Category Archives: Americas

‘A huge human drama’: how the revolt that began on the Gladstone plantation led to emancipation

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The Demerara Rebellion failed, but it was a step towards ending slavery in the British empire

• William Gladstone: family of former British PM to apologise for links to slavery

The Demerara Rebellion of August 1823 was a pivotal event in the abolition of slavery in the British Empire.

While the transatlantic slave trade, the largest forced migration in human history, was outlawed by Britain in 1807, slavery continued across the colonies. Conditions were brutal in Demerara, one of three provinces that made up British Guiana, where sugar plantations were among the most profitable in the world.

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How William Gladstone defended his father’s role in slavery

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The great Victorian statesman’s glittering career was financed by huge profits made in the 1820s and 30s on Guyanese estates

• William Gladstone: family of former British PM to apologise for links to slavery

William Gladstone’s father, John, was an absentee landlord who never visited his estates in the Caribbean but became fabulously rich from the proceeds of slavery.

His pursuit of profit at the expense of free – and then cheap – labour in Guyana transformed the South American country for ever.

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‘I felt absolutely sick’: John Gladstone’s heir on his family’s role in slavery

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Charlie Gladstone on why the only way he can live with his family’s dark past is to turn it into something positive
• William Gladstone: family of former British PM to apologise for links to slavery

For Charlie Gladstone, the question is not what sort of ancestor he had, but what sort of ancestor he wants to be.

When he learned about John Gladstone’s involvement in slavery he was moved to tears. “I felt absolutely terrible. I really, really hated it. It was a shock and I felt absolutely sick.”

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William Gladstone: family of former British PM to apologise for links to slavery

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Descendants of PM, whose father’s wealth came from sugar plantations, travel to Guyana for 200th anniversary of rebellion by enslaved Africans

The family of one of Britain’s most famous prime ministers will travel to the Caribbean this week to apologise for its historical role in slavery.

Six of William Gladstone’s descendants will arrive in Guyana on Thursday as the country commemorates the 200th anniversary of a rebellion by enslaved people that historians say paved the way for abolition.

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Ecuador prepares for ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ vote to stop oil drilling

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Referendum alongside presidential election will decide whether to halt extraction in Amazon national park

As Ecuadorians go to the polls on Sunday they must not only decide between eight presidential candidates but also vote on an unprecedented referendum question that could set a new course for the oil-reliant nation.

The poll will decide whether to halt drilling at the Yasuní Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini (ITT) oilfield, also known as oil block 43, which lies in an Amazon national park and one of the world’s richest pockets of biodiversity. Ecuador’s largest protected area is also home to the Waorani people and the country’s last Indigenous communities in voluntary isolation, the Tagaeri and Taromenane.

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Guatemala elections to serve as crucial test for democracy in Central America

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Polls show centre-left anti-corruption candidate has the lead as Sunday’s vote takes place against backdrop of smear campaigns

Guatemala is bracing for elections this weekend seen as a key test for the rule of law, amid growing concerns over the state of democracy in Central America. Sunday’s vote takes place against a backdrop of smear campaigns, legal manoeuvring and an apparent effort to force the leading candidate out of the race.

Opinion polls show the centre-left anti-corruption candidate Bernardo Arévalo with a double-digit lead over his opponent, Sandra Torres, a former first lady who in 2011 divorced her husband in a failed attempt to dodge a constitutional ban on close relatives of the incumbent running for the office.

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Canada wildfires: British Columbia in state of emergency as 19,000 flee Yellowknife fire

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Premier says days ahead will be ‘extremely challenging’, as firefighters in neighbouring Northwest Territories fight to save city

The premier of the Canadian province of British Columbia has declared a state of emergency, saying authorities there were “facing the worst wildfire season ever”, as thousands were evacuated from cities east of Vancouver.

Premier David Eby said on Friday night: “Over the past 24 hours, the situation has evolved rapidly and we are in for an extremely challenging situation in the days ahead.”

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As Hurricane Hilary prepares to land, California and Mexico brace for impact

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Southern California gets first tropical storm warning as conditions could potentially affect Baja California peninsula late Friday

Hurricane Hilary, which quickly grew to category 4 strength off Mexico’s Pacific coast, whipping up 145mph winds, could become the first tropical storm to hit southern California in 84 years.

As the hurricane barrels northward, officials have issued the first ever tropical storm watch for the US west coast. Hurricane watches and tropical storm warnings have also been issued for parts of Baja California and mainland Mexico, where fierce winds and rain could cause flooding and landslides.

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Canada fire crews battle to stop wildfire from engulfing city of Yellowknife

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Firefighters work around clock to spread retardant and dig fire breaks as thousands evacuate capital of Northwest Territories

Fire crews are working around the clock to dig fuel breaks, spread fire retardant and drop water from the air in emergency efforts to stop a vast wildfire from destroying the capital city of Canada’s Northwest Territories (NWT).

Teams used backhoes and bulldozers to carve out huge 100m x 15,000m fuel breaks in the surrounding forests, removing trees and brush in hopes of stopping the 1,670 sq km (644 sq mile) blaze from reaching Yellowknife.

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Haiti: 97% of households in some areas suffering from severe hunger

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Of 2,664 households interviewed in Croix-des-Bouquets and Delmas, 2,596 were usually getting one meal a day, survey found

Haiti’s hunger crisis is now so acute that 97% of households in some areas around the capital are suffering from severe hunger, according to a new survey by the humanitarian organization Mercy Corps.

Of 2,664 households interviewed in the neighbourhoods of Croix-des-Bouquets and Delmas, 2,596 were suffering from severe hunger and usually getting no more than one meal a day.

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Ecuador election: assassination looms large as voters prepare to go to polls

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Winner of Sunday’s vote will face huge public demand to tackle violence after killing of candidate Fernando Villavicencio

The brazen assassination of a presidential candidate will hang heavy over Ecuadorian voters as they choose a new president this weekend, following the latest eruption of drug cartel violence in the once-peaceful nation.

The winner of Sunday’s vote will face an overwhelming public demand for security – but may not have the budget or the political capital to overhaul failed crime-fighting policies and fund new ones.

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Colombia’s leftwing president rocked by spiralling narco cash allegations

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Drug money claims involving Gustavo Petro’s son Nicolás could hamper progressive agenda

The lawyer representing a businessman accused of financing killings by paramilitary death squads has admitted that his client donated money to the campaign of Colombia’s first ever leftwing president, Gustavo Petro.

Alfonso Hilsaca knowingly gave 400m pesos ($95,000) to Gustavo Petro’s eldest son as a donation to his father’s electoral campaign, his lawyer said this week – though he said Hilsaca had not expected Nicolás Petro to steal the money for himself.

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Yellowknife wildfire: communication issues and Facebook news ban hamper evacuation efforts

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Canada’s ongoing fight with social media company Meta and the resulting ban has led to difficulties with staying on top of information

Communication issues, fast-spreading rumours and a Facebook news ban have all disrupted evacuation efforts by residents of Yellowknife, in Canada’s Northwest Territories, as they race to leave the city before an out-of-control wildfire hits in the coming day or so.

On Wednesday night, officials told the city’s 20,000 residents they had to be out by Friday at noon (1900 BST) before a massive wildfire gets any closer.

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Yellowknife wildfire: traffic clogs road out of town as residents race to evacuate

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More than 20,000 residents given until noon on Friday to leave home in face of advancing wildfire that could arrive by weekend

Long lines of traffic have clogged the only road out of the Canadian city of Yellowknife, after authorities ordered the first ever evacuation of a capital in the face of an advancing wildfire.

More than 20,000 residents – the entire population – have been given until noon on Friday to leave their homes, as water bombers flew throughout the night and authorities warned that the fire could reach the city by the weekend.

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Hurricane Hilary heads towards Mexico after strengthening from tropical storm

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Storm moves toward Baja California and could bring high winds, surf and rain to southern California

A storm located about 300 miles off the coast of Mexico was upgraded to a hurricane overnight as it heads toward Baja California, potentially bringing heavy rain and winds to the region and the south-western United States this weekend.

Hurricane Hilary formed as a tropical storm about 470 miles off the coast of Manzanillo, Mexico. It is currently about 320 miles (515km) south-west of Manzanillo and is moving about 13mph west-north-west. It is expected to turn north-west on Friday morning.

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Haiti gang leader vows to fight any foreign armed force if it commits abuses

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Jimmy Chérizier, ex-police officer known by nickname ‘Barbecue’, also urges Haitians to mobilize against government

Haiti’s most powerful gang leader has warned that he and his gunmen would fight any international armed force deployed to the Caribbean country if it committed any abuses.

Jimmy Chérizier, a former police officer known by his nickname “Barbecue”, also urged Haitians to mobilize against the government. “We are asking the population to rise up,” he said at a news conference.

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The narco-highway creating chaos in a Honduran rainforest

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If cutting continues along its current pace, most of the Moskitia forest – and the way of life it sustains – could be lost by 2050, much sooner for many parts

Several hours down a clandestine road that slithers through the rotting remains of what was once protected rainforest in north-eastern Honduras, a rusted bulldozer overgrown with vines and a locked gate appeared ahead.

A vinyl banner hanging from a wooden fence advertised the sale of cattle for breeding. Behind, a palm tree stood above an empty corral like a watchtower. The driver got out to retrieve a key, a pistol tucked inside his belt.

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‘Real threat to city’: Yellowknife in Canada evacuates as wildfire nears

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20,000 residents of capital of Northwest Territories ordered to leave after forecast that wildfire 11 miles away could arrive by the weekend

An evacuation order has been issued for Yellowknife in the north-west of Canada as a wildfire comes closer, with a local minister saying: “The fire now represents a real threat to the city.”

Shane Thompson, the environment and climate change minister for the Northwest Territories, said on Wednesday night that the fire could reach the outskirts of Yellowknife by the weekend and was about 17km (11 miles) away.

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Canada calls gender violence an epidemic after triple femicide inquest

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Exclusive: government’s response also indicates Canada intends to criminalise coercive control, a form of intimate partner violence

Gender-based violence is an “epidemic” that “has no place in our country”, Canada’s new justice minister has said in a letter delivered in response to a public inquest into a triple femicide in rural Ontario.

The six-page letter dated 14 August – the federal government’s official response to last summer’s inquest – also indicates Canada intends to pursue the criminalisation of coercive control, a form of intimate partner violence intended to isolate, intimidate and control victims.

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Brazil inquiry into alleged Bolsonaro-era pilfering of official gifts widens

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Close associates of ex-president – and possibly Bolsonaro himself – have been accused of selling off expensive gifts

“Every Rolex tells a story,” the luxury watchmaker once claimed.

Brazilian police believe that slogan is particularly true when it comes to the diamond-set timepiece at the centre of an investigation into the suspected pilfering of high-priced official gifts by close associates of Jair Bolsonaro – and possibly the former president himself.

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