Tag: Latin America

Crisis at Tres Fronteras: how criminal syndicates threaten Amazon’s future

At the lawless triple border between Brazil, Colombia and Peru, drug trafficking, illegal logging and gangs jeopardise the ecological and social fabric of the rainforest Bram Ebus The area of the Amazon where Brazil, Colombia, and Peru meet – referred to as Tres Fronteras (triple frontier) – brims with wildlife and natural resources. It is also… Read More Crisis at Tres Fronteras: how criminal syndicates threaten Amazon’s future

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Members of Cuba’s revolutionary generation feel abandoned by the society they created

Older Cubans are struggling to make ends meet on tiny pensions as the country pivots towards private enterprise Ruaridh Nicoll and Eileen Sosin in Havana In central Havana, Martha Ortega has been queueing for mince. She has both osteo- and rheumatoid arthritis causing her foot to drag, but she remains stylish, a checked shirt and… Read More Members of Cuba’s revolutionary generation feel abandoned by the society they created

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Underdevelopment and War

Dependency, neocolonialism, and the agrarian problem in Colombia Sandra Jaramillo Restrepo In the 1960s and ‘70s, the Colombian national government embarked on an ambitious agrarian reform program to address poverty in the increasingly violent countryside. Under the bipartisan project of the National Front, which alternated power between the Conservative and Liberal parties, these efforts sparked… Read More Underdevelopment and War

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Rio’s reporters risk death to reveal criminal ties between police, politicians and mafia

NB: The elephant in the drawing room: the criminalisation of the state, all over the world. DS Why do highly trained police officers embrace a life of crime?… The killing of councillor Marielle Franco has inspired a generation of journalists to probe the city’s dangerous underworld… “There is no separating crime, police and politics.” Tom… Read More Rio’s reporters risk death to reveal criminal ties between police, politicians and mafia

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‘Won’t Exchange My Dignity’: Brazil Leader’s Fiery Anti-Israel Speech On Gaza ‘Genocide’

Brazilian President once again has labelled Israel’s military offensive in Gaza as a “genocide”. He emphasised the severity of the raging Gaza war and its devastating impact on Palestinians. Lula Da Silva also called for a “free and sovereign Palestinian state” amid the raging war. The remarks comes amid a diplomatic row between Israel &… Read More ‘Won’t Exchange My Dignity’: Brazil Leader’s Fiery Anti-Israel Speech On Gaza ‘Genocide’

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Black thread in the brightness: the second death of Pablo Neruda

By Graciela Mochkofsky It may come as no surprise that a country as deeply polarized by its recent history as Chile is also at war over the relevance of its preëminent poet, Pablo Neruda. In December, fifty years after the coup d’état that brought General Augusto Pinochet to power, Chileans rejected an attempt to write a new constitution… Read More Black thread in the brightness: the second death of Pablo Neruda

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Life, death and zombie mushrooms: in search of the Amazon’s rarest fungi

The Amazon rainforest brims with some of the world’s most diverse flora and fauna. Countless species of fungi dot the landscape, many still unnamed and awaiting discovery. Rockefeller and Quark carefully collect data by photographing and cataloguing each specimen for submission to the national herbarium in Quito and eventual DNA sequencing. Words and photographs by Rachel Bujalski… Read More Life, death and zombie mushrooms: in search of the Amazon’s rarest fungi

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‘Leave the gold in the ground’: Ecuador’s forest guardians mobilise against illegal mining in Amazon

With short amulet-covered spears made of blackened chonta palm, GIS mapping phones, walkie-talkies and wearing black and green uniforms, the A’i Cofán seem to merge into the jungle as they march silently down a path through their land. Calling themselves the Indigenous guard, the 27-strong group patrols a territory of 243 sq miles (630 sq… Read More ‘Leave the gold in the ground’: Ecuador’s forest guardians mobilise against illegal mining in Amazon

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