Latin America News

Since the beginning of the operation, government environmental agents have been destroying the logistical support of illegal mining, such as an airplane, a helicopter and a tractor, and have seized weapons and boats. Image courtesy of IBAMA by Ricardo Campos.

Lula government scrambles to overcome Yanomami crisis, but hurdles remain

Jenny Gonzales 6 Mar 2023

Behind Mario Luna Romero, a Yaqui spokesperson and water defender is the Plutarco Elías Calles (El Novillo) on the left and the Independencia Aqueduct on the right. Image by Abimael Ochoa Hernández.

Despite court ruling, Yaqui water rights abuses ignored

Aimee Gabay 10 Oct 2024

Isolated Indigenous Mashco Piro men and boys on a beach in the Peruvian Amazon. Image courtesy of Survival International.

Peruvian logger loses FSC label after latest clash with isolated Mashco Piro

Dan Collyns 4 Sep 2024

Dozens of isolated Indigenous Mashco Piro men and boys on a beach in the Peruvian Amazon. Image courtesy of Survival International.

After isolated tribes’ rare appearance in Peruvian Amazon, big questions remain for their future

Dan Collyns 29 Jul 2024

Riding the Tren Maya: A journey on Mexico’s controversial new railway line

Romi Castagnino 5 Jun 2024

Is the Maya Train worth all its environmental damage?

Caitlin Cooper, Max Radwin 5 Jun 2024

‘Our rights are on trial in Brazil’: Interview with Indigenous movement pioneer Brasílio Priprá

Amanda Magnani 6 May 2024

Indigenous Tolupan people cultivating crops in Yoro, Honduras

Agroforestry project sows seeds of hope in drought-hit Honduras

Sonam Lama Hyolmo 26 Mar 2024

Recently cleared land for an oil palm plantation in Peru.

Critics decry controversial bill that loosens deforestation restrictions in Peru

Aimee Gabay 9 Feb 2024

The new 348,140-hectare (860,272-acre) Sierra Tecuani Biosphere Reserve in the Mexican state of Guerrero. Image by Joaquín Núñez Medrano.

Mexico announces 20 new protected areas despite budget cuts

Aimee Gabay 25 Jan 2024

The Cape Orange National Park off the coast of Amapá state in the extreme northeast of Brazil.

Mega oil and gas auction in the Brazilian Amazon may threaten Indigenous lands

Aimee Gabay 15 Dec 2023

The Xingu River in the Amazonian state of Pará. Image by Cícero Pedrosa Neto / Amazon Watch.

Mining company Belo Sun sues environmental defenders in intimidation tactic, NGOs say

Aimee Gabay 12 Dec 2023

Portrait of Quinto Inuma. Image courtesy of Quinto Inuma.

Safety of Peru’s land defenders in question after killing of Indigenous leader in the Amazon

Geraldine Santos, Gloria Alvitres 7 Dec 2023

Delio de Jesús Suárez Gómez has become a bee expert. He is 58 years old, belongs to the Tucano peoples, and has turned to meliponiculture to help secure the future of his community and the surrounding forest. Image by Jose Guarnizo.

The man who made a pact with wild bees in Colombia’s Amazon

Jose Guarnizo 1 Dec 2023

Maria Bernadete Pacífico was the leader of Pitanga of Palmares quilombo, located in Bahia state. Image courtesy of CONAQ.

Son of slain Quilombola leader will still strive for community’s rights

Jenny Gonzales 5 Sep 2023

Squirrel monkeys are one of many creatures of Yasuni National Park. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler / Mongabay

Ecuador referendum halts oil extraction in Yasuní National Park

Maxwell Radwin 21 Aug 2023

Jaguars still roam the Chaco, but they require large tracts of contiguous forest to survive and reproduce. As forest is destroyed, fewer of these intact landscapes exist. Photo by Eduardo Merille via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Report links financial giants to deforestation of Paraguay’s Gran Chaco

Aimee Gabay 13 Apr 2023

Indigenous Amazon forests absorb noxious fumes and prevent diseases from wildfires, study suggests

Jenny Gonzales 11 Apr 2023

Soraida Chindoy, 38, Indigenous leader from the Inga community of the Condagua reservation. She has been part of the movement to stop the mining project from the beginning. Image by Antonio Cascio for Mongabay.

Plan to mine ‘clean energy’ metals in Colombian Amazon splits communities

Natalia Torres Garzón 22 Mar 2023

Malocas (traditional longhouses) of Indigenous communities in isolation on the Peru-Brazil border. Image by ORPIO.

Peru congress debates stripping isolated Indigenous people of land and protections

Yvette Sierra Praeli 16 Mar 2023

Since the beginning of the operation, government environmental agents have been destroying the logistical support of illegal mining, such as an airplane, a helicopter and a tractor, and have seized weapons and boats. Image courtesy of IBAMA by Ricardo Campos.

Lula government scrambles to overcome Yanomami crisis, but hurdles remain

Jenny Gonzales 6 Mar 2023

People in San Juan Raya decided to join a research project to grow agave for mezcal sustainably. Image by Noel Rojo for Mongabay.

Amid global mezcal craze, scientists and communities try out sustainable plantations

Magdaléna Rojo 10 Feb 2023

Mennonites in the municipality of Bacalar.

Indigenous communities in Latin America decry the Mennonites’ expanding land occupation

Alexa Eunoé Vélez Zuazo 26 Jan 2023

Man spraying pesticides in woods. Image by Gilmer Diaz Estela via Pexels.

Poisoned by pesticides: Health crisis deepens in Brazil’s Indigenous communities

Aimee Gabay 16 Jan 2023

11. Alda prepares branches of wild rosemary (Baccharis dracunculifolia) to use as a duster to keep bees away during handling. An essential plant for bees, the wild rosemary also has a great capacity for regeneration and can be successfully used in the recovery of degraded areas. Lar de Pesquisas Agroecológicas Abacateiro, Egídio Brunetto Agroecological Settlement, Lagoinha, Paraíba Valley, Brazil. Image by Inaê Guion.

Photos: Newcomer farmers in Brazil embrace bees, agroforestry and find success

Inaê Guion 2 Dec 2022

Waikas, Raraima, Brazil September 1st 2022 Robervaldo a young Yek'wana that used to work in a Garimpo. Photographed in his community Waikas near the venezuelian border. Photo © Victor Raison 2022, all rights reserved.

Indigenous youths lured by the illegal mines destroying their Amazon homeland

Victor Raison; Jean-Mathieu Albertini 30 Nov 2022

A member of an indigenous community in Putumayo watches over his community’s territory. Photo courtesy of Michelle Carrere.

As gangs battle over Peru’s drug trafficking routes, communities and forest are at risk

Michelle Carrere 8 Nov 2022

Tewe Dayuma Michela Conta, one of the girls kidnapped from the Tagaeri and Taromenane territory, speak during the trial. Image courtesy of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0).

First-ever regional court case involving rights of uncontacted peoples awaits verdict

Kimberley Brown 13 Oct 2022

A recently contacted Machiguenga girlon the outskirts of Manu National Park in Cusco. Image by Ronald Reategui.

Amazon reserve for uncontacted people moving forward amid battle over oil fields

Dimitri Selibas 30 Sep 2022

A resident of Asunción Mita confirms his identity and signature to vote in a school classroom during a municipal referendum on mining. Image by Sandra Cuffe.

Guatemalans strongly reject mining project in local referendum

Sandra Cuffe 23 Sep 2022

European bill passes to ban imports of deforestation-linked commodities

André Schröder 15 Sep 2022

gold mine

Can Two New Bills Reshape Indigenous Rights and Illegal Gold Mining in Suriname?

Charles Lyons, Charlie Espinosa 14 Sep 2022

Indigenous Guards from the mountains of Miraflores, Quinchía, department of Risaralda, Colombia. Photo courtesy of Sandra Bejarano Aguirre.

A 13-year fight against gold mining in Colombian community marches on

Maritza Palma Lozano / La Cola de Rata 24 Aug 2022

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