Chavismo
The results of the presidential election held on April 14 made it clear that Chavismo is starting to wear down. The small difference of just two percentage units and the huge number of diverse complaints about irregularities have led Henrique Capriles to not recognize the results until an audit as well as a manual vote recount are carried out.
Thousands March Reviving Chile's Student Movement
With a massive protest at the national level, the student movement demanding free, quality education returned to the streets of Chile in full force. Students from throughout the country gathered April 11, 2013 in civic centers of the country's various cities to return to the request that the government provide a real solution to the inequality and profit in education.
Latin American Activists Gather in La Paz
On April 17-19, 2013, activists from collectives and organizations across thirteen Latin American countries and Spain will gather in La Paz, Bolivia to share experiences, strategies, and ideas with one another. To follow the proceedings, the hashtag #REactivxs will be used throughout the event. A map of participating organizations will...
Displaced Residents Accuse Brazilian Power Plant of False Promises
Among 4,325 people that have been either removed or indirectly affected by the construction of the Jirau and Santo Antonio dams in the Madeira river region, in the Brazilian Amazon, former river dwellers who now reside in New Mutum Paraná complain about promises that haven't been met concerning their displacement.
Mozambique: Coal mine blocked in protest
Mozambique's @Verdade newspaper is reporting on Facebook that about 500 residents of neighborhoods resettled by Brazilian mining company Vale are blocking road access to its coal mine in Moatize, Tete province. The peaceful protest is for greater compensation. The paper is reporting the rail line is also disrupted.
Venezuela's Post-election Tension Escalates
As Nicolás Maduro was being declared the new President of Venezuela, the social networks were calling for public protests and an election recount. Incitement to action on both sides of the political landscape is expected to increase.
Residents Displaced by Brazilian Power Plant Struggle to Earn Living
While moving in to New Mutum Parana – a town built by the company Energia Sustentável to house Jirau’s engineers and officers – the river dwellers who were removed from their community in order to allow Madeira River’s power plant flooding found a “phantom city” where making a living seems impossibe.
Majority of Venezuelans in Panama Vote for Opposition Candidate Capriles
Venezuelans resident in Panama attended polls to vote in the Venezuelan elections on April 14, 2013. Upon learning of the results, a group of supporters of opposition candidate Henrique Capriles broke into the Embassy of Venezuela in Panama.
A Message from an Achuar Indigenous Leader
Amazon Watch has uploaded a video with a message from Peruvian Achuar indigenous leader Peas Peas Auyi. In the message, Peas Peas Auyi thanks Canadian allies for their solidarity in the Achuar's struggle against mining in the Peruvian Amazon.
Air Show Ends in Tragedy in the Dominican Republic
An aircraft from the Dominican Air Force crashed into the open sea during the Caribbean Air Show while it was performing an acrobatic stunt. The two pilots manning the aircraft died in the incident.
Venezuelan Elections: Chavism Wins in Close Vote
Candidate Nicolás Maduro, designated by Hugo Chávez as his successor, won the elections of April 14, 2013, with 50.66% of the votes. Only 230 thousand votes separated him from his opponent Henrique Capriles Radonski.
Construction Project Fuels Sex and Violence in Brazilian Amazon
Sex and violence are a part of life in the small Brazilian fishing town of Jaci Parana, where police struggle to keep up with crime as a nearby hydroelectric construction project in the state of Rondonia pumps money into the local economy.
Peru: Smile for Your ID Picture
In Peru, Twitter users turned to the hashtag #DNIfeliz [happy ID card] to encourage citizens to smile for their ID document photo, commonly known as DNI. Traditionally, citizens have a serious or even stern expression on their ID picture.
Racism Remarks in the NYT Land Cuban Intellectual in Trouble
Author Roberto Zurbano's tough talk on racism in Cuba published in The New York Times apparently cost him is job as editor at a publishing house and generated a heated debate among the island's intellectuals.
Transparency NGOs Prepare for Sunday’s Election in Venezuela
As Venezuelan voters prepare to head to the polls for the second time in six months, a group of NGOs have come together to work towards transparency in the electoral process.
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