Brazil: letter for democracy
Recalling the famous 1977 Letter for Democracy, the 2022 Carta pela Democracia has gathered more than a million signatures from lawyers, academics, trade unionists, black leaders, business leaders and trades unionists -- all warning against any attempt by Bolsonaro to stage a coup if he should lose the presidential election
Venezuela: youth orchestra resist adversity through music
Filmed over nine years, this documentary follows the lives of three teenagers from the barrio as they struggle to become professional musicians in a country on the verge of collapse.
Brazil: not only bad, but mad
Jair Bolsonaro has launched a frontal assault on the same electoral system which brought him to the presidency. This is part of a three-pronged strategy to discredit Brazil's democracy and refuse to accept any outcome other than his own victory
Brazil: orphan mothers
Anti-Black violence by the Police targets young men in Brazil's favelas and makes their mothers 'orphans'. Their trauma and spectacular resistance are highlighted in this new film, reviwed for LAB by Jessica Pandian
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.
Brazil: the influence of the ’18 of the Fort’
How a short-lived rebellion in 1922 by a tiny group of army officers inspired the 'tenentes' movement, influenced the 1964 military coup, and is still remembered today in street names, monuments and, perhaps, by a military debating its position in the 2022 elections.
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.
Dom and Bruno – Bolsonaro’s victims
Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira were murdered in a remote area of the Amazon – almost certainly by or on the orders of those who run the illegal trade in fish, timber, drugs and minerals. President Bolsonaro has fuelled lawlessness by his rhetoric.
Building self-sufficient communities in Rio’s favelas
The favela community of Vale Encantado in Rio de Janeiro are using a biosystem for sewage treatment and solar panels to make their neighbourhood economically and environmentally self-sufficient, while facing down a long-term threat of eviction.