Conflictos ambientales en Centroamérica y las Antillas: un rápido toxic tour

Author(s):  
Joan Martínez-Alier

In political ecology there is need for more empirical work on the large world resistance movement born from the environmentalism of the poor and the indigenous. The environmental conflicts collected in the Environmental Justice Atlas (www.ejatlas.org), 3,300 in October 2020 include about 130 from Mexico and 120 from Central America and the Caribbean, each one with a data sheet of 5 to 6 pages. This article puts Mexico aside because it is well covered in this issue of Ecología Política. I focus on Central America and the Caribbean briefly analyzing about twenty conflicts. Many of them are failures in environmental justice but some are encouragingly successful: for instance, Pacific Rim in El Salvador; Cerro Blanco in Guatemala and El Salvador; Crucitas in Costa Rica, and the Canal of Nicaragua that seemingly has been stopped. Also cases against Cemex in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, the maroon people of Cockpit Country in Jamaica against bauxite mining, and Vieques in Puerto Rio against militarization. In the Conclusion I list some characteristics of the political ecology of the region.

2017 ◽  
pp. 15-53
Author(s):  
Carolina Arias Hurtado

En el artículo, se realiza una aproximación a la problemática del neoextractivismo en el siglo xxi desde la ecología política en el ámbito regional, nacional y local. En primer lugar, se presenta un panorama sobre las contradicciones del desarrollo neoextractivista en América Latina como expresión de la crisis multidimensional y la necesidad de búsqueda de alternativas. Enseguida, se examina la situación actual del neoextractivismo en Colombia, a partir del reconocimiento de los conflictos socioambientales y las luchas sociales por la justicia ambiental. Por último, se analiza el caso del municipio de Marmato (Colombia), lugar emblemático por la constante defensa del territorio como un patrimonio y un derecho.Palabras clave: neoextractivismo, ecología política, conflictos socioambientales, justicia ambiental. AbstractNeo-extractivism in Latin America and Colombia: a political ecology reflexion In this article an approach is performed to the problematic of neoextractivism in the 21st century at a regional, national and local level from the political ecology view. In the first place, it presents a panorama on the contradictions of the neo-extractivist development in Latin America, as an expression of the multidimensional crisis and the needing to search for alternatives. Next, it examines the current situation of neo-extractivism in Colombia from the * Estudiante del doctorado en Estudios del Desarrollo de la Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas (México). Correo electrónico: [email protected] Controversia 207 abril 2018.indd 17 6/25/2018 8:20:18 PM 18 Controversia 208 recognition of the social-environmental conflicts and social struggles for environmental justice. Finally, the paper analyzes the case of the municipality of Marmato (Colombia), emblematic in the defense of the territory as a heritage and a right.Keywords: neo-extractivism, political ecology, social-environmental conflicts, environmental justice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camila Neves Silva ◽  
Angélica Cosenza

Abstract Far from studying only beings from the past, Paleontology is a current science which can situate human existence in the context of the global environmental crisis before inequalities and socio-environmental conflicts which occur in Brazilian paleontological sites. Aiming to discuss possible connections between Paleontology and Environmental Justice, this essay arises from a survey on environmental conflicts existing in the paleontological sites in Minas Gerais. Stemming from the issues found and the contribution of the Political Ecology theoretical framework, the struggle for territory and decoloniality is discussed as crucial dimensions for a view that seeks to restore the populations’ right to their (paleo) territories. The connections between these fields are presented here as references for the fight against the social inequalities found in paleontological sites, such as those in Minas Gerais, and for the inclusion of their communities in participatory management.


Author(s):  
EDMÉ DOMINGUEZ REYES

This article discusses Soviet policy toward Central America, the Caribbean, and members of the Contadora group, and it compares the Soviet approach with Cuban policy. Since the 1970s Latin America has become a major center of interest to the Soviet Union. Soviet policy toward the region can best be characterized as a low-risk, low-profile strategy, in light of U.S. competition and interests. Current policy is one of continuity from the Brezhnev era. The article offers special highlights on Nicaragua and El Salvador and the Soviet dynamic with the Contadora group. El Salvador and the Contadora group are seen as sharing interests in the region with respect to political stability and economic development.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Firpo Porto ◽  
Diogo Rocha Ferreira ◽  
Renan Finamore

Abstract The article discusses conceptual and methodological issues related to environmental risks and health problems, in the context of environmental injustice and conflicts. In doing so, we use the conceptual frameworks of political ecology and what we call political epistemology. We propose a comprehensive vision of health that relates not only to illness and death, but also to life, nature, culture and fundamental human rights. We summarize this as health and dignity, echoing the voices of countless people who have been fighting for the right to life and the commons, and against the impacts of mining, agribusiness and the oil industry. Therefore our concept of health is intrinsically related to the capacity of affected communities and their democratic allies to face environmental conflicts (the exploitation of natural resources and the workforce with the systematic violation of rights related to work, land, environment and health). Mobilizations for environmental justice also struggle for the autonomy of communities, their cultures, and the right to maintain indigenous or peasant livelihoods. The way knowledge is produced plays a fundamental role in environmental justice mobilizations since issues of power are related to epistemological disputes and counter-hegemonic alternatives. Political epistemology is an alternative way of confronting crucial questions related to knowledge production, uncertainties and the manipulations of those who generate environmental injustices. Finally, we point to some strategies for strengthening the shared production of knowledge and the mobilization of communities that organize to confront environmental injustices. Key words: political epistemology, political ecology of health, health and dignity


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeanine Vélez-Gavilán

Abstract D. bicornis is an annual, sometimes perennial grass. It is listed as invasive in North America (Mexico), Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama), the Caribbean (Cuba), South America (Colombia, Ecuador) and Oceania (Nauru, USA-Hawaii) (Catasús Guerra, 2015; PIER, 2016). It is considered as a weed in cultivated fields (Quattrocchi, 2006; Dias et al., 2007; Duarte et al., 2009; Catasús Guerra, 2015; Ramírez S et al., 2015).


2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hector Orlando Portillo Reyes

RESUMENEl oso hormiguero gigante también conocido en Centro América como oso caballo (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), es una de las especies carismáticas del mundo. Se ha documentado en la literatura que los límites de la distribución más septentrional para esta especie son Belice y Guatemala. El mapa de su distribución para Centro América da inicio en toda la franja Caribe de Panamá e incluye todo el territorio de Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador y una mínima porción de la costa del Caribe de Guatemala y Belice. Sin embargo, M. tridactyla no se registra en los últimos 100 años para Guatemala, Belice y El Salvador. En Honduras se realizaron diferentes monitoreos en la región Caribe y Moskitia registrándose fotocapturas del oso caballo únicamente en la Reserva de la Biosfera del Río Plátano y la Reserva propuesta de Rus Rus. Este análisis propone como límite septentrional de la distribución del M. tridactyla la región de la Moskitia hondureña, basados en la ausencia de esta especie en los listados actuales oficiales de los países de Guatemala, El Salvador y Belice, en la revisión bibliográfica para Centro América  y en los monitoreos que se realizaron en la región Caribe y Moskitia hondureña. Palabras clave: Centro América, oso caballo, septentrional, Caribe, Moskitia.ABSTRACTThe giant anteater also known in Central America as oso caballo (Myrmecophaga. tridactyla), is one of the world’s charismatic species. It has been mentioned for different sources that giant anteater most northern limit distributions are Belize and Guatemala. The distribution map for Central America begins and extends throughout the Caribbean of Panama and includes the entire territory of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and a minimal portion of the Caribbean coast of Guatemala and Belize. However M. tridactyla is not recorded in the last 100 years in Guatemala, Belize and El Salvador. In Honduras several biological monitoring were performed in the Caribbean and the Moskitia region recorded evidence for the specie only for the Biosphere Reserve of Río Plátano and the biological Reserve of Rus Rus in the Moskitia region. This analysis propose as most northerly for M. tridactyla the Honduran Moskitia region, based in the absence on the most recent check list for Guatemala, El Salvador, and Belize, also literature review for Central America and the biological monitoring performed in the Caribbean and Moskitia region. Keywords: Central America, giant anteater, Northern, Caribbean, Moskitia.


Author(s):  
Walter D. Mignolo

This book is an extended argument about the “coloniality” of power. In a shrinking world where sharp dichotomies, such as East/West and developing/developed, blur and shift, this book points to the inadequacy of current practices in the social sciences and area studies. It explores the crucial notion of “colonial difference” in the study of the modern colonial world and traces the emergence of an epistemic shift, which the book calls “border thinking.” Further, the book expands the horizons of those debates already under way in postcolonial studies of Asia and Africa by dwelling on the genealogy of thoughts of South/Central America, the Caribbean, and Latino/as in the United States. The book's concept of “border gnosis,” or sensing and knowing by dwelling in imperial/colonial borderlands, counters the tendency of occidentalist perspectives to manage, and thus limit, understanding. A new preface discusses this book as a dialogue with Hegel's Philosophy of History.


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