Trade unionists raise concerns - poor working conditions imposed by China

In a meeting with the International Labor Organization, Argentine trade unionists discussed examples from Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru of “exploitation of their natural resources in exchange for millionaire promises. Infrastructure works, dams, power plants and mining have more Chinese personnel than local in their ventures. Especially in senior management…The China Space Station in Neuquén, Argentina, does not allow the participation of Argentine personnel. Entrance is restricted and only Chinese and military personnel work there.”

“The Collective on Chinese Financing and Investments, Human Rights and the Environment (CICDHA) - a consortium of NGOs from Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil - documented “the failure of the Chinese State to comply with its extraterritorial obligations regarding human rights due to at least 18 projects operated by 15 Chinese business consortiums, which have acted with the support of 6 Chinese banks ”in the mentioned countries. “Of the 18 documented cases, 7 belong to the mining industry, 6 to the oil industry and 5 to the water sector. 15 also affect indigenous territories, 11 protected natural areas, 5 are natural and cultural heritage recognized by UNESCO and 12 correspond to the Ecuadorian, Bolivian and Brazilian Amazon region.”

“In a detailed study conducted by the International Labor Organization (ILO), the agency warns of Chinese investments in the region and the "quality and quantity" of the workforce. "At the moment, Chinese companies have broad criteria and freedom to implement various environmental and labor regulations, ”said the report entitled  Effects of China on the Quality and Quantity of Employment in Latin America and adds that“ in general - Chinese companies - integrate Chinese nationals at the highest levels of their companies in Latin America.”

“The document also sets out Beijing's objective of imposing its own rules to settle in each of the Latin American countries. “Beyond the heterogeneity of the companies analyzed, it is important to highlight the difficulties of Chinese companies to understand the local environment where they have been established, which in various cases leads to conflicts and multiple tensions. The cultural differences ’between Latin America and China are reflected in the difficulty of understanding the norms, rules, laws and customs and customs at the local and national level of the respective countries where Chinese companies are established”. The study published in January 2019 and in which 10 years of Chinese presence in the region were analyzed, also shows the low quality of employment and the need to improve it…although trade rates between both parties were improved, the "invasion" of Made in China products caused the quality of work in this part of the planet to decrease. “There is ample space to improve the quality of jobs generated through Latin American exports to China, for the moment highly linked to low quality jobs, and reduce the impact through lost jobs via imports, linked to medium and high quality jobs.” “Another aspect to take into account are the differences that are reflected between the working conditions of Chinese personnel versus local” personnel.

Read the Spanish-language article here.

Additional rejection of the Rositas hydroelectric megadam project

According to this Spanish-language article, the Bolivian Minister of Environment and Water, “Maria Eva Pinckert clarified that the questioned Rositas hydroelectric project will not be executed during this transitional government. However, she said that it is a “desire of the people of Santa Cruz,” which again aroused the voices of rejection, particularly from communities that feel the impact directly.”

Acts of Love and Peace

The Spanish-language national newspaper Opinion, published an editorial by Eduardo Morales that shares concerns that the transitional government will continue with the mega-dam projects from the previous administration: “hydroelectric dams are again news, given the possibility that the transition government will make viable projects initiated by the MAS; the most destructive political party of the nature of the country.” He then cites the high construction costs, social and environmental costs (e.g., loss of interregional biological stability, greenhouse gases) and economic damage of the planned hydroelectric plants.

The author poses the question “What makes Maria Elva Pinckert, current Minister of Environment and Water, want to execute the destructive projects promoted by the MAS?” and surmises “probably political pressures, but also a remarkable dose of self-ignorance” He concludes “If she knew well, with scientific argumentation involved, the consequences of hydroelectric plants such as Rositas or El Bala or Chepete, any pressure would be easily dissipated and the consensus on dams she seeks would simply be unnecessary.”

Read the Spanish language article here.

Warn Continuity of “Destructor” Policies

Recent meetings of the Bolivian Minister of Environment and Water with the “Government, ENDE and the Ministry of Energy, among other institutions“ to assess the current situation of one of the most controversial projects from the previous administration—the Rositas hydroelectric plant in Santa Cruz—has raised concerns among indigeneous and other communities that the transitional government will proceed with planned megadam projects.

The Coordinator of Defense of Native Indigenous Peasant Territories and Protected Areas (Contiocap), Ruth Alipaz, stated “we denounce that the power groups of the East (agribusiness and others), which until recently were strong allies of the MAS, re-articulate around Minister (María Elva) Pinckert to continue imposing mega hydroelectric plants that are economically unviable and will destroy our territories…"There are actions of this government that are going beyond its attributions. It is making its minister to promote these projects, without knowledge and usurping functions of the Ministry of Public Works. We are seeing that it is clear that the minister is designated to continue extractive policies of the MAS that undermine the environment and human rights, "said Alipaz and said that measures will be taken to promote" destructive "projects and plans.”

You can read the rest of the Spanish-language article here.

COP25 and the request that Bolivia leave false solutions to climate change

At the 2019 international climate change meeting convened by the United Nations (COP25), the “Bolivian Platform against Climate Change demanded that the Government begin to work in a participatory manner with civil society.” The regulation of carbon markets in Article 6 of the Paris agreement was a major topic of discussion at this meeting. “This mechanism is rejected by indigenous and environmental groups because they consider it a false solution to the climate problem.” The Bolivian Platform Against Climate Change along with “NGOs such as Cipca, Unitas, Cejis, Inti Illimani, Practical Solutions and Jubilee Foundation… has asked the Bolivian Government to change its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) and leave false solutions to climate change” such as the planned megadams and biofuels. “

“Martín Vilela, a member of the Bolivian Platform against Climate Change, explained that the NDCs of Bolivia contemplate commitments that propose the change of the energy matrix with alternative energies generated by mega-hydroelectric plants (such as the Chepete-El Bala and Rositas projects). For this, large dams must be built which, it is known, are large emitters of greenhouse gases (GHG); Therefore, it is not a real solution to climate change. He also noted that the generation of energy through agrofuels is another false solution. And it is that for the production of these it is necessary to expand the agricultural frontier; which implies greater deforestation and, consequently, the increase in GHG emissions, among other problems associated with biofuels.

“Members of the PBCC and other NGOs also reject commercial forest plantations that are contemplated in the Joint Forest Adaptation and Mitigation Mechanism, designed by the previous Government and which is part of the NDCs, agrofuels, mega-dams and energy nuclear. They demand that the new contributions be elaborated in a participatory manner with all the actors of Bolivian civil society.

According to Vilela, the NDCs in Bolivia do not measure greenhouse gas emissions. It ensures that they respond to the objective of the Paris Agreement (lower greenhouse gas emissions), because the actions and goals set will rather increase emissions and affect the poorest populations, among other impacts.

The request of the Platform and NGOs is for Bolivia to update its NDCs and to assume responsibility for protecting ecosystems, particularly forests, avoiding private land grabbing and dangerous market mechanisms and integrating the proposals of the communities they face. the impacts of extractive policies and climate change…”

The Bolivian Vice Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Carlos Fernando Rivadeneira previously “told Guardiana that the current government neither ratifies nor rejects the commitments contemplated in the NDCs of Bolivia that were elaborated by the management of Evo Morales, which establish an alternative mechanism to those of carbon markets than in COP 25”

You can read the complete Spanish-language Pagina Siete story here.

Controversy over environmental policies and 5 million hectares razed: 2019 debts

According to this Spanish language article, 2019 was a calamitous year for Bolivia’s environment due to the fact that more than 5 million acres were burned, as well as “controversial norms, protests against extractive projects, threats to protected areas and conflicts over lithium.”

“In April 2019, a report published by the World Resources Institute (WRI) revealed that Bolivia was ranked fifth among the countries that lost the most forest cover in the world during 2018. After the forest fires, the figures have exponentially elevated.”

For both Miguel Ángel Crespo, director of Biosphere Environment Productivity (Probioma) and Ruth Alipaz, indigenous leader of the Coordinator of Defense of Indigenous, Native, Peasant and Protected Areas (Contiocap), “the announcement made by Añez's management on reforestation in the Chiquitanía sows doubts” about the intentions of the transitional government since the announcement was made by the Minister of Environment and Water following a meeting with the agricultural sector.

Per Pablo Villegas of Cedib “From the scientific point of view, what corresponds is a natural recovery of Chiquitania. But when the minister and other sectors talk about reforestation, I fear that we are looking to definitely introduce agribusiness to this territory and that reforestation is done with eucalyptus”

Ruth Alipaz is quoted in this article: “The former Minister of Public Works (Yerko Nunez) said that the Chepete-El Bala hydroelectric plant was unfeasible, but there are ministers and government officials who are committed to continuing Morales’ management projects.”

Bolivia has the highest per capita deforestation rate in the region

Speaking at the 2019 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change-COP25, the Bolivian Minister of Environment presented the environmental situation in Chiquitanía, Tipnis, Tariquía and Madidi: "Result of an inadequate environmental policy in 14 years, Bolivia has the highest per capita deforestation; until 2017, each Bolivian carried the load of 200 square meters of destroyed tropical forests, more than double our neighboring countries of the Amazon.” See the Spanish-language article here.

Maria Pincker: In January we will have a plan to save Chiquitania

The Bolivian Minister of Environment, Maria Pincker, announced that the government aims to release its action plans to address the fires in Chiquitania by January 10, 2020. Ruth Alipaz raised concerns that certain agreements with sectors of power are being made, specifically with agribusiness of Santa Cruz, “to reforest the Chiquitania, and that some designated authorities follow the line of continuing extractive policies. These are indicators that there will not be many changes for indigenous people.

On the other hand, in the area of ​​democracy, the challenge for the country is to comply with the CPE so that from governmental policies structural changes can be developed and institutionalization can be recovered, so that the population has confidence in the new government, that policies are redirected…so that these are… inclusive. For example, in the case of indigenous people, from the territories, give opportunities to create new forms of economy, taking into account the young population to reactivate it.

It is expected that new governments will be able to hear proposals for true life plans, versus the developmental and progressive policy that leads us to the social crisis.”

You can read the Spanish-language article here.

Country proposal on climate change on hold for 2020

According to this Spanish-language article in Pagina Siete, the transitional government in Bolivia has decided to not participate this year in version 25 of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This is the first time that Bolivia has not participated in 13 years. Due to the short time in power, the transitional government has decided to focus its efforts in preparing for the 2020 climate change conference, and would send representatives to participate this year. A document signed by several civil society organizations “warn that the national energy policy (formulated by the government of Evo Morales and still in force), under the slogan of converting Bolivia into the energy center of South America, in addition to “being unfeasible, is linked to the power of the large transnationals, the construction of dams in the Amazon and the promotion of ethanol and biodiesel production, the extension of the agricultural frontier, destruction of forests and development of monocultures.”

VIDEO: Young people from Santa Cruz against dams at the Climate Action Summit

On December 3, young people representing 10 river basins in the Americas (including the Beni River in Bolivia) participated in the Social Summit for Climate Action in Santiago Chile. These young people called for the United Nations to stop recognizing new dams as clean, renewable, and sustainable energy and to instead, support the reduction of emissions directly. You can watch the video here.