Category Archives: Americas

US state department declassifies more documents about Pinochet’s 1973 coup

Posted on by

Papers reveal how Richard Nixon was briefed on impending military takeover in Chile that ushered in 17-year dictatorship

Two more US Department of State documents relating to Augusto Pinochet’s coup d’état in Chile have been declassified, revealing how President Richard Nixon was briefed on the impending military takeover.

The president’s daily brief from 11 September 1973, the morning of the US-backed military coup, informed Nixon that Chilean military officers were “determined to restore political and economic order”, but “may still lack an effectively coordinated plan that would capitalize on the widespread civilian opposition”.

Continue reading...

Family of former British PM apologises for enslaver past in Guyana

Posted on by

Descendants of William Gladstone urge British government to discuss reparations in the Caribbean

The descendants of the former British prime minister William Gladstone have apologised for their family’s past as enslavers in Guyana and urged the UK to discuss reparations in the Caribbean.

Gladstone’s father was one of the largest enslavers in the parts of the Caribbean colonised by Britain.

Continue reading...

Growing number of countries consider making ecocide a crime

Posted on by

Mexico latest country where government is considering passing new laws to criminalise environmental destruction

A growing number of countries are considering introducing laws to make ecocide a crime.

Mexico is the latest country where politicians are seeking to deter environmental damage – and to get justice for its victims – by criminalising it. Karina Marlen Barrón Perales, congresswoman for Nuevo León, has submitted a bill to the Mexican congress introducing a new crime of “ecocide”.

Continue reading...

Guyana’s president asks European slave traders’ descendants to pay reparations

Posted on by

Irfaan Ali also demands posthumous charges for crimes against humanity for traders and enslavers

The president of Guyana has called on descendants of European slave traders to offer to pay reparations to right historical wrongs.

Irfaan Ali also demanded that those involved in the transatlantic slave trade and African enslavement be posthumously charged for crimes against humanity.

Continue reading...

Brics to more than double with admission of six new countries

Posted on by

Major expansion as economic bloc that includes Russia and China attempts to provide counterweight to the US and western allies

The Brics group of big emerging economies has announced the admission of six new members, in an attempt to reshape the global world order and provide a counterweight to the US and its allies.

From the beginning of next year, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Argentina, the UAE and Ethiopia will join the current five members – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – it was announced at a summit in Johannesburg on Thursday.

Continue reading...

Quebec judge gives go-ahead for lawsuit over sterilisation of Indigenous women

Posted on by

Three doctors accused of performing or coercing women into sterilisation procedures

A judge in Quebec has given the go-ahead for a class action lawsuit over the forced sterilisation of Indigenous women in the Canadian province.

Two Atikamekw women known publicly by only their initials, UT and MX, brought the lawsuit against three doctors they accuse of performing or coercing women into sterilisation procedures in a small, remote town in northern Quebec.

Continue reading...

Amazon’s emissions ‘doubled’ under first half of Bolsonaro presidency

Posted on by

New study published in Nature says period was as destructive as record 2016 El Niño drought and heatwave

The first half of Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency was so destructive for the Amazon that it was comparable to the record 2016 El Niño drought and heatwave in terms of carbon emissions, according to scientists.

Annual emissions from the world’s largest rainforest roughly doubled in 2019 and 2020, compared with the 2010 to 2018 average, according to a new study published in Nature, as swaths of forest were deliberately cleared and burned for cattle ranching and farming during the first two years of the far-right leader’s time in office.

Continue reading...

Climate crisis made spate of Canada wildfires twice as likely, scientists find

Posted on by

Burning of fossil fuels made fires at least twice as likely, and the fire-prone weather at least 20% more intense, study shows

The conditions that caused Canada’s extreme spate of wildfires this year, which resulted in parts of the US and Canada to be blanketed in toxic smoke, were made at least twice as likely due to the human-caused climate crisis, scientists have found.

The 2023 Canadian wildfire season has been the largest, and most devastating, on record, with nearly 14m hectares (34m acres) burned, an area larger than Greece. The extent of these fires, more than double the size of the previous record, caused more than a dozen fatalities and thousands of evacuations, and sent a plume of smoke that unfurled as far as Norway and, for a time in June, turned the sky above New York City orange.

Continue reading...

Brics group looks to expand at summit despite divisions among key members

Posted on by

Experts say India concerned about expansion and any overt anti-west turn as leaders fly into South Africa

Leaders from developing countries representing almost half the world’s population including China and Russia are meeting in South Africa for a key summit aimed at reinforcing their alliance as a counterweight to the west.

The Brics grouping summit in Johannesburg is being hosted by the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, and brings together the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, as well the presidents of China, Xi Jinping, and Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Continue reading...

Ecuadorians vote to halt oil drilling in biodiverse Amazonian national park

Posted on by

Referendum result protecting Yasuní reserve will benefit huge range of species as well as ‘uncontacted’ Indigenous peoples

Ecuadorians have voted in a historic referendum to halt the development of all new oilwells in the Yasuní national park in the Amazon, one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet.

Voters opted to safeguard the unique biosphere by a margin of nearly 20% with more than 90% of the ballot counted – with more than 58% in favour and 41% against, according to Ecuador’s National Electoral Comission. Voting took place in the first round of presidential elections on Sunday.

Continue reading...

Anti-corruption campaigner wins Guatemala presidential election

Posted on by

Bernado Arévalo’s surprise victory comes at time of growing concern for state of democracy in Central America

Central America’s democratic downswing has received a powerful correction after the centrist anti-corruption crusader Bernardo Arévalo was elected president of Guatemala – a result almost inconceivable just a few weeks ago.

Alongside El Salvador and Nicaragua, Guatemala was one of several Central American countries to have suffered a troubling authoritarian slide in recent years with judges and prosecutors forced into exile and a leading journalist thrown in jail.

Continue reading...

Murder of Black community activist, 72, in Brazil prompts calls for action

Posted on by

Maria Bernadete Pacífico, whose son was shot dead in 2017, killed by gunmen at her home in Bahia

Human rights organisations in Brazil are clamouring for justice following the murder of a Black community activist who had been receiving threats.

Maria Bernadete Pacífico, a community and religious leader in the Pitanga dos Palmares quilombo – an Afro-Brazilian settlement of descendants of escaped slaves in the north-east state of Bahia – was killed on Thursday evening.

Continue reading...

‘Gigantic step backwards’: far-right gains in Chile threaten abortion rights

Posted on by

Concerns mount as ultraconservative Republican party’s ‘right to life’ proposal could be enshrined in constitution

The hard-won right to an abortion in Chile is at risk of being overturned, activists have warned, as the country’s far right moves to enshrine protection for “the life of the unborn child and maternity” in a new constitution.

Concerns have grown over the ultraconservative Republican party’s plans to pare back reproductive rights in Chile as it now holds significant sway in the fate of the country’s constitutional saga.

“Clearly, there is great concern over the risks to women and children implied by the suggested amendments, which threaten the most basic rights of human beings,” said Lieta Vivaldi, the director of Alberto Hurtado University’s gender and social justice programme.

Continue reading...

Ally of former leftist Ecuador president to face tycoon’s son in runoff election

Posted on by

Luisa González, who has pledged to revive Rafael Correa’s social programmes, to run against Daniel Noboa in October

A protege of Ecuador’s former leftist president Rafael Correa will face the son of one of the country’s richest men in a runoff presidential vote in October, after first-round voting on Sunday failed to produce an outright winner.

With more than three-quarters of ballots counted, Luisa González, who has promised to revive Correa’s social programmes, was tallying just over 33% support, while Daniel Noboa, the son of the prominent banana businessman and former presidential candidate Álavaro Noboa, was on 24%.

Continue reading...

Canada wildfires: Trudeau deploys military to tackle blazes across British Columbia

Posted on by

More than 35,000 residents under evacuation orders across province, while flames are being held at bay 15km from Yellowknife in Northwest Territories

Canada will send in armed forces to tackle fast-spreading wildfires in British Columbia, prime minister Justin Trudeau has said, as more than 35,000 people were put under evacuation orders in the western province.

British Columbia imposed a state of emergency late on Friday, giving officials more power to deal with fire risks. The main fire was centered around Kelowna, a city 300km (180 miles) east of Vancouver with a population of about 150,000.

Continue reading...

Ecuadorians vote for new president in election marred by candidate’s murder

Posted on by

Security is high since the murder of Fernando Villavicencio as candidates hope to overturn crime rates and a struggling economy

Ecuadorians are voting to choose a new president they hope will lead the country out of a wave of violence and economic troubles, after a campaign darkened by bloodshed.

Candidates have pledged to fight sharp increases in crime, which the current government blames on drug gangs, and improve the struggling economy, whose woes have caused a rise in unemployment and migration.

Continue reading...

Hurricane Hilary approaches California amid warnings of ‘serious threat’

Posted on by

‘Catastrophic’ flooding expected despite weakening to category 1 cyclone after wildfires in Maui and Washington state

Hurricane Hilary was closing in on southern California on Sunday as federal emergency officials, stretched by deadly wildfires in Maui and Washington state, warned of a “serious impact and threat”.

Despite weakening to a category 1 cyclone, the storm was still packing winds of 80mph as it approached Mexico and the south-western US, with “catastrophic” flooding expected to follow landfall.

Continue reading...

Canada wildfires: thousands told to flee in British Columbia, as drone-flying tourists criticised

Posted on by

Minister says it is a matter of life and death for residents near city of Kelowna, as drone operators warned against ‘irresponsible’ activity in fire areas

Officials in the Canadian province of British Columbia have implored tens of thousands of residents to heed warnings and evacuate from areas threatened by “severe and fast-changing” wildfires, and urged “irresponsible” wildfire tourists to stop flying drones in the area.

“We cannot stress strongly enough how critical it is to follow evacuation orders when they are issued,” Bowinn Ma, the province’s minister of emergency management, said on Saturday. “They are a matter of life and death not only for the people in those properties, but also for the first responders who will often go back to try to implore people to leave.”

Continue reading...

Washington state wildfire leaves one dead and nearly 200 structures destroyed

Posted on by

Evacuations ordered after wind-fueled blaze expands unchecked near eastern city of Spokane and shuts highway

A wind-driven wildfire in eastern Washington state has destroyed at least 185 structures, closed a major highway and left one person dead, authorities have said.

The blaze began shortly after midday on Friday on the west side of Medical Lake, about 15 miles (24km) west of Spokane, and then expanded, state Department of Natural Resources spokesperson Isabelle Hoygaard said on Saturday.

Continue reading...

Hurricane Hilary downgraded amid warnings of ‘catastrophic’ flooding

Posted on by

Drowning reported in Baja California peninsula ahead of storm’s arrival on Saturday night before hitting southern California on Sunday

Hurricane Hilary was downgraded to a category 1 storm as it moved towards the Baja California region on Saturday evening, amid warnings of deadly flooding.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in an advisory on Saturday night that “catastrophic and life-threatening flooding” was still likely and that the storm had maximum sustained winds of 90mph (145km/h).

Continue reading...