Water, an Environmental Product of Agriculture in Brazil

For the first time in her life, retired physical education teacher Elizabeth Ribeiro planted a tree, thorny papaya, native to Brazil's central savanna.

Central America: Eradicating Gender Violence is Vital to State Security

María is a 35-year old Salvadoran woman with three young children. Growing up, María knew her mother but never met her father. When María was six, she started working at the Central Market of San Salvador and at the age of 12 she was raped and became pregnant for the first time.

Thermal Houses Keep People Warm in Peru’s Highlands

Thirty families from a rural community more than 4,300 meters above sea level will have warm houses that will protect them from the freezing temperatures that each year cause deaths and diseases among children and older adults in this region of the southeastern Peruvian Andes.

Legal Weapons Have Failed to Curb Femicides in Latin America

Left blind by a beating from her ex-husband, Susana Gómez barely managed to avoid joining the list of nearly 2,800 femicides committed annually in Latin America, but her case shows why public policies and laws are far from curtailing gender-based violence in the region.

President-Elect’s Security Plan Disappoints Civil Society in Mexico

"Setback" and "disillusionment" were the terms used by Yolanda Morán, a mother whose son was the victim of forced disappearance, to describe the security plan outlined by Mexican president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who takes office on Dec. 1.

Indigenous Leaders are Calling for New Global Agreement to Protect Amazon

Leaders of Amazon’s indigenous groups are calling for a new global agreement to protect and restore at least half of the world’s natural habitats.

‘A Turtle is Worth More Alive Than Dead’

On the north-eastern shores of Trinidad and Tobago, on the shoreline of Matura, more than 10,000 leatherback turtles climb the beaches to nest each year. But there the local community is keenly area of one thing: ‘a turtle alive is worth more than a turtle dead.”

VIDEO: On the way to COP24 – The Caribbean Will Not be Left Out

As the 24th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – is set to take place from December 3-14 in Katowice, Poland, the Caribbean insists on a seat at the table of negations.

Climate Change Drives Up Rural Poverty in Latin America

Only 18 percent of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean live in rural areas, but these are increasingly hotbeds of poverty, and climate change is playing a major role in this phenomenon.

Solar Energy Drives Social Development in Brazil’s Favelas

"We can't work just to pay the electric bill," complained José Hilario dos Santos, president of the Residents Association of Morro de Santa Marta, a favela or shantytown embedded in Botafogo, a traditional middle-class neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro.

Cuba’s Only Semiarid Region Reinvents Agriculture to Survive

At a brisk pace, Marciano Calamato and Mireya Noa walk along the dry, yellow soil of their farm, where they even manage to grow onions in Cuba's unique semi-arid eastern region.

Women Make the Voice of Indigenous People Heard in Argentina

The seed was planted more than 20 years ago by a group of indigenous women who began to gather to try to recover memories from their people. Today, women are also the main protagonists of La Voz Indígena (The Indigenous Voice), a unique radio station in northern Argentina that broadcasts every day in seven languages.

Diversifying Crops to Help Overcome Drought in Brazil

Dozens of trucks used to leave São Gonçalo every day, carrying the local agricultural production, mainly coconuts, to markets throughout Brazil, including the cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, more than 2,000 kilometers away.

Only Acting Together Can We Stop the Rise in Malnutrition

The number of undernourished people increased for the third consecutive year in Latin America and the Caribbean. It has exceeded 39 million people. In addition, almost one in four adults is obese, while overweight affects 250 million; more than the entire population of Brazil.

Alert! Hunger and Obesity on the Rise in Latin America for Third Year in a Row

"For the third consecutive year there is bad news" for Latin America and the Caribbean, where the numbers of hungry people have increased to "39.3 million people," or 6.1 percent of the population, Julio Berdegué, FAO's regional representative, said Wednesday.

Is Excessive Sovereign Debt a Threat to Peace?

Some 30 years ago, the international banks were afloat with petrodollars, deposited by the oil exporting countries. The banks in turn stepped up lending to Latin America, in a big way. The new branch of Société Générale in New York where I was working at the time followed suit rapidly building up its portfolio, as the bank needed to make loans to get its branch off the ground.

Rainwater Harvesting Eases Daily Struggle in Argentina’s Chaco Region

"I've been used to hauling water since I was eight years old. Today, at 63, I still do it," says Antolín Soraire, a tall peasant farmer with a face ravaged by the sun who lives in Los Blancos, a town of a few dozen houses and wide dirt roads in the province of Salta, in northern Argentina.

The Caribbean Island of Mayreau Could be Split in Two Thanks to Erosion

As a child growing up in Mayreau four decades ago, Filius “Philman” Ollivierre remembers a 70-foot-wide span of land, with the sea on either side that made the rest of the 1.5-square mile island one with Mount Carbuit. 

Caribbean Looks to Protect its Seafood From Mercury

Four Caribbean countries have done an inventory of the major sources of mercury contamination in their islands, but a great deal of work still needs to be done to determine where and what impact this mercury is having on the region's seafood chain.

Central American Farmers Face Climate Change Without Insurance

Disconsolate, Alberto Flores piles up on the edge of a road the few bunches of plantains that he managed to save from a crop spoiled by heavy rains that completely flooded his farm in central El Salvador.

Brazilians Decide on a Shift to the Right at Any Cost

Voters in Brazil ignored threats to democracy and opted for radical political change, with a shift to the extreme right, with ties to the military, as is always the case in this South American country.