On March 4th, the Italian textile consortium Benetton filed a lawsuit in an Argentinian court that seeks to evict a Mapuche community from the land known as “Santa Rosa.” In February of last year, the Mapuche reclaimed the land after being violently evicted 5 years earlier.

The company claims the tract of land should be returned to them because the Mapuche didn’t listen to the order of Provincial Judge Omar Magellan, who forbade the community from making changes (that irreparably damage) the land.

So what are the changes? A gate, a …

This ten-minute video, “Por el Territorio Wichi” (For the Wichi Territory) brings you to the heart of Indigenous struggle. It looks at the Wichi of northern Argentina, who’s land has been steadily invaded over the last 100 years.

Since then, loggers have felled their forest, and settlers have introduced cattle. These cattle not only turn the land already stolen from the Wichí into desert, but also break into the tiny plots of land which the Wichí have managed to hold on to, destroying their crops. The Wichí have been left almost landless and without their livelihood. The local Salta authorities have, …

Tired of putting up with the Argentine Justice system’s inaction, several campesinos from the La Rinconada’s community in Rio Seco, Cordoba recently cut down 10 thousand meters of fence that was illegally placed on their lands by an industrialist.

Representatives from the community had talked with the government about this matter on three separate occasions, pointing out that it was a blatant theft which was restricting them and preventing them from living. The public prosecutor assured them that he would personally take action, but the only action they saw …

Piedra del Aguila, an oil corporation funded by US capital, is occupying lands belonging to Mapuche community Wentru Tahuel Leufu– and the Argentine government has responded by giving the land to Piedra del Aguila. And to top it off, the company filed an appeal against community, which was promptly accepted by Cutralco’s Judge Graciela Blanco–overtly ignoring the guaranteed rights of the Mapuche and all other Indigenous People in Argentina.

From Real World Radio - In an interview with El Arka radio station, Curruhuinca described the situation suffered by …

There has been another attempt at forcefully evicting a family from their land — this time, in the Mendoza Province of Argentina. The Villa Atuel company claims land that the Cubillo family has lived on for nearly 60 years — and wants them off. But the company doesn’t even own the land in question, and everyone knows it—including the Peru Judiciary, though they were obliged to support the claim and order police to remove the family.

From Real World Radio - Real World Radio’s correspondents in Argentina Raquel Schrott …

A festival has recently begun in Buenos Aires, Argentina — in an effort to support the thousands of People affected by Yacyreta dam, one of the longest–running unfinished hydroelectric projects in the world. Construction of the dam began in 1979 — and so far over 80,000 People have been effected.

The Dam, located on the Paraná River, is a collaborative effort between Argentina and Paraguay. Widely regarded as a monument to corruption,
the project has thus far been plagued with political delays, corruption, disputes, and abuses/repression of the …

On June 24 and 25, Indigenous Peoples from around Argentina gathered for an historic event — the First National Meeting of Indigenous Nations and Peoples of Argentina. During the meeting, intensive discussions were held about land, identity, and other matters. And at the end, a consensus was reached: “We are uniting and joining forces, like small rivers which flow together to form a giant, revolutionary river.”

From Upside Down World “We have never been down on our knees, for over 500 years we have been on our feet fighting and …

A community from chubut province has filed a criminal action lawsuit against Luciano Benetton, whom they hold responsible from usurping Mapuche lands.

From Real World Radio A member of Santa Rosa Leleque community, Mauro Millan, said in an interview with Mas Voces radio station that Benetton is Argentina’s “largest estate-owner” and that he owns 300 thousand hectares only in Chubut.

The plaintiffs estimate that the business group owns 970 thousand hectares in the Patagonia, where it produces 10 per cent of the wool used for its clothing.

Millan reminded that in …

Venezuela’s Banco del Sur: The End of the IMF in Latin America
by Paul McIvor, www.upsidedownworld.org
March 21, 2007

Speaking to an audience at Columbia Business School in February, Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, sketched out his vision for Latin America. Optimistically titled “The Way Forward,” Mr. de Rato called on the countries of the region to stay the course laid out by the IMF – structural adjustments, trade liberalization and privatization.

He dismissed the shift to the left in Chile, Argentina and Bolivia as an “apparent inconsistency of economic and political developments,” suggesting that voter dissatisfaction has …

Mapuches Return to Benetton-Held Land
by Marcela Valente, www.ipsnews.net
February 27, 2007

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 27 (Tierramérica) - Mapuche Indians in the southern Argentine region of Patagonia, who in 2002 took part in a land dispute against the Italian textile group Benetton, have returned to occupy land belonging to the firm, reclaiming their ancestral rights.

“This is not a protest, nor is it a clandestine action. We don’t intend to be owners, but rather to live as a community in our territory,” Mauro Millán told Tierramérica. He was acting as spokesman for the 25 Mapuches who since Feb. 14 have occupied the Santa …