Today Donald J. Trump became the 45th President of the United States. There are protests on 5th Avenue and some are turning violent, the Clinton crowd has set fires, blocked traffic for hours, smashed a newspaper office, it is out of control.
So I am sure Bolivia is watching the outcome and preparing for a new jefe in los EEUU. The former jefes were not good to Bolivia; Bush treated it with contempt and US spies and diplomats were expelled; Obama did much the same, insisting that Bolivia be treated as a drug dealing haven when in fact Bolivia got rid of lots of drug dealers as it got rid of the DEA, and Clinton, as Secretary of State, had little love for Bolivia.
The left has tried to scare people away from Trump, while hiding the truth about Clinton raping a woman, hanging our with child molesters, etc etc. It refused to hear the truth about Clinton either on Wikileaks or on the show www.dialectradio.co.uk - where a former navy intel op talked about secret deals in Syria, Jellyfish, and secret ops against Bolivia. Oh no, they did not have time to hear the truth. Instead, the left spent time on hysterical propaganda and predicted massive market drops if he was elected. No such thing. Markets are fine. And they said Trump would divide.
In fact, when Trump won, he reached out. He called Obama and had a nice conversation, consoled Clinton, and told the American people it was time to heal. That is what made the left mad. They wanted him to act like a mad bully, instead, he acted presidential. They were proven wrong, and they are afraid Clinton might go to jail. And along with her, lots of evil American politicians, some of whom have mistreated Bolivia.
While I cannot say Bolivia is Mr Trump's #1 agenda, I do have some inside information that Mr Trump is discussing how to really reach out to Bolivia. He has some respect for Evo Morales and the economic moves that Mr Morales has made, Trump is a businessman and knows the value of hard work. The fact that the Bolivian president works all day and has little sleep sometimes in order to improve his country is not lost on the Trump crew.
So expect better relations there. It will surprise the left in the US.
In a couple of weeks, the Bolivian Vice President, Alvaro Garcia Linera, will be in New York. While I cannot attend, I have good friends and founders of Amigos de Bolivia who will be at his talk at Columbia University, and they hope to reach out to him and perhaps bring the US and Bolivia closer together.
So far we have some good harbingers of this new era in American history. The president is NOT from the Yale elite (as are Bush and Clinton). He is NOT against minorities, though he did take a tough stance against ILLEGAL ALIENS - some of whom rape and murder people.
I am sure that Bolivia is against such crimes, and for economic development, as is Donald Trump and Amigos de Bolivia. We look forward to writing more about the future relationship between Mssrs. Trump and Morales. This could be the start of something really good for the whole world.
Showing posts with label Columbia University. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Columbia University. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Sunday, December 4, 2011
CLACS Event at Columbia University
Columbia University will host Bolivian leaders on Thursday, 15 December, talking
about environmental and indigenous politics. Complete info below:
Político Medioambiental y Pueblos Indígenas de la Amazonia Boliviana
Fernando Vargas Mosua, Sergio Paita Siles
document.write(FullDate(15,12,2011));
Thursday, December 15th, 2011, 2:00 p.m.
Location: Room 802 of the International Affairs Building, Columbia University, 420 West 118th St, New York NY 10027 (map)
On the 15th August 2011 the “Great Indigenous March for the Defense of the Isiboro Secure Indigenous Territory and Dignity of Indigenous People in Amazonia, Chaco and the Eastern Lowlands” left Trinidad, Bolivia. After 65 days and more than 600 kilometers a group of 2,000 indigenous men, women and children arrived to the Bolivian seat of government, La Paz. The clarity, legitimacy and legality of their demands for respect for their territories, and their rights to previous and informed consultation regarding large development projects leveraged massive support from the general population. Additionally, the peaceful movement sensibilized the citizens of La Paz and half a million people received them as heroes. One of the central debates of conservation is the impact of protected areas on local livelihoods. However, indigenous people in Bolivia have promoted a model of co management which recognizes their territorial righst and establishes a constituency for conservation and indigenous rights. This experience shows that protected areas in Bolivia are highly valued by indigenous populations that are generally excluded from the benefits of development projects, in particular large ones.
TIPNIS (Isiboro Secure Indigenous Territory and Protected Area) is the collective land of 64 indigenous Chimane, Yuracare and Mojeño people. Their movement looks to avoid the destruction of 611,000 hectares as a result of induced development resulting from a road project which would cut in half an area of global biodiversity importance in the montane tropical forests of Bolivia.
Fernando and Sergio will talk about the values of TIPNIS for the indigenous population and the conflict with the road proposal. They will present the development of the march and the alliances which led to it. Finally they will present the results of this mobilization and remaining challenges.
Fernando Vargas Mosua is Mojeño indigenous leader of the Isiboro Secure Indigenous Territory and Protected Area. As a child he was only able to finish primary school but as a 38-year-old he had the opportunity to finish secondary school and then obtained a scholarship to obtain a technical diploma on Indigenous Rights and Hydrocarbons from the prestigious Social Sciences Faculty of Latin America (FLACSO). In the past decade he has supported indigenous rights and conservation from a diversity of positions ranging from technical advisor to the local municipal government, coordinator of socio-environmental mitigation programs linked to gas pipelines, implementing information programs on land titling and hydrocarbon activities in indigenous territories and implementing information programs on developing mechanisms for indigenous people in timber management projects. More recently he has been advisor to the executive direction of the Bolivian Protected Area Service (SERNAP) and since the 1st August 2011 president of the Isiboro Secure indigenous organization.
Sergio Paita Siles, lawyer from Cochabamba Bolivia with a Masters in Environmental Law and over 20 years profesional experience. He is of indigenous Quecha origin and his areas of expertise are planning and implementation of conservation and indigenous development plans including the development of community regulations. He has also worked for a decade in the Bolivian Protected Area Service (SERNAP) leading land-titling projects, reviewing relevant legislation projects, establishing conflict management platforms and developing alliances with social organizations in support of the consolidation of protected areas and indigenous territorial rights.
about environmental and indigenous politics. Complete info below:
Político Medioambiental y Pueblos Indígenas de la Amazonia Boliviana
Fernando Vargas Mosua, Sergio Paita Siles
document.write(FullDate(15,12,2011));
Thursday, December 15th, 2011, 2:00 p.m.
Location: Room 802 of the International Affairs Building, Columbia University, 420 West 118th St, New York NY 10027 (map)
On the 15th August 2011 the “Great Indigenous March for the Defense of the Isiboro Secure Indigenous Territory and Dignity of Indigenous People in Amazonia, Chaco and the Eastern Lowlands” left Trinidad, Bolivia. After 65 days and more than 600 kilometers a group of 2,000 indigenous men, women and children arrived to the Bolivian seat of government, La Paz. The clarity, legitimacy and legality of their demands for respect for their territories, and their rights to previous and informed consultation regarding large development projects leveraged massive support from the general population. Additionally, the peaceful movement sensibilized the citizens of La Paz and half a million people received them as heroes. One of the central debates of conservation is the impact of protected areas on local livelihoods. However, indigenous people in Bolivia have promoted a model of co management which recognizes their territorial righst and establishes a constituency for conservation and indigenous rights. This experience shows that protected areas in Bolivia are highly valued by indigenous populations that are generally excluded from the benefits of development projects, in particular large ones.
TIPNIS (Isiboro Secure Indigenous Territory and Protected Area) is the collective land of 64 indigenous Chimane, Yuracare and Mojeño people. Their movement looks to avoid the destruction of 611,000 hectares as a result of induced development resulting from a road project which would cut in half an area of global biodiversity importance in the montane tropical forests of Bolivia.
Fernando and Sergio will talk about the values of TIPNIS for the indigenous population and the conflict with the road proposal. They will present the development of the march and the alliances which led to it. Finally they will present the results of this mobilization and remaining challenges.
Fernando Vargas Mosua is Mojeño indigenous leader of the Isiboro Secure Indigenous Territory and Protected Area. As a child he was only able to finish primary school but as a 38-year-old he had the opportunity to finish secondary school and then obtained a scholarship to obtain a technical diploma on Indigenous Rights and Hydrocarbons from the prestigious Social Sciences Faculty of Latin America (FLACSO). In the past decade he has supported indigenous rights and conservation from a diversity of positions ranging from technical advisor to the local municipal government, coordinator of socio-environmental mitigation programs linked to gas pipelines, implementing information programs on land titling and hydrocarbon activities in indigenous territories and implementing information programs on developing mechanisms for indigenous people in timber management projects. More recently he has been advisor to the executive direction of the Bolivian Protected Area Service (SERNAP) and since the 1st August 2011 president of the Isiboro Secure indigenous organization.
Sergio Paita Siles, lawyer from Cochabamba Bolivia with a Masters in Environmental Law and over 20 years profesional experience. He is of indigenous Quecha origin and his areas of expertise are planning and implementation of conservation and indigenous development plans including the development of community regulations. He has also worked for a decade in the Bolivian Protected Area Service (SERNAP) leading land-titling projects, reviewing relevant legislation projects, establishing conflict management platforms and developing alliances with social organizations in support of the consolidation of protected areas and indigenous territorial rights.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Bolivian Manna
Yesterday's New York Times had an article on the front page about quinoa, and how it is being used for Passover; with a few questions, of course, about how kosher it is, which I guess will be determined by seeing if it chews it cud or has a cloven hoof.
Luis Alberto Arce Catacora, Minister of Economics and Public Finance, when he spoke at Columbia University last year, mentioned this crop as one of the resources of Bolivia. It has indeed been a boom, so much so that the Western demand has driven the price of it up in Bolivia for the locals. Which was also a feature of a recent NYT article by Simon Romero.
Luis Alberto Arce Catacora, Minister of Economics and Public Finance, when he spoke at Columbia University last year, mentioned this crop as one of the resources of Bolivia. It has indeed been a boom, so much so that the Western demand has driven the price of it up in Bolivia for the locals. Which was also a feature of a recent NYT article by Simon Romero.
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