Tree Plantations Are Not Forests, Women Activists Say

By Marcela Valente

Brazilian women rally against deforestation. Credit:Courtesy of WRM Uruguay

BUENOS AIRES, Dec 1 (IPS) – Touted as “harvested forests,” single-crop tree plantations are fast encroaching on the native forests and grasslands of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, affecting the environment and the lives of local communities, rural women say.

Witness in Stang land case released from hospital

WKYC.com
SAO PAULO — Authorities in Brazil say a hospital has released a witness who was shot after being summoned to testify in a case related to the 2005 death of American Amazon defender Dorothy Stang.
A spokesman for the Para state public safety department says Roniery Lopes will be able to testify in a case involving [...]

Haiti after the Donors’ Conference A Way Forward

U S Institute of Peace – Click this link for complete report.
Robert Maguire
Robert Maguire, a Haiti specialist, is an associate professor of international affairs at Trinity Washington University. He was a Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace in 2008–09 and currently serves as the chair of the Institute’s Haiti Working [...]

Brazil pledges deep emission cuts in ‘political gesture’ to rich nations

The Guardian

Brazil will take proposals for voluntary reductions of 38-42% by 2020 to the Copenhagen climate change conference next month, chief of staff says

The Brazilian government is preparing to pledge a big curb in its greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 as a “political gesture” aimed at pressing rich nations into agreeing to large cuts [...]

GM’s Money Trees

Mother Jones
In Brazil, people with some of the world’s smallest carbon footprints are being displaced—so their forests can become offsets for SUVs.

By Mark Schapiro
I am standing in the shadow of General Motors’ $1 tree. It’s a native guaricica, with pale white bark and a spreading crown that looms about 40 feet above my head. Hanging [...]

Playing politics in Haiti

Miami Herald
OUR OPINION: Haiti headed for disaster in effort to oust prime minister
As the end of the hurricane season nears, it appears Haiti may avoid getting hit by a natural disaster this year. Not so for man-made disasters, however.

In S. Florida, Haitian PM’s dismissal met with fears, little surprise

InterPress Service
The dismissal of Michele Pierre-Louis came as no surprise to many of South Florida’s Haitian leaders, while some feared the move could be a setback for the troubled nation.

Land Reform Under Lula: One Step Forward, One Step Back

Dollars and Sense
By Chris Tilly, Marie Kennedy, and Tarso Luís Ramos
The Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) of Brazil, which has mobilized more than a million Brazilians to occupy and farm large landholdings, was cautiously optimistic when Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva of the Workers Party won the presidency in 2002. “We campaign for Lula,” remarked MST [...]

Fujimori sentenced for corruption

BBC
Ex-Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori has been sentenced to six years in jail for corruption by a court in Lima.
Fujimori, who is already serving prison sentences for crimes including ordering killings by security forces, was in court for a fourth and final trial.
The charges relate to a scandal which brought down his government in 2000.

Land Reform Under Lula: One Step Forward, One Step Back

Dollars and Sense
By Chris Tilly, Marie Kennedy, and Tarso Luís Ramos
The Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) of Brazil, which has mobilized more than a million Brazilians to occupy and farm large landholdings, was cautiously optimistic when Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva of the Workers Party won the presidency in 2002. “We campaign for Lula,” remarked MST [...]