In Mexico City long-running protests against a Christopher Columbus statue have seen him removed from a prominent boulevard. A replica of a pre-Hispanic sculpture of an indigenous woman, known as ‘The Young Woman of Amajac’, has been chosen to replace Columbus, who enslaved indigenous people and helped bring disease and violent colonization to what we now call the Americas, yet has been revered for generations. This is the latest in a series of statues of conquistadores to fall as people across Latin America reject colonial legacies.
After a year of protest, one of the biggest social movements in recent history scored a major victory in November 2021 when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the repeal of three widely contested agriculture laws. Hundreds of thousands of farmers had set up camp in Delhi to protest three bills, which would have opened up the agricultural sector to wider market forces. After enduring extreme weather, the ravages of the pandemic and a state crackdown, as New Internationalist went to press, farmers were vowing to keep up the fight until all their demands were met.
