News stories by Fabiana Frayssinet, page 27

The H1N1 flu virus has begun its southward march in Latin America, carried by passengers travelling from areas hit by the outbreak. But the mortality rate is much lower than in Mexico, and there are no signs of 'sustained domestic transmission' in the rest of the region.

Celebrities and environmental organisations held a vigil at the Brazilian Congress in an effort to block passage of a bill that they say could cause an even greater 'environmental disaster' in the Amazon jungle.

One young indigenous person commits suicide every 10 days on average in the centre-west Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Blamed on the lack of land and opportunities, the proportions of this tragedy have drawn the attention of local and foreign experts.

The Brazilian government announced it is overhauling the country's energy basket with more emphasis on renewable resources, while continuing to plan for future expansion of local production of traditional fossil fuels, like oil and gas.

In 2008, 190 homosexuals were killed in Brazil, one every two days, representing a 55 percent increase on the previous year – a veritable 'homocaust' according to gay rights activists.

Government officials, business leaders and non-governmental organisations agreed in Brazil on the need for rich countries and companies to 'pay' the people of the Amazon jungle as 'providers of environmental services' for contributing to the fight against climate change by not deforesting.

Economic and political leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean are trying to help come up with responses to a problem for which they do not feel responsible – the global economic crisis – although they do want to be part of the solution.

Brazil’s landless movement (MST) has launched its annual April demonstrations to demand an acceleration of land reform efforts and commemorate the Eldorado de Carajás massacre, in which 19 rural protesters were killed by the police and hundreds injured.

Chanting 'Anna Pata, Ana Yan' (Our Land, Our Mother), members of indigenous organisations and activists celebrated a Brazilian Supreme Court ruling Thursday that confirmed the borders of a huge indigenous reservation in the Amazon jungle and set an important precedent for future land disputes.

GUATEMALA, Nov 13 (IPS) - A Guatemalan indigenous umbrella organisation announced this week that it would support an agreement on indigenous identity between the government and the guerrillas only if the Constitution is modified to promote a multicultural, polylingual state.