Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: To the Rescue of Guaire River

The Venezuelan government plans to invest 450 million dollars over eight years on the recovery of the Guaire River. Fifty-three of the river's 70 km cross the capital from west to east, receiving sewage and runoff.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Bridges at Risk

Around half of the 1,079 bridges in Guatemala are at risk, and their vulnerability only increases during rainy season, according to a study by the government's road agency COVIAL.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Peasant Farmers Promote Reforestation

More than 90,000 small landowners are participating in Chile's Rural Forestation Program, aimed at recovering land. In 2004 the initiative was responsible for around half of all trees planted in the country.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Business Bets on the Environment

The Ibero-American Congress on Sustainable Development reflected the growing concern of the business world for the Brazilian and the global environment, with 1,200 entrepreneurs and environmentalists participating in the May 31-Jun. 2 meeting in this Brazilian city.

Shrimp Industry Devastating Mangrove Forests

Ecuador and Honduras have suffered the worst cases of loss of coastal mangrove forests, warned the United Nations Environment Program on the occasion of World Environment Day.

ACEH: PEACE IS NECESSARY FOR RECONSTRUCTION

As the Indonesian government embarks on the formidable task of rebuilding the province of Aceh, which suffered the full brunt of the December 26 tsunami, peace is becoming indispensable, writes Hasballah Saad, chairman of the Tifa Foundation, a non-governmental organisation that promotes human rights, democracy, and civil society in Indonesia. He is also a commissioner of the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights. In this article, Saad writes that without peace, any reconstruction effort may go nowhere. Infrastructure built by the government in the morning could be burned down by unknown people in the evening. The recent initiation of the fourth round of peace talks between the rebels and the Indonesian government in Helsinki, Finland, has rekindled hopes for peace and reconciliation in the troubled province. The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has hinted at giving up its struggle for independence in favour of self-government. What GAM means by self-government, however, remains unclear. GAM, whose strength seems to have been reduced considerably by the military offensive by government troops in the past few years, has to spell out what it means by self-government. Does it mean independence, a federal system, or special autonomy? Independence is certainly out of question, while the other options open to GAM must not violate the country\'s constitution.

WHITE BAND DAY: A GLOBAL CALL TO END POVERTY

In September the heads of state will return to the UN in New York to evaluate their progress on the UN Millennium goal of ending poverty by 2015. Before that, G-8 leaders will meet in Scotland, and for the first time their agenda will focus on Africa and poverty. In December in Hong Kong trade ministers will meet in an effort to restart the talks that were begun at Cancun and which are absolutely central to development. In response to these three fundamental meetings, a global movement was created to exert pressure to bring about an end to poverty, write Eveline Herfkens, representative of the UN Secretary General for the Millennium Development Goals, and Walter Veltroni, mayor of Rome. The authors write in this article that the Global Call to Action Against Poverty is a movement comprised of more than 1000 international networks. Three dates for mobilisations in more than seventy countries have been set before the three major meetings. The symbol that will unite all of these events will be a white band, a sign of commitment, which will encircle not only wrists but also important buildings, for example, Rome\'s Trevi Fountain (a band of light in this case) and the Colosseum (an 80 metre band). Wearing the white band serves as a reminder to the powers of this earth that eradicating poverty is a duty, and that the path to the future passes through every part of the earth, not only the developed world.

AFTER THE FRENCH ‘NON’: IS THERE LIFE BEYOND THE EU CONSTITUTION?

The European Constitution is dead; long live the European Union, writes, Joaquin Roy, \'Jean Monnet\' Professor and Director of the European Union Center at the University of Miami. In this article for IPS, the author writes that there is still a future for the EU. Among other reasons, the EU enjoys a solid legacy, and its present lasts at least as long as the current stage of ratification of the Constitution. In France, the process of ratifying the EU constitution was considered as plebiscite on the incumbent government. To consider the French or Dutch vote as a general EU plebiscite would be comparable to accepting that some citizens are more equal than others and thus can vote in Marseille or Rotterdam on behalf of the people of Warsaw or Prague. In an EU that is on its way to reducing the number of decisions subject to unanimous approval, it is contradictory that today\'s electoral decisions cannot be made on a Europe-wide basis with no regard to state borders. In a EU-wide majority vote, the Europeans would easily approve the Constitution.

AIDS PREVENTION AND TREATMENT IS A LIFE-LONG COMMITMENT

In the worst-case scenario of a recent report by UNAIDS on the evolution of the AIDS epidemic in Africa by 2025, up to 83 million Africans could die of AIDS-related illnesses in the next twenty years, unless concrete action is taken today to scale up the response to the disease, writes Mark Stirling, director of the UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Eastern and Southern Africa. What is essential, the author writes in this article, is investment in both HIV prevention and treatment. We cannot sacrifice one at the expense of the other. As impressive as the recent gains in the fight against AIDS may sound, the bottom line remains that today only 8 percent of Africans who need treatment are getting it. If the commitment displayed by African governments and the international community in scaling-up treatment during the last six months of 2004 is any indication, in all likelihood the worst-case scenario is the least likely scenario. But this will only be so if we remember that the commitments to scaling up prevention and treatment today are the beginning of a life-long commitment to improving the health and well-being of all Africans, especially those vulnerable to, living with and affected by HIV and AIDS.

A LONG ROAD AHEAD IN THE FIGHT AGAINST HUNGER

Almost nine years since heads of state and governments representing 186 countries gathered at the World Food Summit pledged to half hunger by 2015, progress is insufficient, writes Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. In this analysis, Diouf writes that in three of the four developing regions, more people were undernourished in 2000-2002 than in 1995-1997. Only Latin America and the Caribbean achieved a modest reduction in the number of hungry people. While the main responsibility for addressing poverty and food insecurity in the developing countries remains with the countries themselves, their efforts can only be fruitful within a favourable international environment. Indeed, we have seen expressions of solidarity and strong commitment to address the problem of food insecurity and poverty. Unfortunately, there is still a notable gap between commitments and action. The urgent measures that need to be taken at the international level include: creation of a fair and equitable international trading environment and the reduction and cancellation of the debt burden of the poorest developing countries. The recent announcement by the G8 finance ministers to write off more than USD 40 billion of debts of 18 African countries is a step in the right direction. But we still need to enhance international development assistance in conformity with relevant international commitments and to reverse the negative trend of resource allocation to the agriculture sector.

LET THEM DRINK COKE

As water scarcity becomes an increasingly urgent issue around the world, a recent ruling by an Indian high court provides a troubling perspective on how water rights can play out in contests between foreign corporations and local governments, writes Vandana Shiva In this article, Shiva writes that in 2000, Coca-Cola set up a plant in Kerala, India. Within a year the groundwater started to decline, and wells were polluted. After protests, the local government denied renewal of the plant\'s license and the Kerala High Court supported its action. On April 7, 2005, however, this decision was overruled by two other judges of the same court who placed Coca-Cola\'s right to use water over the local government\'s right to regulate water use. The issue is whether public regulation will be democratic and in the hands of local communities or whether they will be controlled through a state bureaucracy which can be corrupted and influenced by the power of corporations. The local government has taken an appeal to the Supreme Court. But the real judgment in this case will come from the people. Coca-Cola has unleashed a war against the earth, and the people of areas where Coca-Cola is mining water are committed to stopping the theft of their water and the hijack of their institutions.

HUMAN RIGHTS BEST PROTECTION AGAINST INSECURITY AND TERROR

In the face of terrorism, the politics of fear call for a total surrender of liberty in favour of security, secrecy, randomness, racial profiling, involuntary renditions, and the use of torture, writes Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. In this article, Arbour writes that the international human rights framework stands as a counterweight to the politics of fear. A response to insecurity based on human rights is both more balanced and rational, and presents the singular advantage of dismantling, rather than perpetrating, the root causes of insecurity. Arbour asserts that human rights do not impede the protection of national security but are, at least in democratic societies, at the heart of national identity. Indeed, in my view, a country and the ideals it stands for are as much at risk of destruction from the collapse of its human rights norms and the rule of law that protects them as they are from the explosion of bombs on its territory. The most profound insecurity does not emanate from foreign threats but from internal temptations to allow to erode the foundations upon which national identity is built. To fight insecurity within the framework of human rights is to fight with our strongest weapon: our deepest values. This is the protection of human security in the most profound sense.

Lima's Poorest Want Water Privatization

''We want water now!'' is the cry of the residents of the Peruvian capital's poorest neighborhoods, where they pay as much as 20 dollars for just five cubic meters of water brought by tanker trucks.

Ecobreves – The Lucachi Monkey – A Symbol of Conservation

The discovery of a new species of titi monkey in Bolivia is a call to attention about the urgent need to preserve wildlife, say scientists.

Nobel Laureate Proposes an Equation for Optimism

Scientist Mario Molina predicts that in 10 years the Mexican capital, one of the most polluted cities in the world, could have very clean air.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Scientist Warns About Transgenics

Genetically modified seeds and foods are not a threat to human health, but could have harmful impacts on the environment, says Mexican biotechnology expert Octavio Paredes, who on July 1 will become the first Latin American to receive an honorary doctorate from a prestigious Canadian university.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Sea Horses Found in Southern Waters

Argentine scientists found sea horses (Hippocampus) along the country's Atlantic coast, the southern-most population of a sea creature found mostly in temperate and tropical waters.

Ecobreves – PERU: Alarm Sounded for Arsenic in Water

Peruvian lawmaker Fabiola Morales has petitioned Health Minister Pilar Mazzetti to provide explanations to the congressional environmental commission on the level of arsenic found in the capital's potable water service.

Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: Fomenting Rural Development

Twenty-two families are to benefit from infrastructure projects for irrigation and an assistance plan from the Colombian Institute of Rural Development (INCODER) in the northern municipality of Santa Marta.

The Sins of the Salmon Industry

Salmon farming in Chile, second in the world only to Norway, represents 30,000 direct jobs. But NGOs denounce the industry's labor practices.

''Lula frustrated our expectations''

The Brazilian president has lacked the political drive to keep the promises he made to the country's indigenous peoples, Jecinaldo Barbosa Cabral, a leader of the Amazonian communities, said in a conversation with Tierramérica.