Theory of Degrowth Questions Validity of Extractive Economy

By Marcela Valente, Tierramerica | Rebelion. A number of Latin American countries have achieved economic growth by an extractivist model of production that increases the gross domestic product (GDP) at the cost of the intensive use of gradually exhausted natural resources such as: large-scaling mining with cyanide to cause major environmental impacts, or monoculture plantations for export, at the expense of diversified rural production.

Haitians Trafficked to Brazil to Work for Problematic French Utility GDF-Suez

By Mario Osava, IPS. A year ago, unrest was predicted to break out at Jirau because: growth in wages has not kept up with the demand for labor, the large concentration of workers at enormous construction sites is leading to worker solidarity in the fight for improved wages and conditions, and the dam is being built by a foreign utility (GDF Suez) that provides terrible working conditions and allows little personal time to the workers. (English | Spanish)

International Network of Activists Fight Mining Giant Vale: ‘Worst Company in The World’

By Fabíola Ortiz, IPS. Brazilian mining giant Vale was named the “Worst Company in the World” by the Public Eye Awards in January 2012. A Report on Vale’s Unsustainability (PDF included) accuses the company of 15 worker deaths between 2010 and 2012, and of massive emissions of greenhouse gases and particulate matter into the atmosphere. The report was drafted by an International Network of People Affected by Vale, including 30 social movements from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile and Mozambique. (English | Spanish)

The Man Who Planted Trees

By Frederic Back, You Tube | Based on Jean Giono’s short story “The Man Who Planted Trees.” Director Frédéric Back’s marvellous interpretation of Giono’s allegory won an Oscar for short animation. The story is a tribute to hard work and patience. (English | French | Portuguese | Spanish, 30 min.)

Francoist Nun Charged With Theft of Babies from Poor Single Women

By Inés Benítez, IPS, Cambio3 | NY Daily News, YouTube. Eighty-year-old Catholic nun, María Gómez, is charged with involvement in the 1982 disappearance of a child who was reunited as an adult with her biological mother in 2011. The Spanish nun is alleged to have belonged to a network of francoist doctors, priests, nuns, public notaries and judges who stole babies from clinics and hospitals, mainly linked to religious organizations, and sold them to infertile couples. Such networks had continued after the Franco era, well into the 70′s and 80′s, in Spain. (English | Spanish)

Nicaraguan Women and Their Revolution

By Tortilla con sal, You Tube. Nicaraguan women talk in this inspiring video about leaving behind a past as domestic servants and factory workers. Now women feel encouraged to study to improve themselves, still raise children alone but with hope for the future, and exercise political power in their communities.(English | Spanish)

Interview of Hezbollah Leader Nasrallah with Assange Opens “The World of Tomorrow”

Interview of Hassan Nasrallah with Julian Assange, Cuba Debate (RT, Reuters) | Translation by Dady Chery for Haiti Chery. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who is under house arrest in London, made his debut today as the host of a Russia Today television show with the first interview in 6 years of Shiite guerrilla and Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Saramago’s ‘Lost and Found in Time’ 2nd Novel Claraboya Published

By Granma | Elespectador | NY Times | Thomas Christopher’s blog | You Tube| Haiti Chery. Jose Saramago wrote Claraboya in the 1950′s but received no word until 40 years later from the publisher to whom it was sent. The dictatorial regime of Antonio de Oliveira Salazar in Portugal is presumed to have censored the novel, and in the end Saramago decided that it should be published posthumously. It has just appeared in Portuguese and Spanish — the latter version being from Pinal del Rio, Saramago’s widow and translator. (English | Spanish)

Abuse of Antibiotics in Agroindustry Generates Deadly Drug-Resistant Bacteria

By Julio Godoy, IPS | You Tube | Editorial comment by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Five prematurely born children died in the northern German city of Bremen from infections acquired in a hospital. The infections involved highly antibiotic-resistant bacteria detected in poultry sold in markets, and the hospitals are believed to have acquired these bacteria from patients who had been in contact with the contaminated poultry. (English | Spanish)

Argentina Remembers Children Stolen During Dictatorship: Trial Finally Under Way

By Marcela Valente, IPS | Staff, Cuba Debate. The Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo are finally getting heard in court after 35 years of demanding their stolen grandchildren. Eight former officials of the brutal Argentinian dictatorship that began on March 24, 1976 and lasted 7 years, are accused of “taking, retaining, hiding and changing the identities of” 34 children born to political prisoners held in clandestine prisons during the dictatorship. UPDATE on Mar 27th: Closing arguments. (English | Spanish)

Ugandans Fight U.S. Export of Virulent Anti-Homosexual Hatred | Murders of Iraqi LGBT

By Charundi Panagoda and Jim Lobe, IPS | Karlos Zurutuza, IPS. The U.S. civil rights group Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the Sexual Minorities of Uganda (SMUG) against a U.S. right-wing evangelist leader for inciting hatred against homosexuals in Uganda that has led to the murder of activist David Kato and other kinds of violence. Meanwhile, dozens of bodies of murdered gays and lesbians are appearing in Baghdad’s streets, and over 720 LGBT persons have been killed in Iraq in the past 6 years. A rhetoric of likening gays to satanists is associated with the violence in both Uganda and Iraq. (English | Spanish)

Brazilians Push to Prosecute Military Junta’s Human Rights Crimes, Pushed Back by Judge

By Fabiana Frayssinet, IPS | Staff, Human Rights Watch | Colin M. Snider, Americas South and North. In the first serious move by Brazil to confront the cases of murder, disappearance and torture from its junta years, Transitional Justice (Justiça de Transición), a group of public prosecutors from several Brazilian states, plans to prosecute the forced disappearances during the 1964-1985 dictatorship based on the concept that these kidnappings are ongoing crimes. As their first case, Brazilian federal prosecutors announced they would try retired Col. Sebastião Curió Rodrigues de Moura for “aggravated kidnapping” for his alleged role in 5 enforced disappearances in Pará state in 1974. UPDATES: March 20th, Judge Joao Matos halts prosecution; prosecutors plan to appeal. (English | Spanish | Portuguese)

Land, Water and Resistance

By Raúl Zibechi, La Jornada | English translation by Chiapas Support Committee. What is happening in Latin America in relation to water, land, and biodiversity is something more than a succession of local conflicts. The struggle for the commons is at the top of the agenda in the entire region.

Brazil Construction Boom Eases Integration of Haitians

By Mario Osava, IPS. There are nearly 700 Haitians in Porto Velho, a Brazilian city of 436,000. The Santo Antonio hydroelectric plant in Porto Velho has hired 100 Haitians to work in carpentry, construction, electricity and hydraulics for a dam. Odebrecht has hired 42 Haitians to help build Teles Pires, another hydroelectric dam 800 km east of Porto Velho, 40 to work on a shipyard building submarines in Itaguaí near Rio de Janeiro, and 22 for a sugar plant in the central state of Goiás.

Haiti Chery

Dancing With Our Gods | En Dansant Avec Nos Loas

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