Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Haider Rizvi UNITED NATIONS, Apr 30, 2011 (IPS) – Is coca a dangerous drug that should be tightly regulated, or an essential part of Andean indigenous people’s cultural and medicinal heritage? Or perhaps both? In the coming months, diplomats at the U.N. body will face the thorny [...]
BOLIVIA: The Boomerang Effect for Morales
April 27, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Mario Osava GUAYARAMERÍN, Bolivia, Apr 26, 2011 (IPS) – It wasn’t easy to get to the Bolivian city of Riberalta from Brazil. The adventurous journey included potholes on the Brazilian highway, a rickety boat that ferried us across the Mamoré – the border river – and an [...]
ARGENTINA-BOLIVIA: Gas Pipeline to Boost Development, Revenues – But Not for Everyone
April 5, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Marcela Valente* BUENOS AIRES, Apr 5, 2011 (IPS) – "The pipeline will carry gas to Bolivia and seven provinces in Argentina, but we who live in Campo Durán, where the pipeline starts, will not have gas," Julio Palavecino told IPS. Palavecino is the leader of a community [...]
BOLIVIA: Cochabamba Still Thirsty
March 22, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Franz Chávez* LA PAZ, Mar 22, 2011 (Tierramérica) – There is still no apparent solution to the unsatisfied demand for drinking water in Cochabamba, 11 years after this central Bolivian city made international headlines with a popular uprising that halted the privatisation of water service. There is [...]
LATIN AMERICA: Wave of Water Privatisation Over; Coverage Challenge Remains
March 22, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Gonzalo Ortiz* QUITO, Mar 21, 2011 (IPS) – Now that the wave of water privatisation of the 1980s and 1990s has let up, the main challenge facing water utilities in Latin America is expanding coverage of high-quality water services. In Mexico, water has always been publicly controlled. [...]
Brazil Keeps a Grip on Bolivia’s Natural Gas Industry
December 1, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Franz Chávez LA PAZ, Nov 30, 2010 (IPS) – Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobrás maintains a solid and vigorous presence in natural gas production within Bolivian territory, even with the nationalisation of petroleum and gas in 2006 led by Bolivia’s left-wing President Evo Morales. The story begins [...]
BOLIVIA-BRAZIL: One-Sided Free Trade at the Border
November 8, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Mario Osava BRASILÉIA, Brazil, Nov 8, 2010 (IPS) – There are no toy stores or electronics shops in Brasiléia, a city in Brazil’s northwestern Amazonian state of Acre. To buy toys or computer items, the city’s 20,000 inhabitants have to go to neighbouring Cobija, across the border [...]
BOLIVIA: Guaraní, Tapieté Peoples Fight Gas Exploration
June 1, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Franz Chávez LA PAZ, Jun 1, 2010 (IPS) – The explosive charges utilised in fossil fuel exploration in Bolivia’s Chaco region divert underground water flows, scare off wildlife and harm the environment, charge the leaders of local indigenous Guaraní communities, which have been blocking access routes to [...]
Q&A: Fewer Protests, More Political Pressure to Fight Climate Change
May 15, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS Franz Chávez interviews environmentalist KELLY BLYNN of the 350.org movement LA PAZ, May 16 (IPS) – Moving away from public protests and towards exerting political pressure on leaders in industrialised countries is the strategy chosen by the environmental movement 350.org to fight global warming, said its co-founder Kelly [...]
BOLIVIA: Morales Faces First Workers Protests
May 5, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS Franz Chávez LA PAZ, May 5 (IPS) – Strikes and demonstrations against the Bolivian government’s wage policy have marked the end of a honeymoon period between workers and leftwing President Evo Morales. The government capped general wage hikes at five percent, and at three percent for the police and [...]
