Movements from Latin America and the Caribbean met in August in Honduras for a number of activities called by Friends of the Earth Latin America and the Caribbean (Amigos de la Tierra América Latina y el Caribe—ATALC). On the 23rd, an open event was held called Rights for the Peoples, Obligations for Companies. It was attended by more than 15…
On 23 August, Friends of the Earth Latin America and the Caribbean (ATALC) together with social movements and organisations from the region held a public event in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, to discuss the urgent need to agree an international legally binding instrument on transnational corporations and human rights. The goal is to gain the support of democratic governments…
On July 8, 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Uruguayan Senate approved Law no. 19889, the Urgent Consideration Law (UCL), as is known the project presented by the right-wing coalition government led by Luis Lacalle Pou. The “urgent consideration” character meant that the content of the law had to be addressed within a maximum period of 90…
Three years ago, on January 25, 2019, at 12:28 noon, the Dam I of the mine Córrego do Feijão, run by the company Vale SA, collapsed. It contained 12 million cubic meters of mud with toxic waste that spilled over #Brumadinho and continued its course through the Paraopeba River and the San Francisco River. This mud spill killed 272 people,…
“What we see at the international level and often at the national level is an imbalance between the rights of peoples and the rights of corporations,” warned environmental activist Sam Cossar-Gilbert, speaking about the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism in a recent webinar. ISDS is “a biased justice system, organised by private lawyers, not by judges, and it's a tool…
On 17 August 2021, the third revised draft of the Binding Treaty on human rights and transnational corporations was published- as part of the seven years of negotiations at the United Nations. As the negotiations develop and new drafts are presented, what has been agreed is becoming further removed from the demands of civil society. This latest draft is no…
25 January 2020 marked two years since the worst environmental crime in the history of Brazil: the collapse of a giant mining dam operated by Vale S.A., located in Córrego do Feijao, near Brumadinho, Minas Gerais State. The thousands of people affected have still not received adequate reparations for the impacts they suffered. The Brazilian Movement of Peoples Affected by Dams (MAB)…
Horticultural producer Ricardo Prieto was sentenced this Monday, December 14, to three years in prison for the manslaughter of Nicolás Arévalo and injuries to Celeste Estévez in Lavalle, in the Argentinian province of Corrientes. The 4-year-old boy died on April 4, 2011 from acute poisoning followed by death, as confirmed by the autopsy, due to the presence of endosulfan in…
“The world is currently facing a series of existential and interlocking crises… But as we know from the long history of inequality that exists in the world, people won’t suffer these crises equally, some are already bearing the brunt much more than others, and it is predominantly those in the Global South who are the ones at the forefront of…
What challenges do the rise of neofascism and conservatism in Latin America pose to Food Sovereignty? The attempts by conservative sectors to return to the patriarchal family model are added to the dismantling of public policies that promote young people staying in the countryside, and the alliance between agribusiness, drug trafficking and militarization as constant threats to communities. Developing Food…
