Andean Glaciers Are Disappearing Fast

"Eternal ice" no longer exists in Latin America. Peru's glacier on Huascarán Mountain, one of the most famous in the Andes, has shrunk 40 percent in the past 30 years.

The Peruvian Pipeline of International Discord

The controversial Camisea gas pipeline does not yet have the backing of the Inter-American Development Bank, but construction, which faces strong opposition from environmental groups, will go on.

Addictions – Tobacco

The death toll from tobacco use could reach one billion this century, according to estimates by the International Union Against Cancer (UICC), a network of 30 organizations from around the world.

Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: The Whales Are Here!

Hundreds of whales began arriving in the warm waters along Colombia's Pacific coast in late July to mate and to give birth, a spectacle that attracts crowds of tourists every year.

Ecobreves – PERU: Battle Over 'Andean Viagra'

The company Pure World Botanicals, which registered in the United States a patent for extract of 'maca', a Peruvian medicinal plant, has engaged in "biopiracy", say authorities in the South American country.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Thousands Homeless Months After Flood

At least 85,000 people were affected by the late April floods in the northeastern Argentine province of Santa Fe, and some 12,000 lost their homes, according to the provincial government's reports.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Dams Rejected in Seismic Area

Residents of 37 villages in the eastern Guatemalan municipality of Rio Hondo are protesting the construction of two hydroelectric dams in the area, the center of two seismic faults.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Internet for Rural Development

Farmers -- with small and medium-sized holdings -- in five areas of Honduras will soon have access to Internet centers aimed at promoting rural development.

Ecobreves – NICARAGUA: Rural March Hurts Eco-Tourism

Thousands of impoverished farming families in Nicaragua staged a march from the coffee-growing region of Matagalpa to the capital, creating an "image of instability" that endangers the investments in eco-tourism centered on the "coffee road", complains the Institute of Tourism.

A PEACEFUL SOLUTION FOR VENEZUELA

As early as August 19, 2003,Venezuela plans to hold a recall referendum on its embattled president, Hugo Chavez, who was elected in 1999 on a platform of redistributing the country\'s oil wealth for the benefit of the poor, writes Christena Mann, an international schools educator currently enrolled in the Conflict esolution Masters program at Landegg International University in Switzerland. The situation in Venezuela is complicated by the fact each side in the conflict appears to believe that the other side will lose the referendum, which introduces an element of danger. In some countries, similar situations have escalated into civil war and even foreign intervention. In this article, the author asks whether a third voice could emerge from a combination of moderate voices from either side, introduce a process of cooperation, and shift the focus to the urgent challenges facing every person in the country. If so, then perhaps the immediate and pressing challenges of the country can be overcome, just as many situations of heightened tension and conflict have been resolved peacefully around the world by focusing on the common interests of all parties. Or will each side claim to speak for the real majority and insist on getting its way, continuing to propagate stereotypes aimed at boosting their own and damaging the other side\'s reputations, bringing misery for all?

A NEW TEST FOR GUATEMALA AT THE POLLS

Once again Guatemala has become a test case for building a democracy, writes Rigoberta Menchu, who received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1992. Guatemala\'s high court recently declared legal the candidacy for president Efrain Rios Montt, who came to power in a coup in 1982. The decision, influenced by the ruling party, violates the basic juridical principles of any nation and the Guatemalan constitution. Elections are set for 9 November with a run-off on 28 December. In this article for IPS, the author writes that Montt should be behind bars for the crimes against humanity committed when he was in power. The most serious element in this new chapter of Guatemala\'s permanent crisis is the extension and strengthening of clandestine structures of power which have hijacked the state and placed it in the service of its own criminal activities. There is a very real threat that the ruling party will attempt to keep itself in power through fraud and intimidation. Strict vigilance is the only way to guarantee free elections.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Chopping Down Las Yungas

The Argentine government has given a company permission to log 1,000 hectares of the northwestern Las Yungas jungle, an area that UNESCO declared a biosphere reserve in 2002.

Ecobreves – PERU: Cocaine Contaminates the Amazon

The Peruvian Amazon is suffering major environmental deterioration as a result of the production and trafficking of cocaine, said experts gathered for a seminar in the central-west city of Pucallpa, in the heart of the illegal drug production area.

Ecobreves – URUGUAY: Revitalizing Industrial Zones

Public and private entities in Uruguay are working to revitalize abandoned industrial areas of the capital, building housing for low-income families and encouraging economic activity.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Aluminum Factory Rejected

Organizations from Canada, United States and Australia have called on Chilean President Ricardo Lagos to halt the Alumysa-Noranda project, which plans to build an aluminum processing plant in the country's southern Patagonia region.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Rewards for Environmental Care

- The Honduran parliament is studying a bill that would reward municipalities that promote care of the local environment.

Ecobreves – COSTA RICA: Citizen Environmental Guarantees

An initiative aimed at including an "environmental guarantees" chapter to the Costa Rican constitution, establishing the state's obligation to preserve the environment, could be approved by the legislature now in session, say activists.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Green Literacy Campaign

A literacy campaign geared towards environmental conservation, with a primer titled "Madre Tierra" (Mother Earth), will get underway next year, says Francisco Moscoso, director of the National Literacy Committee (CONALFA).

Prestige: The Most Costly Maritime Accident in History

The environmental damage caused by the oil tanker Prestige persists eight months after it sank. Clean-up could cost 10 billion euros.

No Poor Wanted in Peñalolén Eco-Community

An exclusive ecological community in Chile is protesting the relocation of poor residents to a nearby area. The matter is to be resolved in August.

A Setback for Food Research and Security

An estimated 345,000 hectares in Central American are planted with varieties or hybrids created by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, which recently closed its regional office.