Manuela Lavinas reports for The New York Times: Ms. Lavinas Picq is a specialist in indigenous politics and Latin America. President Evo Morales must issue a national disaster declaration to control the fires and avoid further loss of life. Fires have been ravaging the Bolivian lowlands for over a month. Nearly ten million acres have already burned,…
Category: Beni
UMSA declares the Chepete-Bala project unfeasible
El Diario reports: Study warns of environmental risk The document indicates that the construction of the hydroelectric plant will cause a serious impact on the populations of the area, such as Rurrenabaque and San Buenaventura According to ENDE, the Bala project would guarantee energy sovereignty for our country. Meanwhile, Waldo Albarracín says the consultancy study…
FAN: fires in Bolivia burned down 4.1 million hectares
AFP reports for Los Tiempos: Aerial view of smoke coming out of a fire near Charagua in Bolivia, on the border with Paraguay, which was recorded in August. | File photo | AFP The uncontrollable fires in Bolivia since August devastated 4.1 million hectares of forest and grassland, the private NGO Friends of Nature Foundation…
The jaguar, in the shadow of death
Gabriel Romano, EFE, reports for Pagina Siete: The flora and fauna that have survived the fire suffer a “total effect” of the disaster. A jaguar at the Noel Kempff Mercado Zoo in Santa Cruz. Below, animals burned in the Chaco. Photos: EFE / Nature, Earth and Life Foundation (Native) Forest fires in Bolivia threaten the…
‘Murderer of nature’: Evo Morales blamed as Bolivia battles devastating fires
Dan Collyns reports for The Guardian: Furious locals say president is culpable over unprecedented destruction of wildlife Firefighters try to control a fire near Charagua, close to the border with Paraguay. Photograph: Aizar Raldes/AFP/Getty Images Runy Callaú can’t remember how many nights he has been fighting the blaze which has engulfed huge swathes of forest….
No Refuge for the Amazon in Evo Morales’ Bolivia
Devin Beaulieu reports for Common Dreams: Evo Morales has carefully cultivated his image on the world stage as an indigenous defender of the “Pachamama (Mother Earth),” but his domestic policies belie another reality. Response by the ideologically leftwing government of Evo Morales has been forced, instead, largely due to domestic pressure by Bolivians that increasingly…
