Portside

Labor: Europeans Talk Strategy, Canadians Oppose Venezuela Coup Threat. Streets: Yellow Vests, Sudan, Russia. Jungle: Ecuador's Indigenous. And a New Appreciation of Rosa

“It’s a shame that the Brazilian cavalry hasn’t been as efficient as the Americans, who exterminated the Indians.” — Jair Bolsonaro, quoted in Correio Braziliense newspaper, April 12, 1998, translated.

The Wet’suwet’en struggle in British Columbia is the latest Indigenous resistance that builds on hundreds of years of organizing against colonial Canada.

Just 90 minutes from Toronto, residents of a First Nations community try to improve the water situation as the beverage company extracts from their land.

Since Trump’s election, O’odham on both sides of the border are leading an increasingly outspoken struggle to defend their land and way of life against threats of its destruction...

We often debate the pros and cons of welcoming immigrants here. We seldom consider the U.S. impact on the countries they leave. Ultimately, reducing the flow of refugees requires a just foreign policy, one that values people over profits. You can be sure: As long as rights are trampled, voices are silenced, and lives are cut short — there will be forced migration. Even at great risk. Even without parents. Even with a wall.

The existing proof is conclusive regarding the participation of numerous state agents, high-ranking executives and employees of Desa in the planning, execution and cover-up of the assassination

According to a new study by a group of academic institutions and environmental non-governmental organizations, leaving forests in communal hands cuts carbon emissions, helps local communities and offers long-term economic benefits. The November 1st report says the expansion of tribal land rights is the most cost-effective way to protect forests and sequester carbon and urges national governments to ensure indigenous communities a central role in climate policies.

For Palestinians, Honduras and Guatemala might seem too distant, too irrelevant for our struggle. And while there are some apparent stark differences in our lived realities and in the faces of our oppressors, there are commonalities as well. In Palestine as well as in many parts of Central and Latin America, the oppression is directly sponsored by US military and financial aid. And in all these places our collective survival rests upon defending and preserving our land.

Ecuador will take legal action against an oil company and an American research center for the use of genetic material obtained illegitimately from indigenous peoples.