Well, it turns out the “media release” sent out by Rights Action on Tuesday, April Fools’ Day, was indeed a joke.

I was really hoping it wasn’t. In fact I was eager to applaud the Canadian mining company for pledging to take what would have been an near-unprecedented step… One that may very well have started a trend throughout the so-called business community.

So then, in part, I guess the Joke’s on me and anyone else who believed Goldcorp had the guts. But I don’t we’re the April Fool in this little funny. …

In a curious and surprising turn of events, Goldcorp has announced they are temporarily suspending mining operations in Honduras (the San Martin mine in the Siria Valley) and Guatemala (the Marlin mine in the Mayan territories of San Miguel Ixtahuacan and Sipakapa).

What do you think, folks, is it an April Fools’ joke? Of course, I say that tongue in cheek, but with the way Goldcorp (along with nearly every other mining company in Canada) seems to operate, it honestly wouldn’t surprise me. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck.

April 1, 2008. …

The Nukak, one of the Amazon’s last nomadic Peoples, have once again been caught between the Colombian army and the left-wing FARC guerrillas.

According to a March 12 statement by Survival International, they were bombed “by the Colombian army in its attempt to fight the guerrillas who have violently taken control of much of the Nukak land. Many Nukak have fled their territory to a local town in recent days, and many more are expected to follow suit.”

This violence comes just months after many Nukak began returning to their territory, …

Oil on Ice is a one-hour documentary that examines the issues surrounding the exploitation of oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

The US Government maintains the region is a barren wasteland, as if to say “how can we not take the oil? There’s nothing there but snow!”

However, the claim is no more than a baseless lie. The truth, is that the entire region is teeming with diversity. This becomes apparent when then long winter ends and “its land, mountains, rivers and seas explode with life.” From that point on, “a combination of continual sunlight, abundant …

The Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) just sent out a reminder that today, March 25th, is the final chance to submit comments regarding the Yukon Flats Land Exchange proposal by the Alaskan Native Regional Corporation Doyon and the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

If it’s approved they will be able to “acquire” lands around Gwich’in villages, and “the FWS will also be able to purchase native lands in other wildlife refuges within the State with the proceeds, so this land trade is detrimental to other Native communities in …

Here you will find Justicia Now! a 30-minute documentary produced by Mofilms to help raise awareness about “ChevronTexaco’s toxic legacy in the Northern Ecuadorian region of the Amazon rainforest - and a courageous group of people called Los Afectados (The Affected Ones) who are seeking justice for the ensuing cancer, sickness and death in the largest environmental class action lawsuit in history.”

According to a Press Release sent out last November, the documentary was originally supposed to premiere at the Artivist Film Festival, but Director Martin O’Brien pulled it out after the festival announced a ‘new relationship’ with …

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 …

Around 100 villagers gathered in front of the German, Austrian and Swiss embassies on Tuesday to protest against the construction of the Ilisu Dam on the River Tigris. Once completed, the controversial project would submerge the ancient town of Hasankeyf (it’s 12,000 years old) along with 200 nearby villages, displacing up to 78,000 people.

The government started to move ahead with the dam in the late 90s, but it was soon met with massive protests which led several companies to withdraw from the project. Nevertheless, the Turkish government remained eager …

The Canadian Government along with the Province of British Columbia announced on Friday that they will accept the recommendations made by the Kemess North Mine Joint Review Panel.

Last September, the Panel rejected Northgate Minerals’ mine expansion proposal because they felt ‘the benefits of the project outweigh the risks of significant adverse environmental, social and cultural effects.’ If Northgate was allowed to proceed, they would have turned Amazay Lake, held Sacred by the Tse Keh Nay Peoples, into a toxic waste dump.

In a Press Release dated March 7, Leaders …

Indigenous groups in Costa Rica have reaffirmed their opposition to El Diquis, a hydro-electric project the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) plans to build in the southern province of Puntarenas. The government of Costa Rica recently declared the project a “National interest”.

Ivannia Villalobos explains on her blog that, while El Diquís “was presented publicly by the ICE about two years ago, it’s in fact another version of the so-called ‘Boruca Hydroelectric Project’ which was first proposed in the early 70’s.”

As it’s currently proposed, El Diquis would flood the Traditional …