Flag bearers at front of TIPNIS march (credit: Dario Kenner)
Flag bearers at front of TIPNIS march (credit: Dario Kenner)

TINPIS conflict continues in Bolivia (NACLA)

Emily Achtenberg, NACLA, Rebel Currents, Link to original article, 27 August 2013 On August 6, the 188th anniversary of Bolivian independence, a traditional day of festive celebration was transformed into an act of protest by indigenous groups in the Amazonian department of Beni, who demonstrated in the capital city of Trinidad with hands tied behind their backs and mouths covered … Continue reading

Mother and child on pro-TIPNIS march in La Paz (credit: Dario Kenner)

In birthing rooms, Bolivia sees way to cut maternal deaths (CSM)

By Sara Shahriari for The Christian Science Monitor. Link to original article, 18 July 2013 This article looks at new maternal health initiatives that aim to “improve maternal and child health by incentivizing childbirth with trained health professionals, be it in a hospital or at home”. One of these policies is to make Bolivian hospitals delivery rooms more like … Continue reading

Indigenous social movements march in support of President Evo Morales (credit: Dario Kenner)

The Roots of Indigenous Governance and Conflict

This is a guest post by Danny Hirschel-Burns. He studies at Swarthmore College and blogs at The Widening Lens. The MAS party (Movimiento al Socialismo, or Movement toward Socialism), which dominates Bolivia’s current government, originated in a mid-1990s confluence of indigenous organizations. In 2005 MAS won its first presidential election, with candidate Evo Morales elected to the … Continue reading

The Detention of Evo Morales: A Defining Moment For Latin America? (NACLA)

Emily Achtenberg, NACLA, Rebel Currents, Link to original article, 12 July 2013 As the international uproar continues over last week’s grounding of Bolivian President Evo Morales’s plane in Europe, after US officials apparently suspected whistle-blower Edward Snowden of being on board, many questions remain unanswered about the United States’s role and motives. [Presidential jet grounded in Vienna. … Continue reading

Pro-Evo Morales goverment march 12 October (credit; Dario Kenner)

Snowden, Evo and the Presidential Plane (BIF)

Bolivia Information Forum, Link to special July briefing Snowden, Evo and the Presidential Plane: a Massive Own-Goal The decision of four European countries – France, Italy, Spain and Portugal – to bar Bolivia’s presidential plane from entering their airspace on the evening of Tuesday, July 2 has caused deep offence, not just in Bolivia but throughout Latin America.  … Continue reading

President Evo Morales at rally 12 October (credit: Dario Kenner)

Gas, Mother Earth, and the Plurinational State of Bolivia (NACLA)

Gas, Mother Earth, and the Plurinational State: Vice-President García Linera Embodies Bolivia’s Contradictions Emily Achtenberg, NACLA, Rebel Currents, Link to original article, 21 June 2013 Lately, Bolivian Vice-President Alvaro García Linera has seemed to embody, in living form, the growing contradiction between his government’s international championship of environmental and indigenous rights, and its vigorous domestic pursuit of … Continue reading

President Evo Morales, Plurinational State of Bolivia (credit: Dario Kenner)

Bolivia news bulletin (BIF)

Bolivia Information Forum, Link to June 2013 new bulletin 1. Strikes and blockades organised by trade unions in pension protest After several days of strikes, protests and negotiations, President Evo Morales has withstood heavy pressure from Bolivia’s union confederation, the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB), to raise pensions for miners and other sectors.   The COB demanded an increase to … Continue reading

Coca Leaf Bolivia (credit: Sara Shahriari)

Coca toothpaste? Bolivia tries to drum up demand for ‘legal’ coca products (CSM)

By Sara Shahriari for The Christian Science Monitor. Link to original article, 3 June 2013 This article explores how the coca leaf is being used to make products like toothpaste, energy drinks and snacks. While coca is famous for being used to make cocaine it actually has many medicinal qualities and is a key part of indigenous culture. … Continue reading

Industrializing Bolivia’s Gas in Bolivia, Not Brazil (NACLA)

Emily Achtenberg, NACLA, Rebel Currents, Link to original article, 23 May 2013 On May 10, Bolivian President Evo Morales inaugurated the country’s first natural gas liquids separation plant in Rio Grande, Santa Cruz. The historic event, said Morales, marks a turning point in Bolivia’s hydrocarbons history and the start of a new era: Bolivia’s industrialization of gas. It’s also … Continue reading

President Evo Morales and Vice President Álvaro García Linera (credit: Dario Kenner)

Bolivia: USAID Out, Morales In For Re-Election Bid (NACLA)

Emily Achtenberg, NACLA, Rebel Currents, Link to original article, 11 May 2013 On May 1, President Evo Morales expelled USAID from Bolivia for allegedly fomenting divisions within the country’s social movements in order to destabilize his government. The announcement came just days after Bolivia’s Constitutional Tribunal ruled that Morales can run for a third presidential term in … Continue reading