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“The Declaration on Peasants’ Rights should become a political tool for Agrarian Reform and Social Justice”

(Harare, April 17th, 2019) Today, April 17th, 2019, the International Day of Peasants’ Struggle, the member organisations of La Via Campesina are reaffirming the Declaration on Peasants’ Rights as a political tool to strengthen the global struggle for decent living and working conditions in rural areas. The Declaration should also be a tool for the worldwide promotion of urgently-needed agrarian…

PHOTO GALLERY OF 3RD SOLIDARITY MISSION OF VÍA CAMPESINA TO COLOMBIA

We can still hear the echoes of the 3rd Solidarity Mission of Vía Campesina to Colombia that aimed to verify the fulfillment of the Peace Accords signed between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 2016. The Mission came to an end on Tuesday with a press conference in the capital city, Bogota. Peasants from 17…

Canada refuses to hear appeal regarding environmental crimes committed by Chevron

The Global Campaign to Reclaim Peoples´ Sovereignty, Dismantle Corporate Power and End Impunity , a global network of over 200 organizations, movements, trade unions and communities affected by transnational corporations worldwide, regrets the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada of April 4th and demanded, once again, the establishment of a UN Binding Treaty on transnational corporations and human rights.…

“We do not trust the Colombian government wants to comply with the Peace Accords”

After travelling through the territories of Cauca, Tolima and Sumapaz in Colombia, La Vía Campesina delegates verified that there is “lack of compliance with the implementation of the points included in the Peace Accords (signed between FARC and the government) and a general questioning about the accords and the peace process” by representatives of Iván Duque´s administration. “We´ve experienced, lived…

A trip through Sri Lanka: an account of the environmental situation in this country

Plastic pollution in Sri Lanka, a current issue at world level in environmental terms, and a study that reports about the presence of high levels of mercury in the local population where there is a Chinese-built coal-fired power station, are some of the issues Sri Lankan activist, Hemantha Withanage, made reference to in an interview with Real World Radio. The…

GACKO THERMAL POWER PLANT SICKENS AND KILLS

The thermal power plant located in Gacko municipality has caused multiple human health problems since it was built in 1983. It is the second biggest polluter in the Western Balkans due to its emission of fine particles (PM10). In 2016 alone it caused 158 deaths, 331 cases of bronchitis in children and 83 cases of chronic bronchitis in adults, 3371 children with…

Military police officers arrested for murder of Marielle Franco

Retired military police officer Ronnie Lessa (48) and former military police Élcio Vieira de Queiroz (46) were arrested in the early morning of March 12, accused of being the ones who executed Marielle Franco, councilwoman of PSOL Party and her driver, Anderson Gomes, almost a year ago. The arrest was made by the Homicide Division of the Civil Police of…

Nuclear power and coal? No, thanks

Japanese company Hitachi, through its subsidiary Horizon, announced it will suspend the building of a new nuclear reactor on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales (UK), the site of the British oldest nuclear power plant closed in 2015. The project was announced in 2017, but in January 2019, Hitachi officially announced that it would “freeze” the project due to lack…

Photo: FoE Europe

Climate incompatible France-Spain gas pipeline cancelled

In a victory for the movement for a fossil free Europe, a climate-damaging gas pipeline project between France and Catalonia has today been blocked by French energy regulators. Permission and funding for the central portion of the controversial ‘MidCat’ mega-project – the STEP (South Transit Eastern Pyrenees) – was refused by France’s Energy Regulatory Commission, on grounds of lack of necessity and high…

CENSORSHIP IN VACA MUERTA

Stefan Borghardt is a German photojournalist who came to Neuquen to report about fracking in Argentina and particularly to photograph the development of the Vaca Muerta megaproject. On January 7th he was arrested by the police while he was taking photographs of the activities at the oil waste management plant Treater, in Añelo city, and the pollution caused by this…