Ecuador: a haven no longer?
Increasing violence and instability are driving refugees and some Ecuadorians towards risky migration
Inequality fuels violence
Notably, deep-rooted inequalities and a weak state have allowed a destabilising narcotics economy to flourish across Latin America, argues Andrew Nickson Relying on the export of primary products has reinforced inequality
Ecuador: the Napo goldrush and the rise of the narco-garimpeiros
When large mining companies such as TerraEarth withdrew from gold mining in Ecuador's Napo province, they paved the way for smaller scale illegal miners to move in in force, financed by cocaine money, with terrible consequences
The deadliest place for environmental defenders
The latest report from Global Witness confirms the rising trend in killings of environmental defenders, with Mexico becoming the most dangerous country in a very dangerous region which now accounts for over 75% of lethal attacks in the world.
Cross-border traffic in coca and labour
Peruvian coca farmers are actively recruiting Brazilian indigenous workers from the Alto Salimöes region to harvest and transport coca. Violence and exploitation are rife.
The Amazon: is this the Third World War?
What is happening in the Amazon is a war -- against the rainforest, its original inhabitants, and also against the rest of the world. Perhaps this is the Third World War, the war to end all wars?
Peru: environmental defenders still dying
Murders of indigenous leaders in Peru continue, despite government promises to improve protections. Those who seek to defend their land and protect the local environment are targeted by illegal loggers, miners and drug traffickers.
Ecuador’s crisis is over … for now
A wave of protest paralysed Ecuador, with roads blockaded and food running short in some areas. The protests were led by indigenous organizations, but backed by students and trade unions. After various authoritarian actions and threats, Lasso has been forced to conciliate and the protests have subsided for now.
The Deaths of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira
The brutal murders of journalist Dom Phillips and indigenist Bruno Pereira took place in a region, the Javari Valley, beset by a profitable vortex of clandestine economies, resource plunder and land grabbing which the present government does almost nothing to discourage or suppress.
Two men missing in The Amazon ‘wild-west’
The Javari reserve in Amazonas, where Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira disappeared, is a wild-west border region with multiple problems of drug trafficking, smuggling and land grabbing.