In this edition Patricia Blanco explores the controversial Turtle “egg poaching” in Costa Rica and Tobie Roffey looks at how Costa Rica is putting its eco-reputation at risk. Barney Thompson updates us on the violence faced by journalists in Honduras, and Jason Searing shares the successes at Los Zorros Turtle Project in Nicaragua.

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Our Marine Matters special explores the impact of people and corporations on these complex systems. Mangroves are a focus: Grettel Navas Obando introduces the notion of Blue Carbon; Stephanie Williamson reports on their contamination in El Salvador; and we look at the rise of shrimp producing ‘gangsters’ in Honduras.

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We examine the true cost of gold in Honduras and report on a Salvadoran anti-mining champion being recognised internationally as an environmental champion. We cover the battle to protect indigenous cultures and biodiversity in La Moskitia and The Banana Coast, Honduras.

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We pay tribute to the Costa Rican union leader Carlos Aguedro Mora and his campaigns against the notorious pesticide Nemagon. Didier Leiton Valverde and Antonio Ramirez report on the human rights abuses of anti-mining activists in E l Salvador. Clay Gordon details the unfair trade between Kraft and Belizean cocoa farmers.

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How fair is Fair-trade? Didier Leiton Valverde and Nela Perle refer to the case of pineapples and bananas. We report on the inspiring Minat recycling project in Honduras. Lucy Goodman, Martin Mowforth and Banana Link write about Solidarismo, a controversial alternative to trade unions.

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Honduras is a key focus. Dr Juan Almendares, founder of Movimiento Madre Tierra, provides a passionate call for campesino land rights. We report on the advances of National Front of Popular Resistance and the progress of our funded partners in Honduras.

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This issue starts with two articles of Panamanian Indigenous struggles and successes against hydroelectric dam projects that threaten their land. Several articles respond to the June Honduran coup – Martin Mowforth summarises the issues and we publish the indigenous Garifuna and COPINH organisation’s condemnation of repression and assassination attempts.

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We cover initial reports of the June military coup in Honduras, and a Friends of the Earth statement describes the repression of environmental activists following the coup. We cover the EU’s attempts to muscle through free trade agreements in Central America, and then El Salvadoran environmentalists highlight the destruction caused by large scale tourism.

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