Ecobreves – PERU: Authorities May Shut down US Factories

Municipal authorities in Lima are studying the possible closure and transfer of two U.S. companies located in the Villa Swamps, a protected area on the south side of the capital, after deciding this month to close down a Chilean pasta plant, Lucchetti.

The Offensive of the Empire

The leader of Brazil's landless movement, known by its initials MST, offers his views of the World Social Forum, which gets under way this week in Porto Alegre.

The Sun's Rays

Solar radiation was essential for the emergence of life on Earth, but today doctors are issuing an alert: envrionmetnal and social changes have turned the Sun's rays into dangerous company when they shine too brightly.

Measuring the Environment with the Same Yardstick

Environment ministers from Latin America and the Caribbean for the first time agree to standardize their "green" indicators. Concrete information is expected to be available in 2004 for regional management of resources.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Eco-tourism Options on the Rise

A 769-hectare nature park enclave on the northern Cuban coast is one of the main ecological tourism attractions this Caribbean country is promoting this year for Canadian and European visitors.

Legislative Horse-Trading Dooms Bush's Energy Bill

The U.S. Senate blocked a package of 31-billion-dollar reforms that would have given the energy industry almost free rein, to the great detriment of the environment. It is unlikely a new bill will be passed on this touchy issue in 2004, an election year.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Highway Plan Re-Routed

- An environmentalist group in southern Chile won an agreement from the authorities to change the route of a highway in order to protect areas that are valuable in terms of eco-tourism and biological conservation.

MTBE: Harmful additive

MTBE, a gasoline additive, was at the center of the energy reform debate in the United States. Opposition groups conditioned the bill´s approval in the Senate to the repeal of a provision that protected the producers of MTBE from lawsuits arising from contamination.

Ecobreves – GLOBAL: WSF to Debate Sustainable Development

- Sustainable development is among the thematic pillars of the World Social Forum III, which is expected to draw 100,000 people from more than 100 countries to the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, Jan 23-28.

Resurrection of the Great Inca Route

The enthusiasm of a group of hikers was the impulse behind a plan to restore the 8,500-km network of roads created by the Incas more than 500 years ago. Experts say it is a creation comparable to that of the routes laid by the Roman Empire.

The Information Society

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) gets underway on Dec. 10 in Geneva. Eight thousand people are expected to take part in deliberations on how to bridge the digital divide and reduce the imbalance in knowledge -- which are seen as the main obstacles on the road to sustainable development in the new economy.

Ecobreves – NICARAGUA: Women Export Butterflies

Women from the ecological reserve of the San Juan River, in southeast Nicaragua, have turned into butterfly cocoon exporters to gardens in the United States and Canada.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS:: Environmentalists Oppose Aquaculture Law

Environmental groups in Honduras are protesting a project being debated in Congress to regulate the fishing industry. The activists say it would give transnational companies greater freedom to exploit the country's waters.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Training Farmers

Some 18,500 Guatemalan farmers received training this year in 716 workshops conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, ministry spokesman Nery Calvillo told Tierramérica.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Legislation Against Over-Fishing

Argentine ecologists applauded the passage this month of a sustainable fisheries law for the northeastern province of Santa Fe, which holds the country's greatest freshwater fish stocks.

Ecobreves – PERU:: Protecting Medicinal Herbs

The Peruvian government will defend biological diversity, genetic resources and indigenous knowledge of natural medicines through a Register of Native Crops and Plants -- and diplomatic and legal actions abroad.

Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: : New Line of 'Green' Credits

Colombia's National Center for Cleaner Production is offering as of this month a line of credits financed by the Swiss government, available to companies that carry out environmentally sustainable projects.

Ecobreves – GLOBAL: New Deadline for Environmental Prize

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has extended until mid-December the nomination period for the new award, Champions of the Earth, aimed at recognizing environmental leaders and activists.

Marijuana's Virtues Cast in Doubt

“Weed” might relieve pain, control nausea and reduce stress, but in Latin America, only a handful of scientists and politicians advocate legalising marijuana for medical use.

“Electric taxis for everyone”

Filmmakers should touch on issues that are transcendant for society, such as environmental problems, suggests Chilean director Orlando Lübbert, whose award-winning film includes a taxi as one of its stars. "All automobiles pollute," he warns.

THE KOREAN PENINSULA: A TRANSCEND PERSPECTIVE

(By Johan Galtung and Dietrich Fischer) German poet Goethe once said: \'\'People behave the way you treat them.\'\' To a large extent, this applies also in international relations, write Johan Galtung, Professor of Peace Studies and Director of TRANSCEND, a peace and development network, and Dietrich Fischer, Professor at Pace University and Co-director of TRANSCEND. In this article for IPS, the authors write that Bush\'s inclusion of North Korea with Iraq and Iran in the \'\'axis of evil\'\' made North Korea more belligerent, as even the US government now seems to recognise. The hawk/dove balance in North Korea can be tilted by the hawk/dove balance exerted by the US, South Korea, Japan and China, and to some extent by Russia. Fischer and Galtung recommend five steps to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula: Continuation of Sunshine Policy; Regime change in North Korea, like in China, heading for more democracy and human rights; a One nation/two states Confederation on the Korean Peninsula; a Conference for Security and Cooperation in Northeast Asia; foreign troop withdrawl from the Korean Peninsula. What helped end the cold war in Europe was a gradual mutual opening to the flow of ideas, goods and people. The same policy can work in Korea.