LAIO Blog

In Colombia, a new voluntary crop substitution programme was designed with participation of many of the small-scale coca producers themselves. This was a key component of the Peace Agreement signed between the former Government and the now demobilized insurgent group, FARC-EP. Although the new Government of President Ivan Duque is largely failing to comply with […]

“A number of indigenous leaders from the Amazon were at the forefront of climate action events in New York 19-28 September 2019.  The protests, rallies and symposia were organised around the UN Climate Summit on 23 September 2019, within the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly, September 17 – 30, 2019. Linda Etchart was […]

When we think of climate change, we often envision it in terms of forest clearance, shrinking ice caps, melting glaciers and rising oceans. But just as important is the question of land and the way humanity makes use of it. Rachel Simon has examined it for LAB. August this year saw the publication of the […]

Cartonera books – cheap books with cardboard covers and photocopied texts – were originally a by-product of the Cartonero movement in Argentina, when people from the shanty towns travelled into Buenos Aires and other big cities in the wake of the 2001 economic collapse to collect and sell cardboard and other waste left on the […]

***** to sign, click here Rainforest fires: put Amazonian people’s rights first. LAB partner Christian Aid is inviting the public to sign a new petition calling on the UK Prime Minister to put the Amazonian people at the heart of any response to the wildfires raging in the rainforest. The blazes are the most intense […]

London’s First Cartonera Book Festival Celebrates Cultural Activists from Latin America who Turn Waste into Books The first-ever London Cartonera Book Festival will be held from 17-20 September 2019, as part of a UK-wide festival to celebrate the grassroots ‘Cartonera’ publishers movement from Latin America. For this event, Senate House Library, the University of Surrey […]

Rios de Encontro presents the origins and eco-cultural vision of the AfroRaiz Collective of young afro-indigenous performance-educators from the Brazilian Amazonian fishing community of Cabelo Seco. We advocate a sustainable future through powerful dance and percussion! Dance collective Rios de Encontro sets out in 10 days time, from Cabelo Seco, Marabá, Para, on the river […]

Folks, I live in Porto de Moz, Pará, on the Xingu river. We’re in the middle of Amazonia, and you have no idea what’s going on here. The press is focussing on the question of the fires, but that’s just one of the things that’s happening. It’s horrendous to realize that it’s much, much worse. […]

This edited extract from Christian Aid Brazil Programme’s newsletter, updates and expands on the earlier article published by LAB. ‘The lessons of Brumadinho: put people before profits‘ July 29, 2019. Six months later, the municipality of Brumadinho still lives with pain and suffering. But also with an intense process of struggle for reparation, rights and […]

Commenting on UK prime minister Boris Johnson’s announcement of new funding to tackle deforestation in the Amazon, Christian Aid’s Bolivia country manager Emma Donlan said: “While we welcome the announcement of a £10 million increase in funding to step up efforts to protect and restore the Amazon rainforest region, we would urge the UK government […]