Integration and Development Brazilian-style

Tocantins, a River of Many Dams in Central Brazil

By Mario Osava
Tocantins, the newest of Brazil’s 26 states, which was created in 1988 to seek its own paths to development in central Brazil, fell into the common plight of expanding borders, based on soy and hydroelectricity.

Clean Energy Sources Manage to Cut Electricity Bill in Chile

By Orlando Milesi
A 75 percent drop in electricity rates, thanks to a quadrupled clean generation capacity, is one of the legacies to be left in Chile by the administration of Michelle Bachelet, who steps down on Mar. 11.

Landlocked, a Railway Remains Idle in Brazil

By Mario Osava
The rails have been laid - thousands of km of rails deteriorating due to lack of use, to the despair of those who believe that a country as vast as Brazil can only be developed by means of trains.

Venezuela’s Oil Industry Is Falling Apart

By Humberto Márquez
Corruption in the Venezuelan state oil industry, denounced by the government itself, and with former ministers and senior managers behind bars, is the latest evidence that, in the country with the largest oil reserves on the planet, the industry on which the economy depends is falling apart.

Central America Builds Interconnected Clean Energy Corridor

By Edgardo Ayala
Countries in Central America are working to strengthen their regional electricity infrastructure to boost their exchange of electricity generated from renewable sources, which are cheaper and more environmentally friendly.

Foreign Investment Expands in Cuba…Despite Everything

By Patricia Grogg
“Maybe many of us thought that this project was a dream six years ago, but not anymore. The geography has completely changed, because of everything that has been built and the investments that have been approved," said Nathaly Suárez, director of Construction Management at the Mariel Special Development Zone (ZEDM).

White Elephants and the Urban Challenges of Brasilia

By Mario Osava
Two white elephants - a huge football stadium that draws almost no fans and an empty 16-building complex that was to be the new headquarters of the district government – reflect Brasília’s challenges as a metropolis, beyond its role as the capital of Brazil.

Coal Pollution Continues to Spread in Latin America

By Emilio Godoy
Despite growing global pressure to reduce the use of coal to generate electricity, several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean still have projects underway for expanding this polluting energy source.

The Mekong, Dammed to Die

By Pascal Laureyn
In Laos, the lush forests are alive with the whines of drills that pierce the air. On the Mekong, a giant concrete wall rises slowly above the trees. The Don Sahong dam is a strong symbol, not only for a power-hungry Asia but also for what critics fear is a disaster in the making.

Locals Learn to Live in Harmony with Drought in Brazil’s Semi-arid Region

By Fabiana Frayssinet
Irrigated green fields of vineyards and monoculture crops coexist in Brazil’s semiarid Northeast with dry plains dotted with flowering cacti and native crops traditionally planted by the locals. Two models of development in struggle, with very different fruits.

Cycles of Wealth in Brazil’s Amazon: Gold, Lumber, Cattle and Now, Energy

By Mario Osava
The burning down of the local forest, on Jun. 29, 1979, was the first step towards the creation of the city of Paranaita, in a municipality that is now trying to shed its reputation as a major deforester of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest and has named itself “the energy capital.”

Argentina’s Biodiesel Plagued by Commercial and Environmental Challenges

By Daniel Gutman
The Argentine biodiesel industry, which in the last 10 years has become one of the most powerful in the world, has an uncertain future, faced with protectionist measures in the United States and Europe and doubts in the international scenario about the environmental impact of these fuels based on agricultural products.

Dams Hurt Indigenous and Fishing Communities in Brazilian Amazon

By Mario Osava
The dirty water is killing more and more fish and ‘Taricaya’ yellow-spotted river turtles every day. In addition, the river is not following its usual cycle, and the water level rises or declines without warning, regardless of the season, complained three Munduruku indigenous law students in the south of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest.

Hydropower Dams Invade Brazil’s Agricultural Economy

By Mario Osava
“After being displaced for the third time,” Daniel Schlindewein became an activist struggling for the rights of people affected by dams in Brazil, and is so combative that the legal authorities banned him from going near the installations of the Sinop hydroelectric dam, which is in the final stages of construction.

The Tuxá Indigenous Paradise, Submerged under Water

By Fabiana Frayssinet
The Tuxá indigenous people had lived for centuries in the north of the Brazilian state of Bahia, on the banks of the São Francisco River. But in 1988 their territory was flooded by the Itaparica hydropower plant, and since then they have become landless. Their roots are now buried under the waters of the reservoir.

Small Farmers in Brazil’s Amazon Region Seek Sustainability

By Mario Osava
The deforestation caused by the expansion of livestock farming and soy monoculture appears unstoppable in the Amazon rainforest in the west-central Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. But small-scale farmers are trying to reverse that trend.

Geothermal – a Key Source of Clean Energy in Central America

By Edgardo Ayala
Energy from the depths of the earth - geothermal - is destined to fuel renewable power generation in Central America, a region with great potential in this field.

Energy Habits Are Changing in Latin America’s Cities

By Mario Osava
The Vaz de Souza’s were so keen on the solar water heater that they made it their mission and business, which prospered with the surge in innovation in their city, Belo Horizonte, recognised as the solar energy capital of Brazil.

Will Renewable Energies Finally Get Their Chance in Argentina?

By Daniel Gutman
The first thing anyone who looks at any official document this year in Argentina will read is: “2017, the year of renewable energies.” This indicates the importance that the government gives to the issue, although translating the slogan into reality does not seem as easy as putting it in the headings of public documents.

Brazil’s Shipyards – Victims of a Failed Reindustrialisation Process

By Mario Osava
“I have lived through three good periods and two bad ones,” prior to the present crisis in the Brazilian shipping industry, said Edson Rocha, a direct witness since the 1970s of the ups and downs of a sector where nationalist feelings run high.

Argentina Plans Billions of Dollars in Railway Projects

By Daniel Gutman
Development in Argentina in the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century was closely tied to that of the railway. The eighth largest country in the world, Argentina’s economy grew through exporting agricultural and livestock products, and the railways were key to founding centres of population and transporting goods to the ports.
« Previous Page — Next Page »