Voices

In September, the presiding judge in the Death Squad Diary case stated the defendants had a case to answer – good news for the search for justice in Guatemala. But in October, the lead prosecutor was transferred from her role investigating genocide and mass human rights violations. This was a critical blow to Guatemala's justice system.

Zapatistas arrive in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales as part of their mega-voyage to the five continents of the world, in the desire to meet with individuals, collectives and organisations that share their desire ‘to build a better, new world'.

It's not all plain sailing for mining companies. Communities at Cerro Colorado in Chile have put up stiff opposition to BHP, whose mine threatens water supplies from a key a key aquifer. And peasants in Huamachuco, Peru, staged a massive protest against mining in their province.

The collaborative work of 10 indigenous filmmakers, this short film offers an insight into the lives of the Avá group of Guarani-Kaiowá people in Brazil, whose land is shrinking and whose lives are increasingly threatened by outside influences.

El Salvador's civil war featured a number of brutal massacres by the army, especially the one at El Mozote in Morazán. Much less well-known is the butchery of peasants and children at Quesera in Usulután, on the River Lempa, carried out by the Army's US-trained Atlacatl Batallion.

A pensive and often sombre film, Nudo Mixteco offers a unique insight into women’s experiences in a traditional Mixtec village and upholds the power of listening.

Shady River (Río Turbio), named after the mining town in northwest Argentina in which it is set, explores the gendered space of the mine, giving voice to a collective of marginalised women and shedding light on the tragedies that haunt the town of Río Turbio. 

In The Water Defenders: How Ordinary People Saved A Country from Corporate Greed, Robin Broad and John Cavanagh tell the harrowing, inspiring saga of Salvadorans' fight — and historic victory — to save their water, and their communities, from Big Gold.

Alistair Clark reviews Damian Platt's book about organized crime in Rio de Janeiro and asks whether it reflects Brazil more widely.

The death in prison of 86 year-old Abimael Guzmán, the self-styled ‘President Gonzalo’ who was the leader of Peru’s Sendero Luminoso guerrilla group marks the end of the most violent chapter of that country’s recent history. LAB’s Nick Caistor looks back at Guzmán’s life and its impact on Peru.