An indigenous community against impunity
The village of Acteal, in the municipality of Chenalho, struggles in a non-violent manner for the right to live in peace within its own territory. In this village of the Chiapas, in Mexico, the tension linked to past violence is always palpable within the indigenous Tsotsile community. Ten years ago, peace and justice were disturbed and violated by the death of 45 Tsotsiles, women and children for the majority, according to an official report. For the tenth anniversary of this massacre, the members of the association Las abejas (the bees) organized a Conference against Impunity, on the 20th to 22nd of December last.

The people’s opposition to government over the San Francisco river
The San Fransisco river, also known as “the river of national integration” is today the centre of a debate which divides and rallies people. Everything started 3 years ago, the day when the Government announced the start of the herculean task of changing the course of the San Fransisco river. The works stopped after huge public resistance, and the government swore that a national debate would be held with those people who lived on the riverside. A few months later however, the work started again, with the help this time of the army, without the promised debates and without consulting Congress, which is mandatory.

New technologies to help peasant communities
During two days of training, the 25th and 26th of February 2008, the Coordination for the Integration of Economic Organisation of Bolivian peasants (CIOEC)set the goal of enabling peasant communities to benefit from the opportunities that computing science can offer. The training was on Internet-based research and on the use of computers. For the occasion, a classroom of the university of Valle de Cochabamba was made available to the representatives of various rural economic organisations from all over the country. Seated behind their computers, these students discovered and assimilated various basic techniques. These techniques are essential to strengthen their organisations, in order to improve their lifestyle.

Civil society awaits the positioning of the Bank of the South
Slow the descent into debt, stop the privatisation of public assets, establish an autonomous South-South entity, create a common currency and dedicated development funds, reduce poverty and the dependence of nations of the South on those of the North. These are the ambitions of the Bank of the South, whose statutes were signed in December 2007 by Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela. This new bank, which will begin its work over the course of 2008, is a Latin-American bank which will propose alternative mechanisms of financial support to those of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, built on a better recognition of the needs of Southern nations.

Radio Yaravi travels to the villages to give them a voice
Radio Yaravi of Peru wants “all voices” to be heard. Thanks to this community station with more than 150,000 listeners, children, young people and adults can express themselves freely on social issues or current affairs which are of relevance to them. These people are invited to participate directly in programmes, either by telephone or in the studio.

In Chilca, refugees come together for three festive days of carnival
The 2008 Lirqueño carnival for Chilca refugees, held in the central Peruvian province of Huancayo, assembled around 1500 people, and was a real success. Organised in February every year by the San Pedro de Tuco cultural association, it is a chance for the refugees to come to know and appreciate the customs and traditional practices of Angaraes, their province of origin in the south-west of the country, in a festive atmosphere. As well as keeping their cultural heritage alive, the joyful exuberance of carnival acts as an emotional outlet for the refugees, who were forced to flee by the exactions of the Shining Path Moaist guerrillas in the 1980s. This year, a number of associations involved themselves with the carnival, which also attracted a large number of non-refugees from Chilca and neighbouring districts.

Julio presents his region via community tourism
Julio Saavedra is an unusual tourist guide. He is committed to establishing a tourism that is well thought-out, responsible and authentic, a tourism which incorporates environmental durability and a sense of community.