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Peruvian indigenous land conflict explained
Peru is back on the international human rights community’s blacklist
Peru: Amazonian indigenous people rise up
“Since April 9, an uprising has been occurring in the Peruvian countryside involving the Amazonian indigenous peoples from 1350 communities and a diversity of ethnicities”, said legendary peasant leader, Hugo Blanco in an important message. A translation of Blanco’s appeal for solidarity with this so-far mostly unreported struggle is printed below.
China, Japan and Indonesia’s LNG Ploys
This article outlines recent developments in Indonesia’s LNG export relationship with both Japan and China. It assess what is driving Indonesian policy in the areas of energy and investment, with particular reference to China.
No such thing as free trade
When Canadian Minister of International Trade Stockwell Day signed the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in Peru on November 21, it was a happy day for Canada’s oil and gas sector, but the deal was celebrated instead as a landmark for human rights and democracy in Colombia.
Pooling of Resources Critical to Resolving SADC Energy Shortages
Regional stakeholders in the energy industry meeting in Tanzania have called for cooperation, integration and pooling of resources in the energy sector as the only way of dealing with energy shortages in southern Africa.
Selling out Colombia’s ’tierra querida’
Colombian indigenous took their protest to Colombia’s capital Bogotá this weekend. Their struggle is about controlling the land in which they have lived and taken care of for hundreds of years.
EU free trade agreement with Central America to include ethanol
The European Commission has offered to permanently scrap import duties on ethanol from Central America as part of ongoing discussions over an Association Agreement between the two regions.
Bolivia: Two years of ’post-neoliberal’ Indigenous nationalism — a balance sheet
The right laments the "isolation" of the Bolivian economy from the global currents of trade because it has put three crosses against the free trade agreement with the United States and there isn’t the will to take part in an agreement with the European Union, the "biggest markets on the planet".
Chevron lobbies White House to pressure Ecuador to stop $12bin Amazon pollution lawsuit
Chevron is being accused of promoting geopolitical blackmail in its efforts to stave off a lawsuit accusing it of contaminating the Ecuadorian rain forest. Nearly 30,000 Amazon residents are seeking $12 billion from Chevron for dumping billions of gallons of toxic oil waste. According to Newsweek, the oil giant is urging the Bush administration to yank special trade preferences for Ecuador if the country’s government doesn’t force the Amazon residents to drop the case.
The Japan-Indonesia Economic Partnership: Agreement between equals?
The Japanese side is strongly selling the concept of capacity-building in Indonesia in key areas such as the auto parts industry. Despite such promises, it is difficult to envision how such nascent industries will compete with the now cheaper Japanese imports.
US, China sign energy, environment accord
The US and China have signed a framework for an agreement to define cooperation on energy and environmental issues and will soon launch negotiations to reach a comprehensive investment and financial services treaty.
Ocean transport an emerging barrier to trade
The unprecedented impact of rising energy prices on the cost of ocean transport means that moving goods from one nation to another has become a bigger barrier to global trade than tariffs.
Venezuela to renegotiate Dutch investment treaty
Venezuela plans to renegotiate a bilateral investment treaty with the Netherlands because oil companies have started "abusing" the agreement, Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said on Wednesday.
Venezuela: Gov’t celebrates British ruling against Exxon
Venezuela celebrated, as a triumph for countries of the developing South, Tuesday’s ruling in its favour by a British court in a legal dispute with US oil giant Exxon Mobil, which overturned an earlier court order to freeze around 12 billion dollars in Venezuelan assets.
Emerson hints oil would be back on table if U.S. reopens NAFTA
Trade Minister David Emerson suggested the United States has a sweet deal over access to Canada’s oil under the North American Free Trade Agreement, saying the two Democratic presidential candidates calling for renegotiations may not know just how good the U.S. has it under the deal.
The Mediterranean Union: Dividing the Middle East and North Africa
The Middle East and North Africa are in the process of being divided into spheres of influence between the European Union and the United States. Essentially the division of the Middle East and North Africa are between Franco-German and Anglo-American interests. There is a unified stance within NATO in regards to this re-division.
Corporate globalisation: Standing at the end of the road
Corporate globalization, savagely embodied by NAFTA, is not just a threat to Mexican farmers and rural villagers. The economic, health, and social damage created by industrial agriculture, corporate globalization, and the patenting and gene-splicing of transgenic plants and animals, are inexorably leading to universal "bioserfdom " for farmers, deteriorating health for consumers, a destabilized climate (energy intensive industrial agriculture and long-distance food transportation and processing account, directly or indirectly, for 40% of all climate-disrupting greenhouse gases), tropical deforestation, and a rapid depletion of oil supplies.
Turkey will negotiate a free-trade agreement with Arab Gulf states in 2 years
Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Wednesday his country planned to sign a free-trade agreement with Arab Gulf countries after two years of negotiations with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council. «We are keen on buying Qatar’s gas,» Gul told reporters.
India-GCC: Petrochem industry fears free trade with the Gulf
A leading industry body has urged the Indian government to keep key petrochemical products outside the purview of the proposed free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council, fearing unfair competitive advantage.
Europe charms ‘poor’ Africa in exchange for oil
It feels great to watch those who once colonised Africa shift and fidget uneasily as they build up a case for “partnership” — if only the rules of the game were clear and genuine. But there is also the nagging thought: Will Africa play it right this time round?