"Long before gunmen burst into Berta Cáceres Flores’s house in rural Honduras, Beverly Bell gave up any hope that her friend would live to an old age. “This was a marked woman,” said Bell, who kept a long list of the death threats. “Everyone knew it.”"

"A deadly algal bloom has hit the world's second biggest salmon exporter, Chile, where nearly 23 million fish have already died and the economic impact from lost production is seen soaring to $800 million, industry and government sources told Reuters."

"An indigenous community in the Peruvian Amazon took at least eight public officials hostage to demand help from the central government after an oil spill polluted its lands, authorities said Monday."

"Mining company Samarco and its owners, BHP Billiton and Vale SA, reached a deal with the Brazilian government on Wednesday to pay an estimated 20 billion reais ($5.1 billion) in damages over 15 years for a deadly dam spill in November."

"Brazil's health minister said Friday that authorities were "absolutely sure" that the Zika virus is connected to devastating birth defects and rejected criticism that the government was slow to investigate the surge of cases that set off international alarms."

"The World Health Organization says it expects the Zika virus to spread to every country in the Western Hemisphere except Canada."

"Paraguay could face problems this year with dengue and other fevers transmitted by mosquitoes, which have proliferated due to rainy weather during the Southern Hemisphere summer, a health ministry official said on Tuesday."

"Rojas Gonzales was fighting dam constructions which many say would displace thousands and destroy the Amazon.

A community leader and environmental activist was killed in Peru in a suspected repression tactic earlier this week, local media reported Monday.

Hitler Ananias Rojas Gonzales, 34, was struck by five bullets in his hometown Yagen in northern Peru, the Indigenous rights portal Servindi reported.

Rojas Gonzales was an adamant opponent of dam constructions on the River Marañon carried out by the Brazilian corporation Odebrecht."

"Maria Valdenice Nukini believes it's her duty to protect her ancestral territory in northern Brazil and raise awareness of the role indigenous communities play in protecting nature."

"The mine at Cerro de Pasco, Peru, once funneled silver to the Spanish crown. Today, it’s consuming the town—and poisoning children with lead."