Full Coverage: South America

30.03.2005 Activists accuse Coca-Cola of creating severe water shortages in India, polluting the soil and groundwater, and selling drinks containing dangerously high levels of pesticides, among other crimes. In Colombia, the company is charged with complicity in the murder, torture and intimidation of labor union organizers at its bottling plants. A speaking tour to hold Coca-Cola accountable will take place throughout the month of April in the U.S.

30.03.2005 All the congregants of Colombian Pastor Adelina Zuñíga's church are displaced victims of war. Driven from their homes, they set up a new church on a garbage dump, cleaned up dirty areas of the city to establish community gardens, and are now helping other victims of war. They brought their stories to the living rooms and the halls of Congress of the United States recently.

29.03.2005

Movimento Sem Terra

Grassroots International invites you to join a ten-day donor delegation to the state of Maranhão in Northeast Brazil. This trip gives you the opportunity to deepen your understanding of the region and engage in dialogue with rural workers struggling for social change. For more information, contact Nisrin Elamin at nelamin@grassrootsonline.org or (617) 524-1400 ext. 23.

29.03.2005

© Amit Srivastava / India Resource Center

From April 4-19, a Speaking Tour to Hold Coca-Cola Accountable will hold public events on the East Coast, including New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Philadelphia, to demand justice for communities in Colombia and India that are being adversely impacted by Coca-Cola's practices. The tour will also stop at Coca-Cola's shareholder meeting in Wilmington on April 19. In India, Coca-Cola is guilty of creating severe water shortages, polluting the soil and groundwater, distributing toxic waste as fertilizer to farmers, and selling sub-standard drinks in the Indian market which contain high levels of pesticides, sometimes higher than 30 times those allowed by European Union standards. In Colombia, Coca-Cola is charged with complicity in the murder, torture and intimidation of labor union organizers at Coca-Cola bottling plants.

28.03.2005 During his recent trip to Latin America, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld expressed grave concerns over Venezuela's plan to purchase 100,000 AK-47s, especially considering the country's porous border with Colombia, which has been engaged in a brutal guerilla war for 40 years. Some think Rumsfeld's comments are just sour grapes, as the rifles are being bought from Russia instead of the U.S.

18.03.2005 Venezuela has begun to turn over unused or underused chunks of publicly-owned land occupied by private landowners and businesses to landless farmers. Opponents of President Chavez say the land redistribution is just the beginning of a programme aimed at bringing full Cuban-style socialism to the country, but analysts say this is the best way to combat the scourge of poverty in Latin America.

18.03.2005 In order to return home and protect themselves from attacks, Colombians are trying to establish neutral "peace settlements," vowing not to interact with any of the myriad armed groups in the country. Their commitment to peaceful living has cost them both economic and physical security, say refugee advocates, calling on the Colombian government and United Nations to bolster the support network for these courageous communities.

16.03.2005 When Argentina's economy collapsed in late 2001, workers discovered a novel way to keep their jobs--they just kept working even though the bosses had skipped town. The worker-managed companies turned out to be quite successful, but now their leaders are facing death threats, kidnappings, and other intimidation from those who don't like their new economic model.

10.03.2005 Les principaux représentants de l'opposition bolivienne ont annoncé aujourd'hui un pacte pour continuer les mobilisations contre le gouvernement. L'annonce a eu lieu quelques heures après l'accord signé entre quelques forces politiques et le refus du Parlement de la démission du président Carlos Mesa.

07.03.2005 The World Trade Organization ruled late last week that U.S. government payouts to its cotton farmers amounting to billions of dollars every year are illegal under global trade rules. The U.S. has until July 1 to comply with the ruling or face possible trade sanctions from Brazil, the economic superpower of the developing world.

07.03.2005

04.03.2005 It looks as though Argentina will be successful in its bold debt restructuring plan for private creditors. Now the country has to deal with the IMF and other International Financial Institutions - are they disposable?

03.03.2005 It is appropriate for women to comment on plots against Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, since women have most to lose from his assassination (Bush is plotting to kill me, says Chavez, February 22).

01.03.2005 Amanhã a América Latina verá reunida em Montevidéu a esquerda política do continente, por ocasião da posse do novo presidente do Uruguai, o socialista Tabaré Vazquez. Uma data histórica para os uruguaios, marcando o início de um governo que não está nas mãos dos conservadores do Partido Colorado ou do Partido Nacional. Nas palavras do mais famoso escritor uruguaio, Eduardo Galeano, estes dois partidos estão se revezando há tanto tempo no poder, que já formaram uma chapa única.