International meeting unites movements against destructive mining projects

More than 500 people from 12 countries traveled the sinuous mountain road from Oaxaca, México to the small Zapotec community of Capulálpam de Méndez to attend the “Yes to Life, No to Mining” Forum of Mesoamerican Peoples. Community activists and indigenous leaders shared experiences of resistance, and developed strategies for defending their territories against the onslaught of ongoing and planned mega-mining projects that threaten their communities.

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Casa Amiga: Leading the Fight to Protect Women in Ciudad Juárez

A major wave of layoffs in the once-thriving maquiladora industry of Ciudad Juárez has left thousands scrambling to make ends meet. Among the most vulnerable to this economic implosion are thousands of working-class women. As the maquiladora sector has contracted, Casa Amiga, the only domestic violence and rape crisis center in the city of nearly 2 million, has experienced a dramatic increase in the number of battered women coming in for help. Despite its overwhelming workload, the staff of Casa Amiga continues to provide much-needed services to women in Juárez, one day at a time, case by case.

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