Through peaceful mobilization, legal actions, unity, and deep roots in their ancestral territory, the indigenous peoples of Putumayo and some Afro-Colombian communities stopped the implementation of the San Francisco -Mocoa highway project funded by the IDB, a project considered by the government as a pillar of regional development and IIRSA Amazonas Multimodal Transport Corridor Tumaco-Belem do Para, the promotes infrastructure megaprojects to facilitate the extraction of natural resources, oil, minerals, biodiversity and ancestral knowledge of the Amazon.
Since the beginning of the 90’s there have been warnings on the potential impacts of the hydroelectric project on the rivers Paraguay and Parana and its surrounding areas.
The construction of an imense hydroelectric dam in Cachuela Esperanza, which the government of Evo Morales plans to install in the Northeast is not feasable in technical, economic and environmental terms, as warned by Jorge Molina, expert of the Hydraulic Institute of the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés de La Paz.
Indigenous, university, academic and NGO organizations participated in the symposium on Vivir Bien within the V Latin American and Social Science Conference (CLASO) in La Paz, Bolivia.
Saturday the 22 of August in Villa Tunari, Cochabamba, an agreement between Bolivia and Brasil was finalized to build a highway between Cochabamba (Villa Tunari) and Beni (San Ignacio de Moxos). Highway to Beni: Villa Tunari – San Ignacio de Moxos
Bolivian President Evo Morales announced the implementation of several development projects in the Amazon department of Pando in hopes of making it a center of development in the country.
The environmental license of the project was granted by MAVDT in December of 2008 and includes strict environmental standards that guarantee the protection of ecosystems affected by the highway.
Lula and Evo coordinate the return of 1,000 Brazilians located in Pando. Some call for the defense of their lands.
To read the full article by Katu Arkonada of CEADESC, please click the “Spanish” tab in the upper right hand corner.