More than 3000 people from 26 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean gathered in the city of Foz de Iguazú, just a few steps from the triple border between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, to participate in the Conference for the Integration of the Peoples. From 22-23 February, organisations and grassroots movements of the region: peasants, trade unions, students, feminists,…
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 the International Day of Struggle Against Monoculture Tree Plantations, activist Sandra Escobar tells us a story of pain and joy, as peoples in Honduras struggle against the expansion of oil palm plantations and build alternatives together. Approximately 198,000 hectares of Honduras are planted with oil palm crops, representing almost 2% of the country’s land. Annually, it produces 2.4 million…
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…
Over the past 30 years, Colombia has seen eight presidential terms, six presidents, and the steady ascent of neoliberalism which is, today, firmly established. During these three decades, political and legislative transformations in the country have embraced the national and transnational private sector and changed the rules of the game for the local economy. From the early 1990s, a trade…
Costa Rica is internationally renowned as a “green country” for several reasons, including its extensive forest cover and “clean energy” generation. However, some of its agricultural and energy sector policies and laws, many of which are based on various Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and over 15 bilateral agreements, contradict the environment and national sovereignty principles. Comunidades Ecologistas La Ceiba – Friends…
Friends of the Earth Latin America and the Caribbean (ATALC) launched on Friday a new study entitled “Internationalist Solidarity and the struggle against corporate power. Reflections on the Covid 19 pandemic and corporate violations of peoples’ rights and their human rights.” The study responded to the need to better explain “the meaning of peoples’ rights and the direct link with…
The EU-Mercosur trade deal, agreed in 2019 but yet to be ratified, is set to benefit European agrochemical companies whilst having dire consequences for nature, local communities and Indigenous communities in South America. It will lead to a steep increase in exports of crop to Europe and import of dangerous agrochemicals to the southern cone, particularly Brazil. This is why…
“Agricultural policy has always responded to the different economic models adopted by the country. Models which have favoured national economic groups and transnational corporations, to the detriment of the living conditions of peasant communities, indigenous peoples and the environment”. These words come from the assessment made by CESTA - Friends of the Earth El Salvador in a recent report: Resisting…
The Mexican diagnosis of government policies that have allowed and promoted the advance of transnational corporations, produced by Otros Mundos Chiapas - Friends of the Earth Mexico, is centered on the agri-food sector and is in line with the rest of the countries of the region at a pivotal moment: the 1990s, neoliberal policies and Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). In…
