When dams went up in the Brazilian Amazon, the rivers across the border in Bolivia rose, spurring permanent environmental and cultural changes.
After a devastating flood breached a fish farm in Peru in the 70s, the paiche has invaded a quarter of Bolivia’s Amazon, upending a delicate ecosystem and remaking a regional economy.
In Bolivia, hundreds of children live behind bars with their imprisoned parents. "Jail is not the best place to grow up," a government official told reporters, but at least families stay together.
Zulma Corhuari, 16, stepped out for a moment to get an aspirin for her headache. Her family never saw her again. Her brother Victor is desperate and suspects the worst. "There's no justice," he said.
In Bolivia, entire families are surrendering to cheap drugs—lethal and mind-altering concoctions of glue, gasoline, and paint thinner. The problem is growing and there's no solution in sight.
Ivan Ramirez runs an orphanage near Cochabamba. He started with one child—"a delinquent in miniature," Ramirez called him. More children arrived and the orphanage grew. "It was God's plan," he said.
Bolivian President Evo Morales earlier this month unveiled new decrees to protect children and adolescents, but critics said the government struggles to safeguard children who work as young as 10.
Bolivia allows children as young as 10 to work under a controversial 2014 law. The law, unique in the world, is aimed at protecting and empowering child workers. Critics question whether it works.
NGOs say increasing numbers of young girls are being forced or coaxed into prostitution in Bolivia, turning the country into Latin America’s latest sex tourism destination.
Northern Virginia’s Bolivian community is up to 150,000, enough to be Bolivia’s 9th largest city. By sustaining tradition, memory, and love for their hometowns, the community keeps families united.
By legalizing coca- the key ingredient in cocaine--Bolivia has reduced crops and narco-conflict. But Washington disapproves.
Despite losing a referendum over his possible reelection, Bolivia's President Evo Morales appears intent on hanging on to power while his government threatens journalists.
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