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Home » Topics » latin america

Latin America threatened with cancer epidemic

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Latin America faces a cancer epidemic unless governments act quickly to improve health care systems and treat the poor, scientists said. The researchers pointed to around 13 deaths for every 22 cancer cases in the region, compared to around 13 deaths for every 37 cases in the United States and…

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Brazil cardinal suggests church look to Latin America for new pope

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Catholicism in Latin America is “lively and dynamic,” Brazilian Cardinal Raymundo Damasceno Assis said Sunday, suggesting that the church look to Latin America for leadership. Damasceno is one of the the 117 “cardinal electors” that will participate in the upcoming conclave to elect a new pope. No favorite has to…

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Latin American women face widespread violence: study

Shoes that belonged to murdered women, are shown next to signs protesting domestic violence in Santiago, Chile on July 30, 2009. (AFP)

More than half of Bolivian women have suffered domestic violence, according to a report out Thursday that found such abuse widespread in Latin America, with partners usually the perpetrators. In seven of the 12 Latin American and Caribbean countries surveyed by the Pan American Health Organization, more than one in…

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Obama signs law against Iran Latin America influence

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President Barack Obama enacted a law to counter Iran’s alleged influence in Latin America, through a new diplomatic and political strategy to be designed by the State Department. The Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere Act, passed by lawmakers earlier this year, calls for the State Department to develop a…

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With 60,000 dead, Mexicans wonder why drug war doesn’t rate in presidential debate

veracruz drug war via AFP

With 60,000 dead, Mexicans wonder why drug war doesn't rate in presidential debate Mitt Romney’s single mention of Latin America last night, calling it a “huge opportunity” for the United States, generated immediate glee from Latin Americanists across Twitter – but the hemisphere got no nod from President Obama, and…

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U.S. drought could trigger global food crisis

Drought via Goodluz / Sutterstock

America’s drought threatens a recurrence of the 2008 global food crisis, when soaring prices set off riots and unrest to parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America, food experts warn. Corn prices reached an all-time high on Friday, as the drought expanded across America, trading at $8.24 a…

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Climate change to cost Latin America $100 billion by 2050

la tigra national park via AFP

Global warming could exact a devastating toll on the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean, with costs possibly exceeding $100 billion by 2050, the Inter-American Development Bank warned Tuesday. In a new report, the Washington-based organization also called for “forceful” reductions in greenhouse gases to forestall some of the…

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Fears rise as Latin America’s largest trash dump closes

On a mountain of trash, a man takes a quick break in a sliver of shade before resuming his sorting work in Latin America's largest garbage dump hugging Rio's famed Guanabara Bay. But soon, he'll have to look for a new job. Ahead of the Rio+20 United Nations sustainable development summit next month, which will draw tens of thousands of people into the city, authorities are shutting down the 36-year-old landfill known as Gramacho. Built on a swamp, it swallows up 70 percent of the garbage produced by this huge metropolis of 11.8 million people. But the ground is unstable and shakes under the weight of the trucks that rumble through. The dump's pending demise, repeatedly postponed and now slated for June 1, has left thousands of trash pickers -- called "catadores" -- wondering what will become of them. "The closure of the dump will have a very big impact on us since for many this was the only source of income," 32-year-old Ana Carla Nistaldo, who has spent half of her life in the nearby town of Gramacho, home to 20,000 people, told AFP. "What will happen to the families?" "Catadores" run a myriad of risks to sift through refuse and separate out recyclable materials -- plastics, cans, paper or soda bottles -- and sell them either to middlemen or directly to one of 42 local recycling centers. They can make up to $45 a day in a country where the minimum monthly wage is $306. City officials say the trash-picking business has brought in a total of nearly $12 million since the dump was opened in 1976. "It is better to be a 'catador' in a dump than to be a thief to earn a living," said 57-year-old Giova Correia dos Santos. "I earn clean and honest money." Authorities had initially tried and failed to shut down Gramacho in 2004, when it was taking in some 8,000 tons of trash a day, after a series of leaks. But when word spread that the dump was finally being closed next month, some 2,000 "catadores" banded together in protest to demand compensation. As a result, the city rewarded 1,600 of them with a $7,500 payoff. "To get $7,500 is nothing for those who have worked here all their lives," said Nistaldo, whose home boasts two television sets, a microwave and a DVD player. "I raised my children with money from the garbage and they had everything they needed, she added. Others are also at a loss on how to survive going forward. "My dreams are over," echoed 34-year-old Valeria da Silva. "I have nothing left." As of June, trash from Gramacho will now be transferred to another, privately-owned dump. Another firm will handle methane gas from Gramacho, which over a 15-year period will earn some $232 million in carbon credits, according to city officials. Carbon credits -- one credit being equivalent to one metric ton of carbon dioxide -- is awarded to organizations or countries which have cut their greenhouse gas emissions below their set quota. These credits can then be used and traded on an international market. Known as Rio+20, the June 20-22 UN summit is the fourth major meeting on sustainable development since 1972 and is expected to draw 115 world leaders and 50,000 participants. Topics to be discussed include food security, water access, energy and biodiversity. (AFP)

On a mountain of trash, a man takes a quick break in a sliver of shade before resuming his sorting work in Latin America’s largestgarbage dump hugging Rio’s famed Guanabara Bay. But soon, he’ll have to look for a new job. Ahead of the Rio+20 United Nations sustainable developmentsummit next month, which will…

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Americas summit leaves Obama little to cheer about

Barack Obama refused to agree to letting Cuba attend the next Summit of the Americas (AFP).

US President Barack Obama came to Colombia hoping to defend US trade interests in Latin America. Instead, he found himself isolated on Cuba, and faced with a Secret Service sex scandal. Pressure from his counterparts at the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena to do more than just compliment their “remarkable” progress and bring Cuba back into…

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U.S. under pressure to let Cuba join Americas summit

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney (AFP)

Leaders from across the Americas launched talks here Saturday on expanding trade as the United States came under strong pressure to let Cuba attend future summits. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, host of the Summit of the Americas, said Saturday it would be “unacceptable” to keep Cuba out of the…

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