BRAZIL: No Consensus on Success of Land Reform

Brazil's land reform programme has settled nearly one million families on small farms of their own in the last 20 years. But there is no consensus on the effort, which the government touts as a success, the landless movement sees as insufficient, and the opposition criticises as wrongheaded.

ENVIRONMENT: Biofuels Boom Spurring Deforestation

Nearly 40,000 hectares of forest vanish every day, driven by the world's growing hunger for timber, pulp and paper, and ironically, new biofuels and carbon credits designed to protect the environment.

ECUADOR: Pressure to Make Water a Public Good

World Water Day will be marked Thursday in Ecuador by protests against the privatisation of water, the construction of dams, and the mining industry, and by demands for the new constitution to recognise access to water as a basic human right.

BOLIVIA: The Complex Process of Designing a New State

A unified but decentralised state that recognises Bolivia's cultural and ethnic diversity is the vision that is gradually gaining broad support in the constituent assembly currently rewriting the country's constitution.

SOUTH AMERICA: Climate Change Fuels Spread of Dengue Fever

Climate change, which has resulted, for example, in heavier and more persistent rains in South America, is forcing countries to take more proactive measures to prevent the spread of diseases like dengue fever.

ENVIRONMENT: Chevron Faces More Scrutiny in Ecuador over Pollution

Leaders of indigenous communities in Ecuador are pressing their government to investigate senior executives from U.S. oil giant Chevron for an alleged environmental fraud scheme in the mid-1990s related to a long-running six-billion dollar class action suit in the South American nation.

BOLIVIA: Floodwaters Besiege Amazonian Town

Seen from the air, the capital of the Bolivian department of Beni is surrounded by an enormous stretch of water. Local residents are hoping that the polluted floodwaters, only 40 centimetres below the level of the ring road which is acting as a dike, do not overwhelm it.

BRAZIL: Soap Opera Actors Stand Up for Amazon Jungle

An open letter demanding "an immediate halt to the deforestation of the Amazon jungle" has been released by Brazilian television stars taking part in the Globo Network series " Amaz- nia, de Galvez a Chico Mendes" (Amazonia, from Galvez to Chico Mendes).

BRAZIL: Social Responsibility a Sure Bet for Business

At 62, engineer Oded Grajew, born in Israel but a naturalised Brazilian, is an icon of the progressive business sector who has revolutionised the behaviour of his fellow entrepreneurs.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Brazil Has No National Policy

Brazil has no national strategy to fight pollution that contributes to global climate change, in spite of being part of the trio of developing countries, with China and India, that emit most greenhouse gases, experts and environmentalists complain.

BRAZIL: Biodiversity Goes to Market

Biodiversity, like the proverbial prophet, is not without honour save in its own country: it tends to be valued more highly abroad than at home. Brazil is now trying to become an exception to the rule by commercialising its native species on a large scale.

PERU: Amazonian Communities Fight New Oil Wells

Conservation groups are warning international investors that a Peruvian government offer to explore for oil in pristine Amazon land is fraught with risks, lacks community support and violates international laws protecting indigenous communities.

ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Growth Plan Holds No Surprises, No Advances

The Brazilian government's new "growth acceleration programme" contains no major novelties, to the relief of environmentalists. The projects causing most concern were already proposed years ago and have been the object of criticism ever since.