a daily independent global news hour

"The Curse of Abundance": Alberto Acosta on the Failure of Extractive Industries and Alternative Models of Development in Ecuador

Alberto Acosta is the Former President of the Constituent Assembly as well as a former minister of Energy in Ecuador. Democracy Now! producer Sharif Abdel Kouddous caught up with Acosta at the World People’s Summit on Climate Change in Cochabamba, Bolivia last week.

"The United Nations Is Beyond Reform...It Has to Be Reinvented"–Fmr. UN General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto

One of the higher-profile participants at the Cochabamba climate conference was the former president of the United Nations General Assembly, Father Miguel d’Escoto. A Roman Catholic priest from Nicaragua, d’Escoto served as foreign minister in Daniel Ortega’s government from 1979 to 1990. He joins us to talk about the failures of the UN, the importance of the Bolivia climate summit, why Latin America doesn’t need the United States, and much more. [includes rush transcript]

Bolivian President Evo Morales on President Obama: "I Can’t Believe a Black President Can Hold So Much Vengeance Against an Indian President"

As the World Peoples’ Conference on Climate Change in Cochabamba closes, we speak to Bolivian President Evo Morales about the US decision to cut off climate aid to Bolivia; narcotrafficking; the tenth anniversary of the Water Wars in Cochabamba; the protest at the San Cristóbal silver mine; and the contradiction between promoting the environment and extractive industries — oil/natural gas exploration, mining.

On Thursday organizers of the peoples’ summit released an Agreement of the Peoples based on working group meetings. Key proposals include the establishment of an international tribunal to prosecute polluters, passage of a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth, protection for climate migrants, and the full recognition of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. [includes rush transcript]

Ex-Leader of Bolivia Peasant Workers near San Cristóbal Mine Says Company Lied About Water Pollution, Demands Pay for Vast Water Usage

The Regional Federation of Peasant Workers of the South Altiplano (FRUCTAS) is a grassroots organization of community members from Nor Lípez province of the central Potosí region of Bolivia. They are in the midst of a struggle against the Japanese trading giant Sumitomo Corporation, which owns the massive San Cristóbal mine. We speak with Francisco Quisbert Salinas, the ex-leader of FRUCTAS. [includes rush transcript]

Mesa 18: Dissident Groups Host Alternative Meeting Outside World Peoples’ Climate Summit

A few blocks from the main entrance to the university where the peoples’ climate summit is taking place, hundreds of Bolivian and Latin American environmentalists have been crowding into a single hall to participate in discussions that they say were too controversial for the actual summit. Dubbed "mesa 18," or "working group 18," the discussions were focused on the environmental destruction inside Bolivia caused by development projects, mining, and oil and gas exploration promoted by the Morales government. On Wednesday afternoon, Anjali Kamat spoke to Moira Millán, an indigenous Mapuche activist from southern Argentina. [includes rush transcript]

Bolivian Conservationist Calls for Preservation of Madidi Region, One of the Most Biodiverse Areas of World

As Bolivian President Evo Morales is being celebrated internationally for hosting the World Peoples’ Summit on Climate Change and Rights of Mother Earth, some Bolivian environmentalists and conservationists have questioned Morales’ domestic policies. In northern Bolivia, Morales has supported oil exploration and other development inside the Madidi National Park. The region is considered one of the most biodiverse areas on earth. On Thursday, I spoke with Rosa María Ruiz, who has worked in the Madidi region for decades and led efforts for the region to be protected. [includes rush transcript]

From Melting Glaciers to Structural Adjustment: Maude Barlow on the Need for Water Justice

In the Andean highlands of South America, climate change isn’t just an abstract threat. In Bolivia, glaciers are melting at what experts say is an alarming rate as a result of rising global temperatures. We speak with Maude Barlow, head of the Council of Canadians, about the melting glaciers, climate change and water. [includes rush transcript]

Bolivia Climate Conference Moves to Establish Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth

One of the key initiatives of the climate conference in Bolivia is to come out with a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth. We speak with South African environmental lawyer Cormac Cullinan, the co-president of the Rights of Mother Earth Working Group at the summit. He arrived at the climate change conference with a draft Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth that formed the basis of the discussion. [includes rush transcript]

"Cochabamba, the Water Wars and Climate Change." By Amy Goodman

Thousands of climate justice activists have arrived here in Bolivia for the World Peoples’ Summit on Climate Change and Rights of Mother Earth. Bolivian President Evo Morales called for the gathering to give the poor and the Global South an opportunity to respond to the failed climate talks in Copenhagen. Ten years ago this month, the host city for the summit, Cochabamba, was at the center of an epic fight over the most vital of natural resources: its own water.

Evo Morales Opens Climate Change Conference in Tiquipaya

As the peoples’ climate change talks here move into their third day, thousands of participants from across Latin America and around the world are streaming into this small Bolivian town to discuss how to slow the impact of global warming. Anjali Kamat and Rick Rowley file this report on Tuesday’s opening ceremony. [includes rush transcript]