Social activists at risk - Real World Radio

Features / Social activists at risk

In this section Real World Radio aims to expose the murders of social activists and the cases of death threats against leaders. We will report on the wave of criminalization of the social protest. This new section of Real World Radio is also a memorial page for all those who were murdered in their struggle for a socially just world.

This special section is funded in part by the European Commission.

10 May 2012 | Testimonies | Social activists at risk

Municipal coup d’état

Barillas (Guatemala): Impunity and Terror as back in the time of Dirty War

As in the time of the bloody anti-insurgent war in Guatemala, the communities of Santa Cruz Barillas municipality are witnessing how their populations are being abused under a state of emergency decreed by Otto Perez Molina's administration. The men being persecuted manage to hide in the mountains, while women and children are being harassed. Read more
7 May 2012 | News | Social activists at risk

Same Old Story

Guatemalan Organizations Claim State of Emergency Causes “Terror”

The images from Santa Cruz Barillas, in Huehuetenango department, are a reminder of the sad episodes of the 80s, when the Guatemalan dictatorship was moving forward with its plan of extermination of indigenous communities. Read more
7 May 2012 | News | Social activists at risk

Agrarian Reform Backwards

Increasing Agrarian Conflicts in Brazil, Especially Conflicts Over Land

A new study by the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) in Brazil warns that the overall number of agrarian conflicts increased 15% in the country in 2011, compared with 2010. The conflicts over land registered a considerable growth. Read more
3 May 2012 | Special reports | Social activists at risk

Keep up the Fight

Mourning during Workers’ Day celebrations in Cali

Seven trade union leaders have been killed in Colombia so far this year, four of them in Valle del Cauca. The most recent one was the murder of Daniel Aguirre last weekend. He was the secretary general of Sinalcorteros, an organization of sugar cane cutters in Valle del Rio Cauca. Read more
3 May 2012 | Special reports | Social activists at risk

Somebody Should Listen

Guatemala: Repression and Death to Impose Megaproject Rejected by Community

A community leader was killed, two others were seriously injured and a state of emergency was declared with the subsequent loss of people's guarantees as a result of a new violent incident in Guatemalan municipality of Santa Cruz Barillas, where the defense of territory from a hydroelectric megaproject leads to repression, impunity and death. Read more
26 April 2012 | News | Social activists at risk

Bad Living

Honduras: COPINH reports harassment and death threats

On March 31, leader Magdaleno Argueta, coordinator of the Civil Council of Grassroots and Indigenous Organizations in Honduras, received the following message: “To those of you from COPINH who speak nonsense on the radio we should have your tongues cut out. The dam is going to be built no matter what. We will have you killed”. Read more
25 April 2012 | News | Social activists at risk

Injustice

Upsetting court ruling in El Salvador: Pacific Rim not held responsible for killing of environmental activists

The Environmental Committee of Cabañas and CESTA-Friends of the Earth El Salvador expressed their dissatisfaction with a court ruling that convicted six people for the murder of five environmental activist in Cabañas department. Read more
19 April 2012 | News | Land grabbing | Social activists at risk

Mobilizing to Oppose Land Grabbing

International Day of Peasant Struggle: Over 12,000 hectares of land occupied in Honduras

Thousands of Honduran peasants occupied on Tuesday, the International Day of Peasant Struggle, over 12,000 hectares of land in several departments (Cortés, Yoro, Santa Bárbara, Intibucá, El Paraíso, Choluteca, Comayagua and Francisco Morazán). Read more
18 April 2012 | News | Social activists at risk

Peasants of the World United!

Three ways of celebrating the International Day of Peasant Struggle

Over 1000 members of the Landless Rural Workers Movement of Brazil (MST) occupied four lands destined to agribusiness in the South of Bahia State. Read more
20 March 2012 | Interviews | Alternative World Water Forum | Social activists at risk

Not for Sale

Serious claims against Italian energy company Enel at Water Forum in Marseille

Murders, death threats, persecutions, repression and filing criminal reports are just some of the practices chosen by Italian corporation Enel to establish its hydroelectric project Palo Viejo in Quiché department, Guatemala. Read more