AWASQA

  • Medellín Is Also Black

    Medellín Is Also Black

    Colombia, 2026. Medellín is a place that has inspired songs such as “Me voy para Medellín” by El Combo de las Estrellas, “Medellín” by Madonna, and even “Medallo City” by Maluma, all of which praise its natural beauty, culture, and nightlife. However, the fantasy conveyed by the international music industry disappears just a few streets…

  • Mural de persona afrocolombiana escuchando una caracola

    Medellín Is Also Black

    Colombia, 2026. Medellín is a place that has inspired songs such as “Me voy para Medellín” by El Combo de las Estrellas, “Medellín” by Madonna, and even “Medallo City” by Maluma, all of which praise its natural beauty, culture, and nightlife. However, the fantasy conveyed by the international music industry disappears just a few streets…

  • Community meeting and informational session on the impacts of the two dams

    Bolivia: The Hostile Takeover of Indigenous Organizations

    On January 11, Mongabay reported on the pernicious impacts that El Chepete-Balas massive hydroelectric project would have on more than 5,000 indigenous people and the biosphere of the Madidi National Park and Pilón Lajas Reserve. The construction of two dams on Beni River’s Chepete Gorge and El Bala Gorge, respectively, is a project that dates…

  • No more Oil Spills Photo: Iván Castaneira

    Ecuador: Two Executive Orders Threatening the Amazon

    FUENTE: Publicado originalmente por la revista digital ecuatoriana GK La política petrolera y minera del gobierno ecuatoriano sigue afectando a las poblaciones indígenas, y están en contra de todas las recomendaciones para mitigar el cambio climático. Las políticas minera y petrolera del presidente Guillermo Lasso han sido rechazadas por organizaciones y nacionalidades indígenas. En octubre…

  • IIK'NAJ foto: Haizel De la Cruz

    The Subtle Etymology of the Mayan Language

    The first rain of the season has just fallen in the community. Five days had passed since they had finished doing the meeyjul Yuum iik‘[1] known as Ch’a’acháak.[2] The farmers could not help but smile as they looked at each other. The women looked as though they were watching someone in their kitchen revealing a…

  • Court in Mexico Blocks Federal Mandate that Declared Infrastructure Projects of “Public Interest” and “National Security”

    FROM THE EDITORS: In Mexico, as in many neoliberal and authoritarian governments, the discourse of national security has been used again and again as a pretext for developmentalist extractivist projects. The National Indigenous Congress has launched a national campaign to promote legal resources for the protection of indigenous communities, which is finally beginning to show…

  • Peru Mining Breaks the Environmental Balance in Fishing Harbor

    FROM THE EDITORS: The mining project in Puerto Huarmey, located in the Ancash Region of Peru, has profoundly impacted the life of fishermen, indigenous, and peasants who still inhabit the region. Local residents have been protesting the bay’s pollution and the rupture of ecosystems on which their livelihoods depend. Now Red Muqui has found documentation…

  • Estudiantes de secundaria coimunitaria. Foto: Eva López Chávez

    Oaxaca Indigenous Public Schools: Lessons Learned on Community Education

    FROM THE EDITORS: This relevant article is part of the Tzam Trece Semillas Zapatistas project, a plural, multicultural space that proposes a dialogue (tzam means dialogue in Ayapaneco) between communities, ideas, projects, dreams of the original Mexican peoples. The project’s goal is to publish the work of 130 collaborators in thirteen months, from May 2021 to May…

    Land Evictions Leave Thousands Homeless in Paraguay

    FROM THE EDITORS: Please find below an interview with Carlos Goncalvez, radio journalist at Cáritas about the current situation in Paraguay of evictions and criminalization of peasant and indigenous communities. AWASQA: Carlos, what is the current situation in Paraguay with a president linked to agribusiness and laws that generate social conflicts CARLOS GONCALVEZ: Maiteí (greeting in Guaraní),…

  • Los peligros del incremento de la minería “verde” en América para la transición energética del norte

    The dangers of more “green” mining in the Americas for the energy transition in the North

    SOURCE: Red Muqui. Translated by: Andrea Pisera The myths of “green,” “sustainable” and “climate smart” mining are gaining traction across the world. Companies are marketing these mines as “green,” and present them as the solution to the climate crisis in order to attract investors. They promote Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) criteria, and the…