Andean Information Network

It’s not the first time a respected, established journalist has presented a selective view of events in Bolivia.  In general, Lawrence Wright’s New Yorker article “Lithium Dreams” covers a great deal of territory, but lacks objectivity and thorough research in some areas.
Some errors are simple and avoidable, such as misspelling Pablo Solón, Bolivian ambassador to [...]

Public Participation, Transparency, and Accountability
Under Bolivia’s 1994 Popular Participation Law, Bolivian citizens are able to participate in decision-making regarding public funds, including oil and gas revenues, at the municipal level.  Under this law, the municipalities use a bottom-up participative planning process to determine the use of public funds.  This is part of Bolivia’s decentralization initiative [...]

The four memos in this series on Bolivian oil and gas policy and the challenges facing the nation is part of an ongoing project of the Andean Information Network and Erika Weinthal from the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University examining Bolivia’s efforts to confront the “resource curse.”
Part I: Background [...]

National Level
At the national level, the government spends oil and gas revenues on a program called the Juancito Pinto Stipend that gives about $25 a year to the families of each child enrolled in primary school.  The program aims to encourage school enrollment and defray school supply costs.  In addition, as mentioned earlier in this [...]

"Sometimes you get to the front of the queue and the diesel has already run out," says Agapito Serviche from his pick-up truck.
"The diesel does not last long enough for a day's work, so I have to stop working and come back to the queue just to put food on the table."
Blame game
Santa Cruz, which [...]

On November 27, the Bolivian legislature approved the Renta Dignidad, a monthly pension for Bolivians over age sixty, and the redistribution of the IDH to pay for it.  This move significantly reduced departmental revenues, angering opposition governors.  They interpret the measure as Morales’ attempt by President Morales to stem growing departmental power more than as [...]

Bolivia has a long history of an economy largely driven by exports of primary materials, from silver to tin to oil and gas.  Though it has previously experienced various resource boons, the resulting revenues did not help alleviate poverty.  Bolivia has the second largest reserves of natural gas in South America after Venezuela and exports [...]