Reports that the State Department is considering conditioning vital medical assistance on a critical minerals deal in Zambia have sparked severe controversy among U.S. experts on foreign aid and geopolitical strategy.
The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined 90+ organizations in the following letter to Secretary Marco Rubio on March 30, urging the U.S. not to threaten HIV and other medical assistance to Zambia over access to critical minerals.
Human Rights and Environment (DHUMA), the Puno, Peru-based legal aid organization founded by Maryknoll Sister Patricia Ryan and Aymara Indigenous activists, published the following article on April 17.
From March 19–22, a landmark gathering in Rome marked a paradigm shift in how faith-based institutions understand their relationship with the earth and the global financial system. The launch of the “Platform for Divestment in Mining” marks a milestone in the global effort to align religious investments with the values of the Gospel and the…
As nations in the Global North rush to transition to carbon-neutral energy, extractive industries exploit countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo to meet the growing mineral demand.
The growing demand for minerals used in renewable energy raises the urgency to address human rights and environmental abuses common in mining.
In mid-August, the Guatemalan government deployed over 1,500 police to Monte Olivo to evict 160 families of the community 9 de Febrero in order to allow the construction of the Santa Rita dam to go forward.
The following piece, published in the November-December 2013 NewsNotes, was prepared by Eben Levey, an intern with the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns.
Over the last four days, less than a month after President Perez Molina visited the town of Barillas in the department of Huehuetenango and announced the formation of a formal space for dialogue between communities, the government, and the hydroelectric companies Ecoener Hidralia Energía/Hidro Santa Cruz S.A., police and military actions have markedly increased.
The following story was published in the September-October 2012 NewsNotes.
