Emergency in TIPNIS (Territorio Indígena y Parque Nacional Isiboro Sécure)

from Contra Info   first part translated by Earth First! Journal  

TIPNIS [Territorio Indígena y Parque Nacional Isiboro Secure] is a territory where the Pacha (Earth) is being devastated by people who see it as a space to plunder for their own enrichment;

It is not only the fauna that they attempt to destroy (thousands of species of animals and communities that have been thrived before the advance of Capital and ‘civilization’.

TIPNIS is located between the north of Cochabamba Dept. and the south of Beni. From the year 2000 to 2012, there were nine protest marches through the territory, demanding that those in Power respect their self-determination and not interfere in their behavior with the natural environment. This place has a lot of diversity as far as nature is concerned, and therefore is attractive to exploiters.

While Morales was enacting the new law, in the streets of Trinidad indigenous of the TIPNIS, environmental activists and settlers marched against Law 266 because they consider that the highway will only allow the expansion of the coca crops. According to the latest report of the  Oficina de las Naciones Unidas Contra la Droga y el Delito (UNODC),United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), these illegal sowings grew by 150 per cent from 2015 to 2016.

In October 2011, with the arrival of thousands of TIPNIS defenders, a law was approved which grants intangibility to the protected area. However, those in Power approved this past Tuesday [August] 8 a law that removes the intangibility of TIPNIS.

This was based on a false consultation, in which native communities resisted participation and those who did vote were the colonizers, bribed people and senior leaders who were later expelled by the real TIPNIS communities. Continue reading “Emergency: Bolivia permits Highway through TIPNIS, the Most Beautiful Jungle”