Runoff from tailings at Bolivia’s state-run Huanuni tin, zinc, and silver mine has been an ongoing source of pollution affecting downstream rivers and lakes. (Photo courtesy of CEPA)
Four days before Bolivian President Luis Arce’s Movement for Socialism (MAS) party was drubbed at the polls, spelling the end of nearly two decades in power, his administration declared an emergency over pollution from mining and other activities. The repudiation of MAS on Aug. 17 has set the stage for an Oct. 19 runoff between the two top vote-getters, neither of whom claimed over 50% of the August vote. Contesting the runoff will be centrist Rodrigo Paz, a senator with the Christian Democrat Party (PDC), and Jorge Quiroga, a right-wing former president representing the Libre Alliance coalition. The first-round balloting, conducted against an electoral backdrop of 30% inflation, fuel shortages and nonstop power struggles and division within MAS, all but overshadowed the national emergency Arce declared on Aug. 13. His two-article declaration was published quietly in the official bulletin amid what appeared to be a total... [Log in to read more]
