Back in June, I opened this blog with a post about the impending construction of the Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu tributary of the Amazon River. A few months on, the Amazon continues to swelter with controversy.
Following the murders of three Amazon activists in May and lobbying by the Commissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT, a wing of the Brazilian Catholic Bishops’ Conference that supports rural communities in their struggle for land reform), the Brazilian government vowed to step up efforts to investigate threats against other activists living in the Amazon. Just days later, though, another rural worker who had confronted illegal loggers was found murdered in the state of Pará. Clearly, it will take more than bold pronouncements to turn the tide of violence in the Brazilian states spanned by the vast Amazon rainforest. The region boasts a long history of conflict between rural settlers and the large landholders (some with legal title to the land and some that exploit resources illegally) that seek to expel them, as well as peonage that amounts to slavery of landless workers. As it relates to environmental concerns, these interests are not always clearly divergent, as can be seen in the recent debate to change Brazil’s Forest Code. Aldo Rebelo, leader of Brazil’s Communist Party, argued that the law, which requires 80 percent of any property in the Amazon to remain forested, prevented small land owners from sufficiently developing their property to sustain their livelihoods. Also pushing to reform this percentage requirement, however, were cattle ranchers and soybean farmers. Strange bedfellows, indeed.
But Brazil is not the only country with problems the size of the Amazon. Bolivian president Evo Morales has been turned upon by his indigenous power base (an Aymara indian, he is Bolivia’s first president with indigenous roots and a former coca farmer leader) over the construction of a 185-mile road that will pass through the Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory (TIPNIS).
Map of TIPNIS
The park is both a nature preserve and an indigenous territory that is home to the Moxeños, Yuracarés and Chimanes communities. The road, funded by Brazil and to be constructed by a Brazilian company, will link the southern part of the Brazilian Amazon to ports in Peru and Chile. There is talk that the road will assist illegal loggers in exporting their bounty and facilitate the transportation of coca for the cocaine trade. On August 15, after Morales’ announcement a month earlier that the road would be built “like it or not“, protestors commenced a march from the Amazon city of Trinidad to the capital city of La Paz. Bolivian police have cracked down violently on the protestors, using tear gas to force protestors onto buses. Some protestors allege that police attacked their camp, killing an infant and “disappearing” others. Defense Minister Cecilia Chacon has quit in protest, writing in her resignation letter that, “This is not the way. We agreed to do things differently.” Yesterday, Morales responded to the furore by halting construction of the road until a referendum could be held. Today, Interior Minister Sacha Llorent resigned due to criticism of his handling of the protests.
The people of Bolivia, numbering only 10 million, seem intent on maintaining their share of the Amazon rainforest. That 50 percent of Bolivians are Amerindian contributes to a sense of commitment to indigenous values on a national level. But they are David next to the Brazilian Goliath. Brazil has a multi-ethnic population of over 192 million, most of which are concentrated in urban centers disconnected from life in the Amazon. Bolivia has lost to Brazil before, surrendering what is now the Brazilian state of Acre at a time when the area’s rubber-richness made it highly valuable territory.
Here’s to hoping that little Bolivia can stand up to Brazil this time.
Bolivia v. Brazil: Please don't sit on me!
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