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Saturday, May 30, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Critics Question Impact of ‘Pay for Success’ Bonds
Standing in contrast to government social protection programmes implemented over the past decade by progressive governments in Latin America and the Caribbean, a new initiative appeals to private investment and uses non-profit service providers.
Pacific Pact – a Minefield for Health Care
The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), the negotiation of which is set to conclude this year, could drive research into new drugs and improve access to medicines. Except – it won’t.
Cybercrime Treaty Could Be Used to Go After Cyberespionage
Governments of countries that engage in large-scale electronic espionage, like the United States, and companies that develop spying software could theoretically face legal action for violating the Convention on Cybercrime.
Latin America Stirs the Marijuana Pot
In Latin America, where marijuana is the most widely consumed illegal drug, there is basically no home-grown research into its effects and properties. But possible legalisation in Uruguay and the Mexican capital could open the door to new studies.
When Mexico Let Big Brother Spy
Non-governmental organisations are urging the United Nations Human Rights Council to demand explanations from the Mexican state for the weak protection it provided its citizens from large-scale spying by the United States.
Bitcoins Catching On in Latin America
The Bitcoin, a virtual currency that circulates outside regular financial systems, is catching on in Latin America.
Migrant Rights Defenders in Mexico Face Growing Pressure
"No one can stop me from working for migrants' rights, because no one is above my own conscience," said Mexican Catholic priest Alejandro Solalinde.
Opponents of Fracking Seek to Thwart Shale Gas Finance
Non-governmental organisations are putting pressure on multilateral financial institutions not to finance production of shale gas by hydraulic fracturing or fracking because of the high environmental costs they say are associated with this method.
Push for Legal Production of Hemp in Mexico
Marijuana and the closely related hemp can provide medicinal, food and textile industrial materials that could attract substantial investment and development in Mexico if cannabis were legalised and its cultivation and sale regulated, experts say.
Mexico City Marijuana Legalisation Would Challenge Conventional Approach
If marijuana is legalised in the Mexican capital, as the local government proposes, this country would have to review its adherence to the three international drug control treaties, a trail already blazed by other nations.Activists Demand Justice for Victims of Clerical Sex Abuse in Mexico
Human rights groups are calling for the Committee on the Rights of the Child to bring the Mexican state to account, as it has done in other countries, for failing to investigate widespread reports of sexual abuse of minors in Catholic institutions.
Thou Shalt Not Eat Meat… On Mondays At Least
Nutritionists are promoting an 11th commandment in Mexico: “Thou shalt not eat meat… at least one day a week.”
Civil Society Pushes for More Active Participation in Green Climate Fund
The Green Climate Fund (GCF), created under the auspices of the United Nations to finance the huge investments demanded by climate change, was opened up to participation by civil society and private sector representatives as observers in March.
Mexico Ducks Commitment to Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Civil society organisations are pressing the Mexican government to ratify the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in force since May 2013.
Measuring CO2 in Green Ecosystems of the Mexican Caribbean
Jungles, forests, mangroves, swamps and lagoons are natural carbon storehouses or “sinks” in the Caribbean regions of Mexico. But now studies are being conducted to measure their capacity for absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Monitoring of GM Maize Falls Short in Mexico, Activists Say
Mexico lacks an effective system for monitoring genetically modified organisms, even though they have been regulated by law since the middle of last decade, experts say. In the case of maize, this situation has stood in the way of obtaining data that could help block commercial production, they say.
Mexico’s Cities Not Ready for Climate Change
Towns on Mexico’s Caribbean coast are behind schedule on the design and implementation of plans to face the challenges of climate change, in spite of the urgency of measures to reduce vulnerability.
Green Economy Not Taking Off in Latin America
A year after endorsing the principles of the green economy at the Río +20 summit, Latin America is making little progress towards sustainable development models, according to experts.
Locals Risk Their Lives Fighting Mining in Mexico
"They brutally repressed us. The mining company buys off people’s consciences, it divides the community, but we’ll keep fighting it. Some people have had to flee the community,” Rosalinda Dionisio, a Zapoteca indigenous woman in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, told IPS, sobbing.
Effective Smog Monitoring Urgently Needed in Mexican Cities
Mexican cities with populations of more than 500,000 face serious obstacles in monitoring air quality and reducing air pollution, but as of July local authorities will be required to do both, and to submit mandatory reports on their efforts to the federal government.
Rural Mexican Communities Protest Wind Farms
"We can't sow our fields, which they have rented for next to nothing. What good do we get out of it?" Guadalupe Ramírez complained about wind farms operating in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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