If there was a grace period for new Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz on environmental matters, it is over. Since taking office Nov. 8, the Christian Democrat has drawn heavy fire from green advocates, academics and social-welfare campaigners over moves they claim will exacerbate unbridled expansion of large-scale extractive activities such as farming and mining. These activities have contributed to problems including deforestation, water pollution and excessive water use for years. That includes the two decades of left-leaning governance preceding the election of Paz, a former senator and self-styled moderate. Deforestation, long driven by the growth of crop-farming and ranching, has in recent years been supercharged by massive wildfires attributed to climate change and land-clearing burns that were set by ranch and farm operators and escaped control. Critics say Paz risked deepening these problems by putting agribusiness leaders in charge of key environmental portfolios and... [Log in to read more]