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27 Dec 2019 SANTIAGO

"Alternative COP": Santiago Protests Focus On Right To Water

“Water, water, water, is a right, not a business, not a privilege”. Used as a rallying cry during protests, this chant rang out as an underlying current throughout an alternative climate conference held in Santiago, Chile from December 2-11, 2019. Chile is the only country in the world with a privatized water system, and uneven water access has been one of the most critical issues fueling the country’s on-going social uprising.

22 Jun 2016 HAVANA, Cuba

European Commission Provides Funds to Assist Drought-Affected Families in Cuba

The European Commission has provided over $113,000 USD to the Cuban Red Cross to assist drought-affected families in eastern Cuba.The funds will be used to provide equipment to store and transport safe water for some 10,000 people in Santiago de Cuba province.The Red Cross will also distribute materials to treat water in drought-affected areas, and carry out programs to promote hygiene and proper handling of water...

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20 May 2016 SANTIAGO, Chile

Antofagasta Reaches Deal With Local Residents Over Tailings Dam

Mining company Antofagasta announced this week that it had finally reached an agreement with local community members over a tailings dam at its Los Pelambres copper mine in central Chile.Addressing shareholders in London this week, Antofagasta Chairman Jean-Paul Luksic said the agreement with residents of the town of Caimanes "addresses certain requirements set down by courts in Chile and will see Los Pelambres invest in future water supply solutions, safety measures, community development projects and compensation...

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25 Sep 2015 SANTIAGO

Latin America Looks to SDGs, but Still Lags on Some MDGs

In the last 15 years, Latin America and the Caribbean have met several key targets included in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); however, as the world is setting out on a new challenge, meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) -– the roadmap from here to 2030 –- the region must make a bigger effort to fight, for example, maternal mortality and teen pregnancy, two of its biggest failures with regard to the MDGs, partly due to a patriarchal, sexist culture.

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29 Apr 2015 PANAMA CITY, Panama

Panama's IDAAN Gets $100 Million to Address Water Crisis

The Panamanian government last week approved the transfer of $100 million USD to national water and sanitation utility IDAAN’s to support contingency water programs in the drought-stricken Central American country.The funds from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will be used for construction of water projects, rehabilitation of wells and purchase of new pumps and other equipment...

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5 Jan 2015 SANTIAGO, Chile

Chile's Supreme Court Denies Barrick Gold Appeal Over Pascua-Lama Sanctions

Canada-based mining firm Barrick Gold announced last week that Chile’s Supreme Court had declined to hear its appeal of a lower court ruling, which had imposed sanctions on the massive Pascua-Lama gold mine on the border with Argentina.Operations at the $8.5 billion USD mine were suspended in 2013 when Chile’s environmental regulator, SMA, found that the mine was in violation of its environmental work permits...

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16 Dec 2014 SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic Launches $25 Million Program to Improve Water, Sanitation in Santiago

The Water and Sewerage Corporation of Santiago (CORAASAN) has launched a $25 million USD Inter-American Development Bank (IADB)-funded project to improve water and sanitation services in the city of Santiago.IADB representative Flora Montealegre Painter said the project, which was approved two years ago, will increase water and sanitation coverage and improve operations of the water company, addressing what she referred to as the “challenges of CORAASAN...

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13 Nov 2014 PRAIA

Cape Verde to Spend $200 Million on Desal

The Cabo Verde (Cape Verde) government will spend US$200 million on building desalination plants for sea water each with a capacity to produce up to 20,000 cubic meters of drinking water per day, the government said in a statement. The Project for Development of the Water Supply System in Santiago Island will be funded with US$150 million by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the remaining US$50 million will be provided by the Cabo Verde government and other partners...

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23 Oct 2014 SANTIAGO

Communities in Chile's Atacama Desert Facing Scarcity

With the average annual rainfall of 1mm, Atacama is the world’s driest desert. This is the major reason why many cities in this region are facing water scarcity. In Copiapó a school charges around CL$2,000 pesos for each bottle every month, an estimated 10 times more expensive than tap water. On October 21, 2014, NASA has announced that it would be sending two of its satellites, TERRA and AQUA, in order to monitor the water levels for irrigation purposes in the Atacama region...

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16 Oct 2014 SANTIAGO

Dam Opponents Heckle Chilean President

Environmental activists opposed to a dam complex under construction near the Chilean capital heckled President Michelle Bachelet on Wednesday as she was giving a speech at a conference on sustainable energy, police said. The demonstrators held up signs criticizing the Alto Maipo hydroelectric project and loudly demanded the resignation of Energy Minister Macimo Pacheco, but they were restrained by the president's security detail and later arrested for disorderly conduct...

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9 Oct 2014 SANTIAGO, Chile

Chile’s Supreme Court Halts Mining Project Due to Indigenous Group’s Opposition

The Third Chamber of Chile’s Supreme Court this week order a halt to the development of Canadian mining giant Goldcorp’s $3.9 billion El Morro open pit gold and copper mine, due to concerns from indigenous groups that it may cause pollution to a nearby river.The Diaguita indigenous community had filed an appeal over the project; this was shot down by a lower court in April...

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9 Sep 2014 BOGOTA

Colombia Blames FARC for Dam Attack

Leftist FARC guerrillas detonated two bombs at the cement supply plant for the construction of the Ituango hydroelectric dam in northwestern Colombia, an official of the Antioquia provincial government said Monday. Santiago Londoño told reporters that the attack occurred Sunday night and did not injure anyone, but two concrete-mixing trucks were damaged in the blasts...

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