RIGHTS-BRAZIL: Freeing Modern-Day Slaves

A young man with burns to his hands and feet which have become evil-smelling open wounds arrives, assisted by a co-worker. He suffered an electric shock on the hacienda (estate) where he works, when a metal rod he was carrying made contact with a high-tension cable.

BRAZIL: Journalist Wages Solitary Battle in Amazon

Death threats, physical assaults and 32 lawsuits - this is what freelance journalist Lucio Flavio Pinto has faced as a result of the one-man battle he is waging in this northern Brazilian city, the main gateway to the Amazon jungle.

AGRICULTURE-BRAZIL: David, Goliath and Land Reform

The largest movement fighting for the distribution of unproductive rural property to landless peasant farmers in Brazil complains that the "euphoria" over the production of biofuels from sugar cane and other crops is aggravating the concentration of land ownership and driving up land prices.

ENVIRONMENT: Audit Clears Once-Leaky Pipeline for Funding

A controversial gas pipeline in the pristine heart of the Amazon forest that has ruptured six times since its inception received a clean bill of health this week from the main financial backer, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), drawing scepticism from indigenous groups and international environmentalists.

BRAZIL: Tapping Hydroelectric Dams for Methane Gas

Hydroelectricity is not as clean as most people might believe, because the reservoirs created by dams in tropical areas - and in forested zones in particular - emit greenhouse gases from the decomposition of organic material. But this downside can be turned into a benefit, and give a boost to the amount of energy generated.

CLIMATE CHANGE-BRAZIL: Once and Future Environmental Leader?

Brazil appears to be about to pass over a prime opportunity to affirm itself as a leading environmental power in negotiations to bring the threat of global warming under control, according to environmentalists and analysts.

ENVIRONMENT: Ecuador Seeks Aid Not to Exploit Amazon Oil

A novel proposal by Ecuador is testing world leaders' commitment to fight global warming and preserve the biodiversity of the Earth.

BRAZIL: Dorothy Stang Sentence – More Than Symbolic?

Forty percent of the 1,237 murders linked to land disputes in Brazil between 1985 and 2001 took place in the northern state of Pará. But things could begin to change there if the sentence handed down to the rancher who ordered the killing of U.S.-born nun Dorothy Stang does not end up as merely symbolic, said French priest Henri Burin des Roziers.

ECUADOR-BRAZIL: &#39Big Brother&#39 Geopolitics

The first few months of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa's administration have been marked by a strengthening of relations with Brazil, as well as his already clearly stated ties with the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

ENVIRONMENT: Oxy Faces Lawsuit Threat Over Amazon Toxins

Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon are warning the U.S. oil giant Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) that it could soon face a lawsuit in the United States if it fails to clean up toxic waste in their tropical rainforest.

VENEZUELA: The Gift of Native Tongues, On the Air

Eiker García and Nelson Maldonado took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly, producing a long "mmm" sound, following the instructions of the professional radio presenter who was giving them breathing and elocution lessons.

BIODIVERSITY: Farming Will Make or Break the Food Chain

As the world population swells to nine billion by 2050, global biodiversity will be under extreme pressure unless new ways to grow food are developed, experts say.

ENVIRONMENT: "Green Nobel" for Fighting Extractive Industries, Defending Wildlife

The common denominator of all six winners of this year's Goldman Prize, often referred to as the "Green Nobel", is their effectiveness in fighting big fights to protect the environment despite their relative anonymity.

BRAZIL: Indigenous Demonstrators Get Results

The indigenous protesters who camped out this week in the very heart of the Brazilian capital have victories to celebrate, like the installation by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of a national commission on indigenous policy.

ENERGY-SOUTH AMERICA: Leaders Overcome Impasse on Ethanol

The controversy over whether to put the accent on fossil fuels or biofuels was overcome by the presidents in the first South American energy summit with the assertion that the answer depends on each country's specific circumstances, and that the different national policies are complementary to each other, not contradictory.

BRAZIL: Dispossessed Demand Land, Health, Justice

The Brazilian capital woke up to another "red April" Monday. Eight hundred landless peasants occupied the headquarters of the government office in charge of land distribution, while 1,000 indigenous people camped out on the Ministries Esplanade, demanding better healthcare and the formal demarcation of their territories.

ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: The Amazon Jungle as Vast Savannah

An Amazon region that is less lush, where forest is replaced by grasslands, is the image drawn by the latest scientific reports in which meteorologists are taking the lead, going beyond even the direst warning of ecologists.

ENVIRONMENT: &#39Global Warming Will Decimate Biodiversity&#39

Thousands of plant and animal species are disappearing every month under the impact of global warming, leading environmentalists say.

ENERGY: Brazil Aims to Dominate World Ethanol Market

Brazil is working towards producing enough ethanol to substitute 10 percent of the gasoline consumed worldwide within 18 years. That would mean increasing its current production of 17.3 billion litres a year by a factor of 12, without sacrificing forests, protected areas or food cultivation.

PERU: Report Warns Against Mining Project

A report from an independent group has warned against the potentially damaging consequences of a copper mining project in the highlands of Peru.

BOLIVIA: El Niño Has Bigger Bite with Climate Change

Bolivia is entering its fourth month of onslaught from El Niño, the climate phenomenon that has grown stronger, and threatens to return with even greater force.