Brazil: the flowers of sustainability
Extraordinary history of groups of former slaves, indigenous and others in the Cerrado who have forged a sustainable lifestyle from gathering sought-after sempre-vivas flowers and selling them, with enormous care to preserve the environment. Now rewarded by the UN's FAO, they face encroachments from mining and a national park
Catholic Church: Moving mountains
Pope Francis faces a challenge to the Church's commitment to the rural poor and the environment, especially in Argentina. Will it challenge the power of the big mining corporations?
Lithium: white gold or curse?
A proposal to start large-scale mining for lithium in Cornwall, UK, raises all the same issues as seen in Chile, Bolivia and Argentina. It's a timely reminder that mining is not just a problem for poorer countries.
Bolivia assassination
Bolivians have been shocked by the recent escalation in violence, including the brutal murder on 26 August, of vice-minister Rodolfo Illanes. With much misinformation swirling around, Bolivia Information Forum provides a succinct account.
Mining in Latin America: deepening contradictions
Governments of right and left are welcoming large scale mining, but the social and environmental costs are mounting and communities are less inclined to suffer them
Brumadinho – one year on
LAB's Tom Gatehouse talks to those affected by recent tailings dams disasters in Brazil
On 25 January last year, a massive tailings dam collapsed at...
MINING IS ONLY ONE OF THE EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES
Not only minerals and oil, but monocultures such as soya and prawn farming are extractive industries. We need a new response to the wider problem.
Colombia: Poverty falls but the gaps widen
Between 2002 and 2010 poverty fell in Colombia, though less than in other Latin American countries. But the gaps, especially between the main urban centres and rural areas, widened.
Amazon Diary 2: In the shadows of the dictatorship
This is the second of three Letters from the Amazon, written in recent weeks by LAB collaborator Dan Baron Cohen. Further letters will be...
LAB Newsletter September 2017: Brazil, Voices of Latin America, Mining
23 September 2017
Dear LAB Supporter and Friend,
Apologies for the long hiatus since our last newsletter. We'll try to make them more regular in future.
Brazil
We’ve...