The peace agreements are being boycotted by the far right though the FARC and the Santos government are moving towards the end of the conflict. But the main push for peace comes from the changes that come about in a society tired of war.
At some point, they will have to find a name for this new culture that is beginning to open up in places where individualism and machismo are under control. For now it is enough to recognize that there are some non-institutional movements with strong ties to base communities and a fairly horizontal organizational structure, that are renewing the political culture, with women in the lead.
The Historical Clarification Commission revealed that among the serious and massive human rights violations committed against the civil population, rape was a systematic practice carried out by the state as part of the counterinsurgent strategy. These women are telling their stories.
A decision of the Chilean Supreme Court has suspended operations at Barrick Gold’s gold mine, Pascula Lama. Monsanto had to halt construction of a seed plant in Córdoba because of widespread opposition from the population. Large extractive companies begin to reap a harvest of defeats.
In celebrating sustainable food systems, World Food Day recognizes the need for systemic change to end hunger and malnutrition. This is urgent because although for decades the world has produced 1½ times enough food for every man, woman and child on the planet, nearly a billion people go hungry.
In a great bit of news for World Food Day, a key Brazilian congressional committee today withdrew the consideration of legislation that would have allowed the sale and use of Terminator Technology, also known as suicide seeds
A federal court in Mexico City ordered the Mexican government “to suspend the issue of permits for experimental, pilot or commercial cultivation of genetically modified corn” on Oct. 10. This is the first victory in a class-action suit filed against the invasion of Monsanto corn in Mexico.
Five decades of war made things worse. Landowners bought up more and more land, expelling and expropriating campesinos with force. The agricultural strike was the "Enough!" of a population that won't put up with it any longer.
For over a hundred years, outsiders have attempted to take the bountiful Lenca lands on the shores of the Gualcarque River and their communities have resisted. But last year, national and international investors in a hydroelectric dam project moved in to steal the communities’ land. Now three grassroots – Berta Caceres, Tomas Gomez and Aureliano Molina – could go to jail.
Representatives from affected communities and environmental organizations denounced that the Mexican government has caused pollution, deterioration of watershed and clean water scarcity.
