Month: October 2018

A delegation from the International Rights of Nature Tribunal (IRNT) arrived at Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory (TIPNIS) in Bolivia. on August 16th to investigate a highway that is in the works to cross the indigenous territory. However, when they arrived they were held for five hours by the Indigenous Council of the South, a government group who’s tasked with protecting indigenous peoples, and then eventually gave up trying to enter the territory. The IRNT were threatened during their holding time, one of the captors allegedly saying, “We’re going to use whips if you take photos.” Their cameras were also taken away and for the first hour, they weren’t even allowed to leave their cars. This created a very tense atmosphere and put the IRNT on edge at what was supposed to be a routine visit, a routine visit that was supposedly approved by the Cabinet of Bolivia. After several hours this story of capture had spread through social media and a police officer arrived and told the IRNT to leave rather than stay and be threatened. The IRNT refused to leave and then after another hour and the arrival of three more officers, the IRNT were forced to leave without conducting their investigation.

This absurd incident is another example of how the Bolivian government’s control over its many entities is crumbling. It also indicates that there were perhaps wrongdoing going on at Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory at the highway construction that Bolivia did not want the world finding out about. This only follows the worrying trend of power grabbing and blatant disregard for government policies to protect indigenous people. Something that will only get worse as political tensions in Bolivia continue to rise.

https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/environmental-delegation-blocked-from-entering-bolivian-national-park/

Although Bolivia is a landlocked country, before 1884 they had access to the ocean because of an agreement with Chile. Then, in the War of the Pacific in 1884, Bolivia lost access. In 2013 Bolivia brought it as a territorial dispute case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. However, the ICJ has just ruled that Chile does not need to negotiate with Bolivia over access to the ocean. This decision is unfortunately binding and cannot be negotiated. This ruling is a huge blow to Bolivia, especially as it descends further into turmoil with President’s Morales’ claims to the presidency, though Morales claims that Bolivia will never give up fighting for access to the ocean. Many citizens of Bolivia are upset over this decision as apparently, he has been leading his people to believe that he has been establishing a healthy relationship between the two countries over the years. While this decision will not affect the majority of Bolivia’s maritime trade through Chile’s ports, it will not provide Bolivia with the advantage of sovereignty over said ports.

In my opinion, this ruling is completely just as it looks a precedent and the history between the two countries. It is also an advantage to the “Say No to Morales” effort that is currently being in Bolivia created to oppose his play for another term. This ruling is an advantage because it will convince more people that Morales is no longer fit to be president and will cast doubts on his actions. It is also an interesting ruling and I wish I knew what exactly had caused Bolivia they had a legitimate claim to sovereignty over some Chilean ports.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45708671