Real World Radio
Several People Died in Confrontation Over Land in Honduras
Several people died in Honduras after an attack against peasants living in Guadalupe Carney community, near Puerto de Trujillo.
According to Prensa Latina news agency, Rafael Alegria, counselor of the Coordinating Committee of Peasant Organizations, said the attack had been carried out by gunmen paid by estate owner Henry Osorto, who claims the property of the lands donated by the municipality, which have been occupied by nearly 560 families for twenty years.
Osorto is also the chief of police and according to Alegria “it is customary for this person to attack peasants when he feels like it”.
People Affected Should not be the ones Looking for Alternatives to the Hydro-electric Model
Raquel Cruz from Cesta – Friends of the Earth El Salvador told Real World Radio that “it’s them –the corporations- who should find alternatives, because they are getting all the profits”.
The alternative proposed by social organizations is simply “no to dams” since “they can’t put the government’s responsibility on us”.
“They should invest in research to find healthier energies. They shouldn’t put the responsibility upon indigenous and peasant communities. It would be unfair that they have to think of alternatives. The consumption patterns should also change, and that can only be achieved with state policies”, Cruz said.
The “Banana War” or the EU’s Double Standards
The Latin American banana producers could create a “common front” to force the European Union (EU) to honor its promise of reducing tariffs. The European bloc took a step backwards in the negotiations with Latin American countries and showed its real face under the cooperation mask it uses to promote free trade agreements.
The Costa Rican banana producers are promoting a summit of Latin American fruit exporting countries against the EU’s refusal to sign what it had agreed with the region on Sunday, which implied a tariff reduction on bananas under the World Trade Organization’s Doha Round.
Ecuadorian Organizations: Correa Supports “Developmentalist” Energy Model
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa has not finished “repairing the damages” caused by hydroelectric megaprojects, but he is still promoting the building of new projects considered as a “national priority”.
Natalia Landivar from the Food First Information Action Network (FIAN) talked with Real World Radio within the 4th Meeting of the Latin American Network of People Affected by Dams, held in the city of Lorica, Colombia.
The left wing administration has not yet compensated the thousands of people affected by dams built in the recent years, including the paradigmatic case of the project carried out on the Daule-Peripa river, which damaged nearly 90,000 people in the Ecuadorian border.
People Affected by Climate Change in Costa Rica
The heavy rains, combined with droughts are the most visible effect of climate change in Costa Rica, Javier Baltodano, member of COECOCEIBA, Friends of the Earth Costa Rica, told Real World Radio.
Baltodano said the the main impact of climate change is that the rain patterns have changed substantially, since there are “heavier rains during the rainy season and more intense droughts during the dry season”.
“Last year there were record landslides in the mountains because of the heavy rains, many communities were affected, infrastructure was destroyed and some people died because of the heavy rains”, he said.
Uruguayan Farmers Reject Agribusiness
A group of neighbors of Cuchilla de Rocha, 40 kilometers off Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo, addressed the local authorities to express their rejection to agribusiness and ask for protection from it. Their lands have been surrounded by GM soy plantations.
Real World Radio reported that there has been an expansion of GM soy plantations in areas where vegetables had been traditionally planted. The GM crops have been previously fumigated with glyphosate and other agrotoxics.
This sparked the opposition of farmers and local residents. The complaints were presented in an “official” meeting of the Board of Rural Development, which comprises the Ministry of Cattle and Agriculture, the local government of Canelones department, the National Institute of Agriculture Research (INIA) and the Institute of Colonization. At a recent meeting, the board passed a motion that proposed a ban on aerial spraying within the department.
Asia: “Climate Change is a Real Threat”
Asia is a highly populated continent, where many people live near the coast. For this reason, one of the effects of climate change that sparks great concern is that if the sea level grows, it will damage many people in Asia. Yuri Onodera, member of Friends of the Earth Japan explained this in an interview with Real World Radio.
Union Fenosa Project Threatens Afro-Colombian Communities
The construction of Salvajina reservoir over 20 years ago, and the planned deviation of the Ovejas river concerns the afro-Colombian communities of three municipalities of Valle del Cauca region.
These plans of electricity generation, distribution and commercialization are promoted by the Empresa de Energía del Pacífico (EPSA). In November of 2000, 62.4% of the shares of the company was acquired by Spanish group Union Fenosa, which is under scrutiny for its actions in the countries where it operates.
According to estimates of the groups that oppose the project -which is supported by right-wing Uribe’s administration - nearly 60,000 people have already been displaced by these energy plans.
EU-Latin America: Deporting Illegal Immigrants in Exchange for Investment?
At times when the Latin American governments expressed their unanimous rejection to the EU’s “Return Directive” that threatens with imprisoning and deporting illegal immigrants in the bloc’s 27 member countries, Spain is expressing its “will” to increase its investments in the region as a form of “compensation”, and it is promoting Economic Partnership Agreements.
On July 28th, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Miguel Angel Moratinos, expressed his “great interest” in that Spanish corporations increase their investments in Uruguay, in conversations with the Uruguayan Foreign Minister Gonzalo Fernandez. He said this is possible because of the good business atmosphere in Uruguay.
What is the Color of Oil? A Look into the Activities of Chevron Oil Corporation
US oil corporation Chevron is one of the largest companies of the field. It carries out oil exploitation activities all over the world. Besides the fact that it is one of the world’s largest corporations, the company’s name is usually associated with a record of environmental and human rights violations and its complicity with several totalitarian regimes.
For example, in Africa, Chevron appears as one of the leading companies of the hydrocarbons industry in Equatorial Guinea, a country known for having an authoritarian regime, where human rights organization Amnesty International has documented tens of cases of prisoners of conscience.
Guatemala: Nearly 30,000 People Reject Mining Activity in Jacaltenango Municipality
A community consultation on open-pit mining exploration and exploitation was carried out on Saturday in Jacaltenango municipality – in Huehuetenango department, Guatemala.
Reporter Jose Bernardino Francisco from Radio Stereo Azul told Real World Radio that the result of the consultation was against mining activity.
The reporter said over 27,000 people expressed their opposition to mining exploitation in Saturday’s consultation. “This shows that noone agrees with the presence of mining corporations in this Guatemalan region”, he said.
José Bernardino Francisco exposed that in all consultations carried out Huehuetenango, the communities expressed their opposition to mining activity.
GM Soy Resisted in Uruguay
Big soy fields begin to expand along Uruguay and they have recently entered the outskirts of the capital, displacing intensive horticulture production. They used to be relegated to the country’s western coastline.
Cuchilla de Rocha is only 50 kilometers off the Montevideo port, in Canelones department. It is the largest city of Sauce, a rural area considered to be the capital of several strategic productions of the Uruguayan farms: tomato, viticulture, fruticulture and horticulture in its different varieties get fresh to the urban consumer.
The successive crises of the farming sectors, the endebtedness with banking institutions, the lack of policies that promote family farming and the populations that have the traditional knowledge have turned old, this has led to the abandonment of large extensions of land close to the population of the area. Soy agribusiness is expanding with its technological package.
Uruguayan Environmental Organization Sent Letter to Authorities Over Position Before WTO
In an open letter sent to Uruguayan authorities, environmentalist organization REDES – Friends of the Earth Uruguay says the conclusion of the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization (WTO) will worsen the global climate, energy and food crisis, it will fail to solve the problem of agriculture markets, to alleviate poverty, to promote development and it will have negative impacts on the people’s access to basic services.
The Impacts of Climate Change in Africa
Climate change is a global phenomenon that affects different populations around the world in different ways. In South Africa, for example, there are situations caused by global warming, as in the rest of the African continent.
Siziwe Khanyile, member of environmental organization GroundWork, Friends of the Earth South Africa, talked about this.
Here are the words of the activist.
Trade: Bolivian leaders object to WTO's Green Room process
Bolivia may be a small country, but at the current WTO talks, it is making an impression larger than its size. It has voiced opposition to the non-democratic process at the present week of WTO talks, and has informed WTO Director General, Pascal Lamy, that it did not agree with the negotiation and decision-making process.
At the press briefing on 22 July, Mr. Pablo Solon, the Trade Advisor to the Bolivian President, said his country was not seeking to be part of the exclusive Green Room but was objecting to the exclusive Green Rom process itself.
At the WTO's present meetings, the negotiations are taking place in a Green Room' to which 30-40 members are invited. On Wednesday, an even smaller group of 7 members took over the negotiations as even the Green Room was suspended.
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