Economic Justice Resisting Neoliberalism


How many more socio-environmental and human rights crimes until we say enough?

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…

Colombia: An energy-hungry country, fed on coal

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: A greenwashed country

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…

New study exposes a rise in peoples’ rights violations during the Covid pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean

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 sentencing of David Castillo for the murder of Berta Cáceres: COPINH’s response

“We've been expecting this sentence for almost a year. This opens a very important stage in order to realise this guilty verdict against one of the killers of my mother, our comrade Berta Cáceres,” said Bertha Zúniga, the coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH). The leader warned that the judicial decision could still…

A Toxic Alliance: How European agrochemical corporations and the agribusiness lobby are influencing the legislative agenda in Brazil

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…

El Salvador: a country with its doors open – to transnational corporations

“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…

Transnationals in Mexico: depeasantization and Walmartization*

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…

Urgent consideration rights: the people from Uruguay must not endorse neoliberalism

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…

Women together in unison towards 8 March

Environmental federation Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is mobilising again on 8 March, International Women's Day. The national, regional and global struggles of FoEI member groups are based on the principles of Gender Justice and Dismantling Patriarchy as a key aspect to build social, environmental and economic justice. [embed]https://twitter.com/FoEint/status/1500382507056906242[/embed] On this occasion, Real World Radio asked Latin American and…