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 … Read more
Bolivia: TIPNIS Road On Hold Until Extreme Poverty Eliminated (NACLA)
Emily Achtenberg, NACLA, Rebel Currents, Link to original article, 25 April 2013 Bolivian President Evo Morales has promised to eliminate extreme poverty in the Isiboro-Sécure Indigenous Territory and National Park (TIPNIS), before taking any further steps to design, fund, and build the controversial highway that would bisect the reserve. The decision is expected to put the highway … Read more
Bolivia: The Unfinished Business of Land Reform (NACLA)
Emily Achtenberg, NACLA, Rebel Currents, Link to original article, 1 April 2013 Land reform in Bolivia, and the promise of land redistribution from wealthy latifundistas and agrobusiness elites to poor farmers and indigenous communities, has been a hallmark of President Evo Morales’s administration. Recent data from the National Agrarian Reform Institute (INRA) provide a useful picture of what the Morales government … Read more
Economic Growth with More Equality: Learning From Bolivia (NACLA)
Emily Achtenberg, NACLA, Rebel Currents, Link to original article, 15 February 2013 Until recently, conventional economic wisdom held that sustained economic growth in any society could only be achieved at the expense of income equality. Today, even free market disciples like The Economist recognize that these goals are not contradictory—and that growing inequality, in fact, is an impediment to … Read more
Bolivia Bulletin February 2013 (BIF)
Bolivia Information Forum, Link to February 2013 bulletin 1. Gubernatorial elections in the Beni On Sunday 20 January elections were held for Governor of the Beni, one of the largest departments in size, yet one of the smallest in population (425,780 according to last November’s census). Carmelo Lens, for a right-wing coalition called Primero el Beni, won 52.27% of the vote, with Jessica … Read more
From Water Wars to Water Scarcity: Bolivia’s Cautionary Tale (ReVista)
Emily Achtenberg, ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America, Link to original article, Winter 2013 When Bolivian President Evo Morales arrived at the new Uyuni airport last August and found no water running from the tap, he publicly reprimanded and promptly dismissed his Minister of Water. As it happened, the pipes were merely frozen. The incident underscores the critical—and … Read more
Bolivia news briefing (BIF)
Bolivia Information Forum, Link to briefing covering December 2012 to January 2013 1. Conflicting reports as TIPNIS consultation ends The controversy over the proposed construction of a highway through the TIPNIS indigenous territory and national park looks set to continue after several reports into the recent consultation on the project offered very different conclusions. According to the … Read more
Battle of Reports Sustains Bolivia’s TIPNIS Conflict (NACLA)
Emily Achtenberg, NACLA, Rebel Currents, Link to original article, 18 January 2013 While President Evo Morales decrees that Bolivia’s TIPNIS conflict is resolved, conflicting reports issued by the government and religious and human rights groups over the past few weeks have served to extend the controversy over the proposed highway that would bisect this indigenous territory and national … Read more
Bolivia Takes the Leap into the Big Pond of Mercosur (IPS)
Analysis on the benefits and challenges for Bolivia to join the Mercosur trading bloc – that brings together Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and also Venezuela. It might not happen any time soon as Bolivia is still a member of another trade bloc with Colombia, Peru and Ecuador (CAN). If Bolivia does join Mercosur it could … Read more
Coca Licensing Is a Weapon in Bolivia’s Drug War (NYT)
Interesting analysis on Bolivia’s efforts to manage cultivation of the coca leaf (the raw ingredient for cocaine) since President Evo Morales kicked out the United States Drug Enforcement Agency in 2009. The article shows how the area of coca growing has fallen over the last few years but there are still many challenges to control … Read more
