Thousands of Turkish workers went on a one-day strike May 15 to express their outrage over the mining disaster at Soma, in the western province of Manisa. An explosion killed at least 284 workers at the coal mine, with hundreds more still trapped and believed dead. Some thousand unionists gathered in Ankara to march on the Labor Ministry, some wearing miners' helmets and waving banners with the image of Che Guevara. The largest mobilization was in Izmir, the nearest large city to Soma, where some 20,000 took to the streets chanting slogans against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP): "The fires of Soma will burn AKP," and "AKP murderers!" Police fired tear-gas and water cannon to break up the protest. Angry demonstrations continue in Soma itself.

At least three cars, including a police vehicle, were set ablaze in the Rio de Janeiro favela of Complexo do Alemão on April 29 after the fatal shooting of an elderly woman—the latest in a series of such outbreaks as Brazilian authorities attempt to clean up Rio's slums before the World Cup games open next month. Arlinda Bezerra de Assis, 72, died after being shot in the stomach during a gun battle between police and presumed gang members. In another incident on April 23, the favela violence actually spilled into Rio's posh beachfront tourist districts—an unprecedented occurrence that doubtless struck fear deep into the hearts of the city fathers. The protests broke out in the Pavao-Pavaozinho favela, perched on the hills overlooking the famed Copacabana district. The riots were sparked after word spread that the body of Douglas Rafael da Silva Pereira, 25, a popular dancer on Brazil's Globo TV network, had been discovered in the favela—apparently killed as "collateral damage" in another one of the frequent police shoot-outs with drug gangs. Residents swept down into Copacabana, setting fires and hurling bottles at police, vehicles and businesses. The violence also spilled over into nearby Ipanema, another posh tourist district. The young dancer's funeral two days later also exploded into a riot, as mourners blocked traffic after leaving the Sao Joao Batista cemetery, chanting "Justice! Justice! Police murderers!" Police used tear-gas to clear the intersection. The Military Police "pacification" campaign aimed at getting the favelas under control ahead of the World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics looks like it may be backfiring horribly. (World Bulletin, April 29; AFP, April 25; Daily Mail,VOA, April 23)

Peru's Ministry of Justice said in a statement May 8 that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), a body of the Organization of American States (OAS), has rejected a request from activists to recommend revoking the license for the controversial Conga open-pit gold mine in Cajamarca region. But the ministry's statement was immediately refuted by Zulma Villa Vílchez, attorney for the activists. Villa Vílchez asserted that the IACHR had not ruled on the Conga license, but had only issued a determination on another matter related to the conflict around the project—ordering Peru's government to provide protection for local residents, including the Chaupe family, which is in a land conflict with the mining company and facing threats. Said Villa Vílchez: "This injunction must not be confused with the petition we have made before the IACHR to stop the Conga project; they are two different things. On the latter, there has still not been a pronouncement." The case was brought by the Central Única Nacional de Rondas Campesinas (CUNARC), a body representing Peru's peasant self-defense patrols, which have emerged as the backbone of resistance movements to mineral development projects. (La Republica, May 9; Reuters, Caballero Verde, Cajamarca, May 8)

A new report issued by Peruvian NGO Environmental and Natural Resrouces Law (DAR) counts 412 hydro-electric dams to be built across the Amazon basin and its headwaters if current plans go ahead, potentially leading to the "end of free-flowing rivers" and contributing to "ecosystem collapse." Of the 412 dams already in operation, under construction or proposed, 256 are in Brazil, 77 in Peru, 55 in Ecuador, 14 in Bolivia, six in Venezuela, two in Guyana, and one each in Colombia, French Guyana and Surinam, said anthropologist Paul Little at the launch of the English version of the report, "Mega-Development Projects in Amazonia: A Geopolitical and Socioenvironmental Primer." (PDF). The report finds: "This new wave of dam building in the headwaters of the Basin is a 'hydrological experiment' of continental proportions, yet little is known scientifically of pan-Amazonian hydrological dynamics, creating the risk of provoking irreversible changes in rivers." (The Guardian's Andes to the Amazon blog, May 6)

Hundreds of troops from Ecuador's national police force on May 8 occupied the Intag Valley, backing up a team from the National Mining Company (Enami) sent to carry out an environmental impact study for the Llurimagua mining project—over the protests of local campesinos. Troops, including from the elite Special Operations Group (GOE), have established a cordon around the mineral concession area and set up numerous check-points where local residents are being stopped and made to show identification. Enami is seeking to develop the Llurimagua (formerly Junín) open-pit copper project in a joint venture with Codelco, Chile's state mining company. Intag Valley residents charge that the government never properly sought their consent for the project, which they say will damage the valley's agricultural economy. However, the project has the support of Imbabura province governor Wilmer Taboada, who personally accompanied the Enami team. (El Comercio, Quito, UDW, May 11; El Comercio, May 8; Reuters, Aug. 20, 2013)

Ecuador's government on May 6 turned down a petition for a referendum on plans to open Yasuni National Park to further oil exploration. The National Electoral Council determined that not enough signatures were collected—a claim rejected by the group Yasunidos, which led the drive. Electoral authorities validated 359,781 of the 850,000 signatures collected, well under the 583,323 needed under Ecuadoran law. The electoral council said it found numerous duplicate or otherwise invalid signatures. "Almost seven out of 10 signatures were thrown in the bin," Yasunidos said on its Twitter feed. "The council talks about irregularities. We talk about fraud." Yasunidos vowed to take its complaint to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. (Plan V, Ecuador, May 7 via UDW; BBC News, May 6)

An unknown number of miners—perhaps as many as 40—were buried alive as an illegal gold mine collapsed late on the night of April 30 at El Palmar, in Colombia's southern department of Cauca. Local campesinos spent May Day volunteering with Santander de Quilichao municipal brigades in a desperate effort to unearth the victims—none of whom are believed to survive. Thus far, only three bodies have been recovered, according to local Red Cross workers. Local residents said the "owners" of the mine were able to escape, but it is still unlcear exactly who they are.

Workers in several Iranian industrial centers marched on May Day in defiance of official attempts to shut them down. In the western city of Sanandaj, placards called for the release of political prisoners and detained labor leaders. Employees of the Khuzestan Pipe Factory in Ahwaz, also in the country's west, gathered in front of the governorate office with placards reading "Deprived workers in Khuzestan Pipe factory have not been paid for 6 years," and "Deprived workers in the Ahwaz City Hall have not been paid for 5 years." Security forces surrounded the march in order to prevent the spread of protests. Similar marches, bringing out hundreds, were reported from Khorramabad, Saveh and Zanjan, although a hevay police presence in the central square of Qom prevented workers from gathering there. Quick arrests also shut down an attempt by transit workers to march in the capital. Ebrahim Madadi, a leader of the Union of the Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, is among those detained. (PMOI, May 3; NCRI, RFE/RL, May 1)