International
The piangua, the mangrove mollusk that empowers women in the Colombian Pacific
When the low tide in the Colombian Pacific, a group of women put on rubber boots, take a raft and enter a mangrove forest to collect the piangua, a mollusk that, in addition to providing food to their families, empowers them and gives them a voice in their territory.
They are in the community of La Plata, in the heart of the Uramba-Bahía Málaga National Natural Park, and they have just six hours to work before the sea rises again. Stuck in the mud they sing to liven up their days and regardless of the sun or rain they fill their containers with this mollusk similar to the mussel with which they prepare delicious recipes.
“It is a very important ancestral activity because it allows us to have economic sustainability as women, to be a symbol of resistance to cultural traditions and to take care of our gastronomic traditions,” Matilde Mosquera Murillo, legal representative of the Raíces Piangüeras Association.
Mosquera, 27 years old and a sociologist by profession, took on the challenge of leading that organization created in 2019 and has managed to bring together more than 70 women who are dedicated to this profession in the Community Council of La Plata-Bahía Málaga, where they play a fundamental role in conservation.
“We monitor mangroves, because we know the importance they have in the ecosystem, they are the cradle of thousands of species. We also make every process sustainable so that all the initiatives we lead allow us to take care of nature,” Mosquera insists.
International recognition
Their work already has international recognition and since 2023 they have held the ‘Meeting of Women of the Colombian Pacific’. In the first edition they asked the National Government to advocate before UNESCO to declare the piangüeo as Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
“We believe in the need for a political strengthening of women, that our voice is heard and that we are part of the decisions that are made in the country so that we have votes in public policies and that they recognize our ancestral work in the world,” she adds.
The environmental richness of the La Plata archipelago is enormous and its 32 islands and islets are the habitat of 1,396 species of birds, reptiles, mammals and felines, as well as 60 classes of frogs, 25 of lizards and 52 of snakes.
There are also eight species of sharks, 22 rays and 348 of fish that have six types of mangroves as their home: red mangrove, born mangrove, ped mangrove, button or button mangrove, bobo mangle and feeder mangle.
Unity and awareness
According to Santiago Valencia, leader of the Community Council of La Plata-Bahía Málaga, women use a ‘piangüímetro’, a tool that works as a rule that allows them to measure the mollusk when it has already passed its reproductive stage.
“Their organization is as strong as the roots of the mangrove and they even come together to reforest when they see it necessary. This unity has made them look for other alternatives because they see that everything is possible and today they see themselves as what they are: powerful women, businesswomen and nature lovers,” says Valencia.
Currently, women piangüeras work in the search for resources that allow them to access studies to improve and strengthen their processes.
Some of them have already created other ventures for the manufacture of ointments based on medicinal plants from the jungle, ancestral drinks and even think about packing the piangua in a vacuum to export it to other countries.
“When we go to the mangrove we sing as a symbol of power, to express our feelings, it also serves to harmonize our activity and understand that we are important; we will leave this inheritance to our children and it will continue for generations,” concludes Mosquera.
International
Brazil’s Lula wishes Trump a successful term focused on prosperity and peace
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wished the new U.S. President, Donald Trump, a “successful” term that promotes “prosperity and well-being for the U.S. people” and “a fairer and more peaceful world.”
“On behalf of the Brazilian government, I congratulate President Donald Trump on his inauguration,” said the progressive leader on his social media, shortly after Trump took the oath of office at the Capitol in Washington.
Lula, 79, highlighted that the relationship between Brazil and the United States, one of its most important trade partners, is “marked by a history of cooperation, based on mutual respect and historical friendship.”
“Our countries maintain strong ties in various areas such as trade, science, education, and culture. I am confident that we can continue to make progress in these and other areas,” he added.
International
Iran hopes U.S. will adopt realistic approaches under Trump administration
Iran declared on Monday that it hopes the new U.S. administration under Donald Trump will adopt “realistic approaches” toward Tehran and show “respect” for the interests of the countries in the region.
The Republican tycoon will take the oath for his second term as president of the United States on Monday at noon Washington time (17:00 GMT).
“We hope that the approaches and policies of the new U.S. government will be realistic and based on respect for the interests… of the countries in the region, including the Iranian nation,” said the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baqaei, during a weekly press briefing.
During his first term (2017-2021), Trump implemented a “maximum pressure” policy toward Iran.
In 2018, under his administration, the United States withdrew from the international nuclear deal with Iran, concluded three years earlier, which offered Tehran relief from sanctions in exchange for assurances that the country would not seek to acquire nuclear weapons. Tehran denies any such intentions.
In response, Tehran significantly increased its stockpile of enriched materials and raised the enrichment threshold to 60%, approaching the 90% required to produce an atomic bomb, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Tehran, which has expressed a desire to relaunch negotiations to revive the deal, defends its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and denies any intention to develop nuclear weapons.
International
Trump to sign executive order recognizing only two sexes
Donald Trump will sign an executive order instructing his administration to “recognize” the existence of only “two sexes,” future White House officials announced on Monday, just before the Republican’s inauguration.
“What we are doing today is defining that the policy of the United States is to recognize two sexes: male and female,” said the official, speaking to the press on the condition of anonymity.
The aim of the decree is “to defend women against the ideological extremism of gender and to restore biological truth within the Federal Government,” the official added, explaining that a person’s sexual identity will be defined solely by the gametes they possess.
During his campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to put an end to the “transgender delusion.”
The elected president also plans to eliminate federal funding for programs supporting diversity in the administration, the same officials from his incoming cabinet stated.
“We are going to end this type of funding, we are going to put an end to these programs,” said one source from the future team, speaking anonymously about antiracism and diversity training courses.
Brazil’s Lula wishes Trump a successful term focused on prosperity and peace
Iran hopes U.S. will adopt realistic approaches under Trump administration
Trump to sign executive order recognizing only two sexes
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