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CANADA: Oil Sands Fuel Debate
Syncrude oil sands extraction facility near the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta province, Canada (stock photo). Greenpeace has called for an end to oil sands mining in the region due to greenhouse gas emissions. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)
As Canada moves to further develop its oil sands, concerns surrounding pipeline construction, environmental regulations, Aboriginal rights, and investment from Chinese state-owned oil companies, have persistently grabbed headlines. Canada’s current Conservative government has been a staunch supporter of oil sands development, hoping the resource can buoy a relatively stable economy amid global uncertainty. The government recently barred future takeovers of Canadian oil firms by foreign state-owned companies.
MEXICO: New President, New Focus
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto (R) speaks to the President of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), Jesus Zambrano (L), as they make the "Pact for Mexico," on Dec. 2, 2012. Peña Nieto and the main three political parties of Mexico signed an agreement to launch reforms to strengthen democracy, fight social inequality, and promote economic growth. (Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images)
Enrique Peña Nieto was elected president in 2012 with a hope for change. While his predecessor, Felipe Calderón, had a strong focus on the “war on drugs,” Peña Nieto is expected to focus on jobs, trade, and economic growth in 2013. He will try to leave behind Mexico’s image as a land of violence and drug cartels. He is expected to establish a national corruption commission and open up the state-owned oil company, Pemex, to private investment. He will still tackle drug-related problems in Mexico, but will focus on the violence. At least 180 protesters were arrested on Peña Nieto’s inauguration day; Peña Nieto’s Institutional Revolution Party (PRI) was known for corruption in its decades-long rule ending in 2000.
BRAZIL: Natives Occupy Dam Site in Amazon
Residents being displaced by the Belo Monte dam and supporters stand atop a temporary earthen dam at the construction site after removing a strip of earth to restore the flow of the Xingu River as a protest against the construction near Altamira, Brazil, on June 15, 2012. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Several times this year, a group of indigenous tribes in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest occupied the construction site of a massive dam project on the Xingu River that they say would threaten their livelihood. The occupations caused work to halt on multiple occasions. The dam is expected to be finished by 2019. It is estimated that it will flood an area of 300 square miles near the Xingu River, displacing some 16,000 people. In 2013, Amazonian natives will likely maintain pressure on Belo Monte, the consortium behind the project.
NEXT: AFGHANISTAN: Coalition Troops Withdraw
