http://www.irishtimes.com/debate/letters/harsh-realities-in-colombia-1.1616908 

A chara, - The article by Deirdre McQuillan on Colombian coffee production ("The journey from bean to cup", Magazine, November 16th) would appear to have been written from only one point of view. Nestlé, the company that invited Ms McQuillan to Colombia, is a large multinational whose human rights record in that country has been questioned on many occasions.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore addresses the murder of agrarian leader and environmental activist in Colombia, as Free Trade Agreement goes full-speed ahead (full title)

On November 19^th the Tánaiste (Vice-Prime Minister in Ireland) Eamon Gilmore, addressed the parliamentary questions raised by TDs Maureen O'Sullivan, Clare Daly and Seán Crowe, in relation to growing concerns about the escalation of political repression in Colombia. In recent months, scores of left-wing activists, trade union organisers, protesters and human rights' defenders have been murdered. Many more have been imprisoned, injured and harassed.

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For video footage from Enlacha Films about the forced displacement in Pitalito, Cesar, Colombia click here.

Pope Francisco welcomed a group of Argentineans, including an EJOLT member,  Antonio Gustavo Gomez, an Attorney General from Argentina, yesterday on November 11th, 2013, in the Vatican. The meeting lasted an hour, with the participation of the film director Pino Solanas, well known for his film "Dirty Gold", about mega-mining. They spoke about water contamination and the Pope mentioned that he is preparing an encyclical about nature, humans and environmental pollution.

SOURCE: Guardian

Predicting a Venezuelan apocalypse won't make it happen: in this oil-rich country the only thing imploding is poverty

For more than a decade people opposed to the government of Venezuela have argued that its economy would implode. Like communists in the 1930s rooting for the final crisis of capitalism, they saw economic collapse just around the corner. How frustrating it has been for them to witness only two recessions: one directly caused by the opposition's oil strike (December 2002-May 2003) and one brought on by the world recession (2009 and the first half of 2010). However, the government got control of the national oil company in 2003, and the whole decade's economic performance turned out quite well,, with average annual growth of real income per person of 2.7% and poverty reduced by over half, and large gains for the majority in employment, access to health care, pensions and education.