August 3, 2012

Brazil backslides on protecting the Amazon

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By Paulo Prada
ITAITUBA, Brazil | Fri Aug 3, 2012 3:49pm BST
(Reuters) - Ivo Lubrinna has been wildcatting for gold in the jungle here for more than 30 years. It's a notoriously messy business, as crews strip away topsoil in the forest and along riverbanks and use mercury and other pollutants to draw precious metal from mud.

For the past two years, Lubrinna has held a second job: environment secretary for this riverside city of 100,000 people, gateway to the oldest national park and half a dozen nature reserves in Brazil's vast Amazon wilderness. As such, it's his job to protect the area from the depredations of loggers, poachers, squatters - and gold miners

...Meanwhile...

The president is clear in her reasoning: Unleashing further development in the Amazon rainforest, an area seven times the size of France, is essential to maintaining the sort of economic growth that over the past decade lifted 30 million Brazilians out of poverty and made Brazil the world's sixth-largest economy.

The government intends to build 21 dams in the Amazon through 2021 at a cost of 96 billion reais (30.77 billion pounds), as planned under Rousseff when she was still working for her mentor and predecessor, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The dams are necessary, she says, to meet the energy demands of Brazil's growing consumer class.

And Brazil still has 60 million people living in poverty. "I have to explain to people how they are going to eat, how they'll have access to water, how they'll have access to energy," she said in a speech in April.

That message resonates with many Brazilians. Rousseff enjoys an enviable approval rating of 77 percent, according to a June poll....

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/08/03/uk-brazil-environment-backslide-idUKBRE8720GQ20120803

August 3, 2012

Murders of Trade Unionist in Colombia Decreased 'Significantly'

Violence against trade unionists in Colombia decreased 'significantly': ILO


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The International Labour Organisation (ILO) said Thursday violence against Colombia’s worker’s union members has decreased "significantly" in recent years.

“We have increased measures to fight violence against trade unionists and if we compare information from the past ten years we observe a significant reduction,” said the ILO chairwoman Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry at a seminar attended by representatives from Colombia’s Interior Ministry.

"More resources have been assigned, more people are working with this goal and more effective measures are on the way," the ILO official said.

Nevertheless, Doumbia-Henry said violence against Colombian unionists "still exists" and "we need zero tolerance for this plague."

The ILO chairwoman said the creation of the National Unity of Protection, a Colombian government organization dedicated to workers rights, represented an important step towards the improvement of the security of labor rights workers.

According to a report released in early June by the International Trade Union Confederation, Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world for unionist workers. The document shows that in 2011 at least 29 union workers were killed in Colombia on account of their union work.

http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/25387-violence-against-trade-unionists-in-colombia-decreased-significantly-ilo.html

August 3, 2012

How to Standout as a Gringo in Latin America

Have you ever wanted to standout obnoxiously in a foreign country? Tired of panama hats, Under Armour®, and high performance cameras?

If you are gringo on a busy schedule, but still enjoy being stared down by everyone in town, then look no further. Introducing the all-in-one Alien Suit™. Finally be recognized as the extraterrestrial everyone thinks you are!

EZ Fit™
Get rid of your cumbersome fanny packs, roller suitcases, and noise cancelling headphones and join the new wave. Simply force your legs into skin tight latex.

Its sleek design incorporates the classic narrow head look with that signature I want to devour you with my face smile. Using advanced polymers bathed in dark green paint, this suit really captures the essence of mal-formed alien ribs.

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"Hola amigos...quieren compartir una cerveza con migo?"

Read more here: http://revpana.wordpress.com/2012/08/03/how-to-standout-in-a-foreign-country/