The Pilcomayo River—which runs 1,100 kilometers from the Andes cordillera between the Potosí and Oruro departments in Bolivia and through Argentina and the Gran Chaco region of Paraguay before it joins the Paraguay River—has dried up in parts of Paraguay, affecting trade and commerce along its path. In Villamontes, Tarija, on the Bolivian border with [...]

Prosecutor Jacinto Aguilar, from Oruro, alleged recently that the smuggling of chuto (illegal) cars has increased threefold in the past two months and that the center of this activity is the Challapata municipality. Aguilar blamed the increase on an announcement made by MAS senator Isaac Ávalos that were seconded by Fidel Surco. “It’s clear that [...]

Protests have heightened in the Peruvian town of Desaguadero. Yesterday, two public offices were burned and looted by town residents protesting a mining project which would contaminate Lake Titicaca. According to a report from the ATB television network, the demonstrators first burned…

On Tuesday, Bolivian president Evo Morales announced that a first-class international airport will be built in Chuquisaca in three years. The government has signed a contract with the construction company Combisa, which won the contract to build the airport. The airport will be built in the Alcantari region, south of Sucre. It will require an [...]

A gigantic statue of the Virgin of Copacabana, Bolivia’s patron saint, will be built in the town of the same name between 2012 and 2014. The completed plan was recently presented in Copacabana to great enthusiasm and the first steps to making it a reality…

Bolivia is one of the world’s 15 mega-diverse countries thanks to its abundance of genetic resources, species and natural ecosystems, according to a study by the Friends of Nature Foundation. Bolivia is home to 389 species of mammals, 1,415 types of birds and…

Bolivian president Evo Morales has called on the legislature to draft a proposal to amend a law restricting the press and judicial candidates from free expression during elections. The Electoral System Act prohibits candidates from giving interviews to the media and provides for sanctions against the media that disseminate information other than what issued by [...]

Standard & Poor’s, one of the Big Three credit rating agencies, yesterday upgraded Bolivia’s credit rating to B-plus. The other two agencies, Fitch and Moody’s, have also upgraded Bolivia’s credit in the last six months. S&P’s and Fitch’s ratings of Bolivia are “stable,” four notches below investment grade. Moody’s has given Bolivia a positive outlook. [...]

Movement to Socialism (MAS) Legislator Rebeca Delgado explained yesterday that the new Telecommunications Law seeks to regulate access to content on the internet because, “sometimes it misinforms instead of informs.”  Delgado assured the public that the new law will allow differences of opinion and will not violate the Bolivian constitutional rights to free speech and [...]

Yesterday, Bolivian judge Narda Vega ordered the house arrest of the governor of Beni, Ernesto Suárez Sattori. Suárez is being investigated for alleged irregularities committed during his previous term as prefect in the purchase and repair of an electrical generator in San Borja. Suárez will not be able to leave his home except for work—in [...]