Ook in 2012 houdt Ojalá je op de hoogte van het laatste nieuws uit Bolivia met net die informatie die de andere media niet hebben. Ook achtergronden, videos, fotos en ander materiaal zullen steeds meer aan bod komen.
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Saludos van Ojalá
From: Bolivia Diary
Diaro Kenner,
Last week leaders of lowland indigenous movement CIDOB decided to start the second march against a proposed road through the TIPNIS (national park and indigenous territory) on 25 April leaving from Chaparina heading to La Paz. The indigenous communities who live inside the TIPNIS are affiliated to the CIDOB that represents 34 indigenous nations in Bolivia´s Amazon and Chaco regions.
The choice of Chaparina is symbolic because this was where the Bolivian police used tear gas and for several hours forcibly detained hundreds of indigenous marchers who were protesting the road project on 25 September 2011. So far there has been little progress in bringing the people responsible for the repression 6 months ago to justice. Former Interior Minister Sacha Llorenti was identified as the “intellectual author” by the Ombudsmen in November but he has not been formally charged. Continue reading
From: upside down
Written by Marielle Cauthin, Translated by April Howard
Six indigenous women leaders and the founder of the Permanent Assembly on Human Rights in Bolivia (APDHB), in addition to 17 other main leaders, representatives and defenders of indigenous rights are forming part of the judicial investigation of the crime of “attempted homicide and serious and minor injuries” of Secretary of State David Choquehuanca, in a report presented to the ministers of Justice and Government of Bolivia.
Between August and October of 2011, hundreds of indigenous men, women and children from the high and lowlands of Bolivia, marched for 65 days as a way of protesting against the proposed highway which, at a length of 300 kilometers (186.4 miles), planned to cross the center of the Isiboro Ségure Indigenous Territory and National Park (TIPNIS), to unite the provinces of Cochabamba and Beni. The project is being promoted by the Bolivian Government, financed by the Brazilian Government and constructed by the Brazilian contractors OAS, with a cost of 415 million dollars. The Yuracaré, Moxeño and Chimán indigenous communities, who own the tropical territory, fought the project, arguing that the double designation of the land as both a park and a Community Land of Origen (TCO) protects the area from megaprojects. They also appealed for the recognition of their constitutional and international rights to a preliminary consultation and the right to approve or reject the proposed highway.
Threats to the Indigenous Movement
Tipnis march“We have received that news as a threat to the indigenous communities,” said Fernando Vargas, the president of the TIPNIS Union, referring to the subpoenas served to 26 people for giving their reports on crimes against humanity committed by the Secretary of State.
In the same way, various organizations like the Beni Union of Moxeño Ethnic Communities (CPEM – B) reported the control, influence and biasing of the judicial process toward the executive branch in order to intimidate and politically persecute indigenous men and women leaders and people supporting the indigenous march and defense of the TIPNIS. The Union has also maintained that the accusations and reports in the subpoenas are false and forced and that the Secretary of State should have publically clarified the actual events. Continue reading
RIO DE JANEIRO,28 maart 2012(IPS) (www.mo.be)
Maatschappelijke organisaties en sociale bewegingen uit de hele wereld organiseren een alternatieve milieutop naast de VN-Conferentie over Duurzame Ontwikkeling (Rio+20) in juni. Die laatste top zal in hun ogen onvermijdelijk op een mislukking uitlopen.
De Volkstop vindt net als de VN-top plaats in juni in Rio de Janeiro. Daar werd twintig jaar geleden ook de VN-Conferentie voor Milieu en Ontwikkeling, ook bekend als de Aardetop, gehouden. Deze conferentie wordt gezien als een keerpunt in de architectuur van de internationale milieuwetgeving.
De alternatieve top wordt van 15 tot 23 juni gehouden in het park Aterro do Flamengo en zal naar verwachting zo’n 10.000 deelnemers trekken. Afgevaardigden van ongeveer twintig sociale organisaties, zoals vakbonden, vrouwen- en boerenorganisaties, kwamen deze week bijeen om hun kritiek op de officiële top te verwoorden en voorbereidingen te treffen voor de grootschalige mobilisatie in juni.
Inheemse volken
Een van de uitdagingen is het verwerken van de rechten van inheemse volken in het concept voor duurzame ontwikkeling, zegt activist Sander Otten, lid van de technische commissie van Coordinadora Andina de Organizaciones Indigenas (CAOI), een overkoepelend orgaan van inheemse groepen uit Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador en Peru. “Deze mensen moeten werkelijk invloed krijgen op projecten die op hun grondgebied worden uitgevoerd”, zegt Otten. Continue reading
Door: Ojalá, La Paz
Zondag 22 januari 2012 was het precies 2 jaar geleden dat de nieuwe Grondwet van Bolivia geldig werd, Bolivia een plurinationale staat werd en Evo Morales zijn tweede termijn in ging als president. Dit werd herdacht met toespraken van de president en de vicepresident, feestelijkheden én veranderingen in het kabinet.
Opvallend is de terugkeer van Juan Ramon de Quintana naar het Ministerie van de Presidencia, waar hij ookal in het eerste kabinet als rechterhand van Evo Morales opereerde. De Quintana staat bekend om zijn harde lijn, en goede relaties met de strijdkrachten.
Ook opvallend is dat er nog maar 7 vrouwen deel uitmaken van het 23 koppen tellende kabinet, waarmee Morales het 50-50 principe doorbreekt, waar hij eerder zich mee profileerde. Het aantal ministers afkomstig uit inheemse groepen en sociale bewegingen neemt ook zichtbaar af.
Het nieuwe kabinet 2012 ziet er als volgt uit:
(bron: Erbol)
David Choquehuanca (RREE)
Juan Ramón Quintana (Presidencia)
Carlos Romero (Gobierno)
Rubén Saavedra (Defensa)
Elba Caro (Planificación del desarrollo)
Luis Arce (Finanzas Públicas)
Juan José Sosa (Hidrocarburos)
Ana Morales (Desarrollo Productivo)
Arturo Sánchez Escóbar (OOPP)
Mario Virreira (Minería)
Cecilia Ayllón (Justicia)
Daniel Santalla (Trabajo)
Juan Carlos Calvimontes (Salud)
Felipe Quispe (Medio Ambiente)
Roberto Aguilar (educación)
Nemesia Achacollo (Desarrollo Rural)
Claudia Peña (Autonomías)
Nardi Suxo (Transparencia)
Pablo Grox (Culturas)
Amanda Dávila (Comunicación)
From: BoliviaDiary
18 January 2012
Dario Kenner, La Paz
Despite approving a law just three months ago stopping any road going through the TIPNIS national park and indigenous territory the B0livian government is on the verge of controversially continuing in its plan to build the road. The government, led by President Evo Morales, approved the law on 24 October 2011 after a two month long march of around a thousand indigenous peoples against the road arrived in La Paz (background on TIPNIS conflict including positions for and against the road).
The Plurinational Assembly (Congress and Senate) approved Law 180 on 24 October. A few days ago it was formally introduced for further discussion on the parliament´s agenda. The intention is to modify the law to build the road through the TIPNIS. It is unclear how long this process will take but it could happen soon.
Modifying the law is a very real possibility because since the 2009 general election the governing Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party has enjoyed a two thirds majority in the Plurinational Assembly (Congress and Senate) and controls the executive branch. However, it might not be quite so straightforward because several indigenous MAS represenatives in the Congress have said they will no longer vote with the MAS. Continue reading
23 November 2011,
Dario Kenner, La Paz
When the government of President Evo Morales signed off on a law on 24 October 2011 stopping any road going through the TIPNIS national park and indigenous territory it looked like a clear victory for the thousand or so marchers who had spent two gruelling months walking from Bolivia´s Amazon to La Paz. But the Morales government has made it obvious that it still wants to build the road.
TIPNIS “Untouchable”???
Since the approval of the law the debate has centred on the issue of whether the TIPNIS national park is now “untouchable” or not. This NACLA blog explores this issue. In a previous interview with MAS Senator Adolfo Mendoza, he explained that, “usually the word intangible (untouchable) affects an area of a Protected Area. But if it applies to an entire indigenous territory it could be interpreted as meaning that the indigenous peoples who live there are simply park rangers”.
Actually the marchers were always clear that their demand was against a road through their territory. At no time did they say the demand was a law that would mean they could not “touch” their own territory. What they have always stressed is gestión territorial. This concept is based on the idea of using a territory (in the case of TIPNIS also a national park) in a sustainable way. Continue reading
Fernando Vargas, President of the TIPNIS Subcentral
Our march was to defend Mother Earth and indigenous rights. I say to President Evo Morales Ayma he is the first defender of Mother Earth internationally, he needs to be that here. To the Ministers of the state you need to be coherent with what is said at international level.
To each marcher I say: we marched in 1990 to defend our territory and dignity (this march was fundamental to put indigenous rights on the agenda in Bolivia and one of the consequences was the recognition of the TIPNIS as an indigenous territory) and 21 years later we march to defend that territory. This is the heritage of all Bolivians and this territory fulfils environmental, economic and social functions. Continue reading
Posted by boliviadiary on 10/26/2011 · 1 Comment
25 October 2011
Dario Kenner, La Paz
On 24 October President Evo Morales signed off the law that prohibits building a road through the TIPNIS national park and indigenous territory. After a march by indigenous movements from Bolivia´s Amazon in opposition to the road project got to La Paz last week President Morales made the historic decision to accept their demand.
I was in Plaza Murillo (central square in La Paz) until 12am on Monday with the media and hundreds of marchers as the ceremony took place inside the Presidential Palace in front of us. The approval of this law has been heralded as the crucial act that solves the TIPNIS conflict that has polarised the country since 15 August when the indigenous march began.
However, the tone of the speeches made by both the indigenous leaders and President Morales suggest this conflict is not completely over. While the main issue of whether a road goes through the TIPNIS has been resolved for now there are wider topics that are still unresolved.
One example is the fallout from the police repression of the indigenous march on 25 September when it was nearly 300km from La Paz. Indigenous leaders Fernando Vargas (President of the TIPNIS Subcentral) and Adolfo Chávez (President of lowlands indigenous social movement CIDOB) were very critical of the lack of justice and of the Morales government for not taking responsibility for what happened. After 4 weeks we still do not know who gave the order despite Vice President Álvaro García Linera saying the government knew who gave the order but could not reveal who it was.
Today the majority of the indigenous marchers left La Paz today to go back to their communities. Over the next few weeks the impacts of the Bolivian government’s decision to not build the road will become clearer. It will take time to fully understand the new political landscape but what is certain is Bolivia´s social movements (whether pro the MAS government or not) will be mobilising again soon to pressure for their demands to be met.
Tijdens een persconferentie op vrijdag 21 oktober kondigde president Evo Morales aan dat de geplande snelweg niet door het nationale park en inheems territorium Isiboro Securé (TIPNIS) zal gaan. Hij maakte deze belofte concreet door het in het Parlament goedgekeurde wetsvoorstel over Tipnis te reformuleren in deze termen. Nu zal maandag het parlement over deze reformulering stemmen, maar aangezien 2/3 van de parlementsleden van de partij MAS zijn, is het zo goed als zeker dat hier geen obstakels meer zullen zijn.
Ondertussen vindt er nu dialoog plaats tussen een delegatie van de inheemse mars en President Evo Morales over de andere 15 punten waarvoor gemarcheerd is. Eén van de agenda punten is de situatie van de slachtoffers van het politiegeweld op 25 september. Zo´n vijftig van hen bevinden zich nog altijd in verschillende ziekenhuizen, anderen hebben blijvend letsel opgelopen en daarbij komt de psychologische schade met name voor de kinderen die bij het geweld aanwezig waren en in sommige gevallen direct getroffen zijn.
Bolivia Ahora 