Full Coverage: Central America

29.07.2005 The Chorti indigenous group of western Honduras took over the Copan Ruins Archeological Park in June 6 as a new round of contention with the government materialized.

27.07.2005 International agency Oxfam called on US Members of Congress today to reject the Free Trade Agreement between the United States and Central American countries and the Dominican Republic (DR-CAFTA.) Oxfam believes that the agreement, in its current form, will do more harm than good and will endanger the livelihood of many thousands of small farmers who already live in poverty.

27.07.2005 The day is here. CAFTA, the proposed Central American Free Trade Agreement that many non-profits believe will harm--not help--farmers and workers in the U.S. and Central America, is expected to face a final Congressional showdown as early as today. The Senate narrowly passed CAFTA; now Lutheran World Relief urges you to ask your representative to vote "no."

21.07.2005 A land management debate is heating up within the Maya Biosphere, a 2.1-million-hectare (5-million-acre) protected area in the northern Guatemalan department of Peten, considered the largest tropical forest north of the Amazon.

18.07.2005 The world of the border turns labor law on its head-old, established legal rights are just so much ink on paper, and even the decision of federal judges to enforce the law are simply ignored. NAFTA's labor and environmental "side-agreements" have provided no help to either labor or the environment.

18.07.2005 The percentage of women murdered in Guatemala over the last three years has steadily grown. The incompetence and frequent discrimination directed at victims and their relatives fuels impunity and sends a message that these terrible crimes are acceptable. Amnesty USA is asking people to write to President Oscar Berger to press for a concrete response to violence against women.

18.07.2005 Food First is asking people to call their congressional representative to tell them to oppose CAFTA, the Central American Free Trade Agreement that will include Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. On June 30th the Senate approved CAFTA by the closest margin ever for a free trade agreement. The House of Representatives has yet to vote on CAFTA.

18.07.2005 As the Bush Administration kicks its campaign to drive the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) through Congress into high gear, the July/August issue of the NACLA Report on the Americas, “Mexican Workers Since NAFTA,” offers a grim picture of how Mexico — its workers and its environment — have faired under NAFTA, the template for all U.S.-brokered trade agreements.

13.07.2005 A coalition of small-scale farmers and community leaders in Honduras is calling for a 10-year moratorium on logging, to combat what they say is the single biggest threat to the country's environment.

12.07.2005 Approaching a Congressional vote, CAFTA--the trade agreement between the U.S. and Central America--will repeat NAFTA's failures, says Moving Ideas. Similar to its sister policy, CAFTA will expand corporate power, displace family farmers, privatize public services, and undermine workers' rights, the environment, and public health, they argue.

12.07.2005 Barley passing the Senate--with the closest margin in history for a free trade agreement--CAFTA is approaching a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives. It has the potential to ruin family farmers in the U.S. and devastate millions in Central America, says Oxfam America, asking citizens to write Congress and tell them that trade deals should help, not harm, working people.

11.07.2005 Guatemala ainda não sequer aderiu ao Estatuto de Roma, um dos mecanismos da Corte Penal Internacional. Preocupada com esta deficiência, a Fundação Rigoberta Menchú Tum afirma que, com isso, o país fica à margem do diálogo das nações e, ao não fazer parte da Corte, vigente desde julho de 2002, a Guatemala não pode eleger, nem ser eleita no seio desta instância legal internacional.

11.07.2005 Voici notre parole simple qui voudrait arriver au cœur des gens comme nous humbles et simples, mais, tout comme nous aussi, rebelles et dignes.

09.07.2005 More than a year after signing, President Bush finally sent the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) to the U.S. Congress for vote. On June 30, the Senate approved the agreement by a 54-45 vote.

07.07.2005 e-Government has received a lot of attention by governments around the world. Applying modern information and communication technologies to the delivery of government services has a great deal of potential in developing countries.

05.07.2005 An alarming number of break-ins and thefts have occurred recently at the offices of NGOs in Guatemala, prompting Amnesty International to issue an appeal to ensure the safety of human rights defenders. Now CIVICUS has echoed the call, noting that several organizations protesting against the Central America Free Trade Agreeement (CAFTA) have also been targeted.

05.07.2005 The Global Networked Readiness in Education survey seeks to aid school leaders and policymakers by helping them to examine the role and effects of integrating information and communication technologies (ICTs) into formal learning.