Voices of Latin America

Munduruku people on the Tapajós tributary of the Amazon are engaged in a struggle for survival against the long-term effects of mercury poisoning from gold mining, a new influx of illegal miners and the Covid infection they bring with them.

Kadiwéu people from Mato Grosso do Sul have survived against the odds. Now their eye-catching traditional designs are being used on fashionable bags and dresses. Will they benefit, and will they survive deforestation and the pandemic?

Confronted with the denial of science, racism and land-greed of the modern 'colonisers', indigenous communities decided to resist and are receiving international recognition for their work.

While the pandemic rages and Bolsonaro and his ministers ignore or belittle its effects, indigenous communities face renewed invasion by miners, loggers and land thieves who bring infection with them

LAB offers a range of services to improve the impact and engagement of university research. A new brochure and a public talk at the SLAS Virtual Conference outlines what LAB can offer and why this area of work needs a refresh.

Contributions include: * El Extractivismo no está en cuarantena - Patricia Gualinga * A Força da Sucuri - Mekaron-ti Txucarramãe *Pajés e curandeiros contra o coronavirus - Thodá Kanamari * A Covid-19 na Amazônia brasileira - Lino João da Oliveira Neves * Covid-19, transmissão comunitária e óbitos. Como a Pandemia chegou aos Cintas-Largas em Mato Grosso e Rondônia - João del Pos, María Inês Hargreaves * Pandemia, racismo y genocidio de indígenas y negros en Brasil. El coronavirus y la política del exterminio - Felipe Milanes y Samuel Vida * Memoria. Morreu Artiana Yawalapíti! * Silencio, choro e luto com o Xingu - Felipe Milanes

The city of Manaus made world headlines last April when a first wave of the coronavirus swept through the city. Now that city, and the entire state of Amazonas, is being swept by a second wave of the pandemic, which is shaping up to be far worse than the first.

Bolsonaro and his brand of extreme right wing politics have emerged as the big losers in Brazil’s recent local elections, but established left wing parties have not done so well either. Jan Rocha reports.