Conflicts over mining: the illusory boundary between “legal” and “illegal”
It’s widely believed that “illegal” mining is only undertaken by small groups of entrepreneurs or artisanal operators. If, and when, the state cracks down on their operations, the culprits are removed (sometimes with considerable violence, as in Brazil and Indonesia) to be replaced by registered and “more responsible” companies. But the reality is often more [...]
Indigenous communities in Venezuela seek land rights
Chief Sabino Romero is in two minds about Hugo Chávez’s socialist revolution. As the leader of a small native Indian community in the remote and lawless mountains on Venezuela’s northwestern border with Colombia, Mr Romero heartily approves of the president’s apparently pro-indigenous stance. But he despairs at his powerlessness to claim the rights granted to [...]
