News in English

29.11.2004 Justice system workers, lawyers and community leaders have been participating since October in a certificate program of indigenous law and the application of the International Labor Organization’s Convention 169 on indigenous rights. The course is taking place in the southern department of Chimaltenango.

22.11.2004 Despite official denials that the problem exists, 3,593 Colombians were forcibly disappeared in 2002 and 2003.

19.11.2004 Though it is eight years since the cold blooded massacre of 19 MST activists in Eldorado dos Carajás, in the state of Pará, the world continues to be baffled as to how nobody has yet been imprisoned for these crimes. The latest appeal hearings, which will take place on 19 November in the city of Belém, mark another step in the extremely sluggish process of justice that has characterised this case throughout.

19.11.2004 When Túpaj Katari, the Aymara leader of an 18th century anti-colonial insurrection, was condemned to death by Spanish colonialists, he prophesized: “I may die alone, but I will return and I will be millions.” Some Bolivians consider the indigenous-led rebellions of 2000-2003 to be a fulfillment of that prophecy.

16.11.2004 One of the cornerstones of the neoliberal policies adopted by most Latin American governments in the 1990s was the privatization of state-owned enterprises. This process of passing national wealth on to the private sector has been so injurious that it could soon render entire countries unviable. On occasion, citizen organization has succeeded in halting privatizations through public demonstrations that at times have turned into outright insurrections.

15.11.2004 According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), some 4,300 children in Ecuador work in informal gold mining — considered to be one of the most dangerous activities for working minors and a problem that remains hidden from the majority of Ecuadorians.

02.11.2004 Uruguay's first leftwing president in its 170-year history yesterday celebrated his election victory, consolidating a political swing to the left across South America.