Wednesday, September 28, 2016
News and Views from the Global South
Integration and Development Brazilian-style
New Government Inherits Conflict over Peru’s Biggest Mine
Of the 150 socioeconomic conflicts related to the extractive industries that Peru’s new government inherited, one of the highest-profile is the protest by the people living near the biggest mining project in the history of the country: Las Bambas.
Fish Farming, a Challenge and Opportunity for Small Farmers in Brazil’s Amazon
Domingo Mendes da Silva has lost track of how many visitors he has received at his 10-hectare farm in northwest Brazil. He estimates “more than 500,” including aquaculture technicians, government officials, peasant farmers, journalists and other people interested in fish farming.
When It Comes to Conservation, Size Matters
When the communities living in the Tatamá y Serranía de los Paraguas Natural National Park in the west of Colombia organised in 1996 to defend their land and preserve the ecosystem, they were fighting deforestation, soil degradation and poaching.
Olympic Games End Decade of Giant Mega-projects in Brazil
An era of mega-events and mega-projects is coming to a close in Brazil with the Olympic Games to be hosted Aug. 5-21 by Rio de Janeiro. But the country’s taste for massive construction undertakings helped fuel the economic and political crisis that has it in its grip.
Lessons from Germany for Latin America’s Energy Transition
Germany has been undergoing an energy transition for over 20 years, and it can offer valuable lessons to Latin America with regard to promoting renewable energy and moving towards a low-carbon economy.
No Medals for Sanitation at Rio Olympics
The biggest frustration at the Olympic Games, to be inaugurated in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro on August 5, is the failure to meet environmental sanitation targets and promises in the city’s beaches, rivers, lakes and lagoons.
Germany’s Energy Transition: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Immerath, 90 km away from the German city of Cologne, has become a ghost town. The local church bells no longer ring and no children are seen in the streets riding their bicycles. Its former residents have even carried off their dead from its cemetery.
Uruguay Seeks Future as Oil Producer in Ultra-Deep Waters
Uruguay is just weeks away from finding out if it will have a chance to stop being totally reliant on oil imports at some point in the future, when the first offshore exploration well in national waters – which set a new world record in terms of water depth - is completed.
The Waves of the Pacific Are on Chile’s Energy Horizon
Chile, a country with 6,435 km of Pacific Ocean coast line, could find in wave and tidal power a solution to its need to diversify its energy mix.
Maquilas Help Drive Industrialisation in Paraguay
“There were cases of people who stopped coming to work after receiving their first wages and then came back a few days later to ask if there was more work,” because they were used to casual work in the informal economy, said Ivonne Ginard.
Interoceanic Canal Bogged Down in Nicaragua
Nearly three years after Nicaragua granted a 50-year concession to the Chinese consortium HKND to build and operate an interoceanic canal, the megaproject has stalled, partly due to a severe drought that threatens the rivers and lake that will form part of the canal.
Agroindustry Provides Jobs, Better Living Standards in Paraguay
“I worked in many companies, in construction, fertilisers, chemicals, but none of them were as good as this one,” said Dario Cardozo, who works in the Angostura Agroindustrial Complex (CAIASA) grain reception facility.
Soy Fuels Industrialisation in Paraguay
A soybean processing plant, Angostura Agroindustrial Complex SA (CAIASA), that does not use fossil fuels and generates practically no waste products from soy reflects Paraguay’s growing industrialization.
Argentina’s ‘Shale Capital’ Suffers from Slowdown
The dizzying growth of Añelo, a town in southwest Argentina, driven by the production of shale oil and gas in the Vaca Muerta geological reserve, has slowed down due to the plunge in global oil prices, which has put a curb on local development and is threatening investment and employment.
Rural Community Fights a Second Dam and a New Expropriation of Land
In 1976, the construction of a hydroelectric dam destroyed farmland in the rural municipality of Chicoasén in southern Mexico. Forty years later, part of the local population is fighting a second dam, which would deprive them of more land.Next Page »
South American imperialist power, or integrationist power? The role currently played by Brazil is perhaps located midway between these two extremes. On the other hand, there is no doubt about the dynamic nature of its economy or the influence of its corporations in Latin America.Wherever infrastructure, energy or the extraction of natural resources transcend borders in the region, Brazil tends to be a key player.What are the risks? What is the potential? What kind of development do dams and other major projects underway foment? What effect will they have on the population, and on nature? What will the new geopolitical order that is taking shape look like?With the support of the Mott Foundation, IPS is launching a series of investigative reports by Brazilian correspondent Mario Osava and a team of outstanding journalists in other key parts of the region, to produce a picture of the new course Brazil is taking in Latin America.
