Servindi, October the 17th, 2016.- We share our international news summary with some of the highlights of the week in the indigenous and environmental issues around the world. Free reproduction and diffusion is allowed. All rights are shared.
The current summary has been recorded with the participation of Yannik Boserup.
Indigenous World Today - October the 17th, 2016 (You can download the audio by right-clicking on the "Play" button and then "Save Audio As...").
Territorial management. An international workshop will share experiences and management tools of territories and indigenous peoples and local communities concerved áreas (TICAA) in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, from October the 16th to 21st.
The event will bring together dozens of indigenous peoples representatives, local communities and technicians from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru.
The event name is "Regional exchange on training techniques and TICCA management tools and development models" and it will emphasize training in territorial management tools.
Digital television. The communication expert Aleida Calleja, considered that the use of digital transition processes of broadcast television still has insufficient efforts and results.
It is still worryingly for freedom of speech that most of the countries in the region the economic criterion remains as the principal or unique mechanism for access to broadcasting licenses, said Calleja.
The specialist said that this situation is evident in Andean countries such as Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia and in Central America.
Climate adaptation. An article by the IPS agency warns that climate change will increase the risk to food security in Latin America and the Caribbean unless urgent mitigation and adaptation changes on the production system are not taken.
Such situation could reverse the substantial progress made by the region with plans to achieve the goal of Zero Hunger.
In this regard, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) predicted that without adaptation the basic grains production would fall by 25 percent by 2050, a quarter of production capacity.
Diabetes and Coca Cola. Mexico is the largest consumer of soft drinks and registers the highest rate of deaths from diabetes in Latin America. The indigenous and rural peoples are the most vulnerable population to this problem.
The fact was noted by ITESM students who spent a month in an indigenous community of San José del Rincón where despite not having potable water, a coke was not missing from any home.
In their visit they collected testimonies of farmers like Guadalupe Sanchez, a farmer addicted to this drink, who reached a level of 200 milligrams per deciliter of blood glucose and vision problems.
Yaremi Gutiérrez, professor in charge of the study, said the Mazahua are dropping their ancient diet consisting of vegetables preferring consumption of "junk food".
State obligations. States have a set of specific duties to perform when extractive activities are carried out in ancestral territories of indigenous peoples, says the Peruvian lawyer Juan Carlos Ruiz Molleda.
In an article published on the website of the IWGIA organization, the expert summarizes the key findings of a report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) published in December 2015.
He stressed that in applying the laws and regulations "judges must first evaluate if they are compatible with international human rights treaties and the Inter-American Court jurisprudence".
Climate controversy. Leading specialists said that the Paris Agreement signed by 195 countries at the time and recently ratified by China, US, India and the European Parliament is insufficient.
The group of seven scientists, led by Robert Watson, former president of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), warned that the planet is warming up "faster" than expected.
According to scientist group, although the cuts of greenhouse gases under the Paris Agreement, in 2030 1.5 degree increase could be reached and in 2050 would be at the level of 2 ° C.
Brazil. Manchineri and Yaminahua indigenous peoples rejected the opening of a highway which aims to connect the municipalities of Iñapari and Puerto Esperanza in Peru.
They considered that the projected road is one of the biggest threats to the Mamoadate Indigeonus Territory because it’ll be very close to its limits.
They explained that the road would affect all the natural resources of their traditional use, flora and fauna, and the waters of the headwaters of binational rivers Acre, Yaco and Chandless, important for their subsistence.
Honduras. Last October the 9th, the general coordinator of the indigenous organization COPINH, Thomas Gomez Membreño, was victim of an attack when returning home.
As recalled, Thomas Gomez assumed the General Coordination of the organization after the assassination of the leader Berta Caceres, which occurred on March the 2nd.
The same day of the attack against Gomez, unknown persons fired against the door and window of the house of Alexander Garcia Sorto, community leader of Llano Grande, who slept inside with his family.
This is the second assassination attempt that Alexander Garcia suffers since May 6 this year, two months after the murder of Berta Caceres, when he was shot outside of his house by a former military officer.