Voices

Five water defenders from Santa Marta, Cabañas, El Salvador have been arrested in connection with the 1989 murder of a woman in their community. However, their active membership of an organisation opposed to mining and strong signs that the government wants to subvert the country's mining ban suggest another motive for their persecution

The deliberate killing and starvation of indigenous Yanomami people in Roraima state is the direct result of the policies of the Bolsonaro government. As the new Lula administration rushes emergency aid to the area, calls are being made for Bolsonaro to be tried for genocide.

Lula acted decisively to halt the Bolsonarist insurgents who invaded the centre of government in Brasilia on 8 January. But coup-mongers are numerous and active, not least within the armed forces, while the right retains control of Congress.

Red Muqui shine a light on police repression and the violation of human rights in the context of recent social unrest in Peru, and dig deeper into the tensions underpinning the protests and the violent state response.

The Bolsonarist insurrection which invaded the Congress, Supreme Court and Presidential palace in Brazilia, has provoked outrage in Brazil and internationally. While it poses extremely serious problems for President Lula and the new government, the rebels succeeded in presenting themselves as vandals and terrorists.

Chinese companies are behind rapid expansion of gold mining in the Mayaya region of Bolivia, and are invading the Madidi National Park. Bolivian journalist and LAB correspondent Sergio Mendoza travelled by canoe down the Beni and Quendeque rivers, witnessing how the illegal mining activity is hidden by Bolivian mining cooperatives and supported or permitted by the government.

Lula took office on 2 January, greeted by a sea of enthusiastic supporters who had travelled from all over Brazil. Former president Jair Bolsonaro fled to Miami and the new administration lost no time in undoing some of his most harmful measures

Legislation being proposed in the Peruvian Congress would remove central government and environmental controls over indigenous lands and reserves. Indigenous organizations are vigorously opposing the change

Director Marcos Colón has made a remarkable film about the Amazon, charting how in three countries, Brazil, Peru and Colombia, 'modernity' means exploitation and destruction. He interviews indigenous leaders with a very different vision.

Karoline Pelikan sketches out the current landscape for women in film in Peru, and interviews three women from the board of directors at NUNA, the country's first association of women directors.