BOLIVIA: MORALES FINALLY GIVES UP AND THE ROAD WILL NOT PASS THROUGH THE INDIGENOUS NATURE RESERVE
After 66 days of protest, Bolivian president Evo Morales, finally conceded to the will of indigenous peoples Oct. 21, halting plans for the construction of a road that would have passed through the nature park of Tipnis (Indigenous Territory of the National Park of Isiboro). “For now, the issue of Tipnis is resolved,” Morales said. The indigenous leader, Rafael Quispe, of the Aymara tribe, said the news was a good sign, but added that there are still many issues that need to be addressed by the president. Tipnis President Fernando Vargas said that the protests will continue until all the concerns have been addressed.
ARGENTINA: CRISTINA FOREVER?
Cristina Fernandez, widow of former president Nestor Kirchner (who died a year ago), was re-elected president of Argentina with nearly 54 percent of the vote on Sunday, Oct. 23. Socialist candidate Hermes Binner finished a distant second with barely 17 percent of the electorate. The president’s Peronist party also secured an absolute majority in both houses of congress, and 20 of the country’s 24 governorships. The scope of the current majority is without precedent in contemporary Argentina. Fernandez has been a particularly popular president, having presided over an annual growth rate of 9 percent since her tenure began in 2007.
EL SALVADOR: “GREENHOUSE EFFECT DEVASTATING CENTRAL AMERICA”
Authorities are concerned with the disproportionate increase in rainfall affecting the entire region. Because of climate change, the region is suffering torrential rains that provoke flooding and landslides, causing hundreds of deaths and thousands of displaced persons. “Here we have always had hurricanes and tropical storms,” said Herman ROSA Chavez, the minister of environment and natural resources. “But what we are now experiencing is a larger frequency of torrential rains out of season that take us by surprise. We believe that this phenomenon is directly related to global warning.”