Pando on the one year anniversay of the Porvenir Massacre
Bolivian government announced the creation of a 100 million dollars fund for four state businesses in the Amazon. for a lumber company, tropical frutes, and rubber. The government’s hope is that, with these new businesses the people in the north of Bolivia will have more opportunities to work and earn higher wages.
Groups in Bolivia’s Pando department, whose land rights have been historically compromised, look to the resettlement plan as a way to firmly establish their rights under the new constitution.
Indigenous peoples organizations emphasize that the government did not consult with them on various oil explorations. Because they were not consulted, there is no established forum for their complaints.
Minister of Land, Alejandro Almaraz, announced yesterday that according to a preliminary estimate the Government’s resettlement plan for 2,000 families in the department of Pando could require approximately US$21 million. Under the plan developed by the Government, there are 600,000 hectares of land to distribute this year in three regions of the country. 200,000 hectares of those are in the department of Pando.
The Society formed by GTLI y Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales awaiting an environmental license and Petroandina has entered the phase of seismic studies.
State-owned oil company Petroperu said Sunday protests organized by Indians in Peru’s Amazon region were causing fuel shortages in several jungle cities.
Recent reporting on the Pasto Mocoa Highway have included video of the actual highway that is currently one of the most dangerous roads in Colombia, referred to by some as the “Trampoline of Death.” As an IIRSA priority project with funding in preparation by the IDB, a proposed 50 km rerouting of the section between between San Francisco and Mocoa will pass through the 35,00 ha Upper Mocoa Forest Reserve with impacts on indigenous and farmer communities in the affected region. Among other impacts, the highway improvement is expected to increase investment in mining as indicated by the estimated increase in mining related traffic from zero vehicles to 180 vehicles daily.
By means of this bulletin, the BICECA project of Bank Information Center, seeks to bring news and relevant current information about particular aspects of projects and policies related with the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA). This publication is addressed to a diverse public of civil society organizations, native groups, students, academics and other people or entities that follows the different policies and projects of international financial institutions related the IIRSA project.