Poverty

MUZAFFARPUR, India -- Looking out over gray waters that have drowned the rice paddies that are his livelihood, laborer Bhavat Nagar swore no flood he could recall came close to the size of the latest monsoon deluge that also washed away most of his village and a neighbor's child.

"This is the worst it has been," he said, shaking his head. "We always lose a little, but now we have lost everything. I don't know what to do."

BIHAR STATE, India -- The worst floods to hit India's northern Bihar state in distant memory have already affected more than 20 million people -- roughly equivalent to the population of New York state -- and killed hundreds. More rains are on the way.

MUZAFFARPUR, India -- In the six weeks since their village was swallowed by floodwaters, Chaitu Sahani and his family have watched helplessly as government aid deliveries pass their new home.

Along with thousands of other refugees, they live in shoddy tarpaulin tents that stretch for miles along one of the few still operable highways in this dirt-poor northern Bihar state.

Why the food trucks don't stop now, they cannot understand.

Jason Motlagh, for the Pulitzer Center
Patna, India

No stranger to hardship, northern Bihar state – India's poorest and most corrupt – is faced with some degree of flooding each year. But none in distant memory compare to this year's monsoon deluge, a symptom of climate change that has affected tens of millions, killed hundreds and exposed the extent of state neglect rooted in class politics.

MUZAFFARPUR, India - In the six weeks since their village was swallowed by floodwaters, Chaitu Sahani and his family have watched helplessly as the government aid deliveries roll past their new home.

Along with thousands of other refugees, they now live in shoddy tarpaulin tents that stretch for miles along one of the few highways still operable in the dirt-poor northern state of Bihar.

Why the food trucks won't stop, they don't understand.

Jason Motlagh, for the Pulitzer Center
India

The Indian government has drawn criticism from some aid groups for not declaring a state of emergency in the wake of biblical monsoon floods that have affected more than 20 million in Bihar state alone. Officials maintain that that such disasters can be handled internally – and they're right.

Charles Lane discusses the role of Paraguay's soy bean production in the American and international market.

Everyone I interviewed blames the Paraguayan government for the negative impacts of soy. The corruption, the lack of economic and social programs, and the selective enforcement of laws. My last interview was with Senator Alfredo Jaeggli, a former race car driver who decided 18 years ago to become a politician for the opposition.

The people pushed out by soy typically come to one of Asuncion's three shanty towns where they hope to (eventually) find work.  One is behind Paraguay's legislative building and another is closer to the suburbs. The oldest one is Cateura, so named because it was built from the landfill of the same name that looms in the background. 

Charles Lane meets Paraguay's priest-turned-politician, Fernando Lugo.

I asked Lena Rigley, the wife of a Brazilian soy grower, to read from the police report filed shortly after their soy plantation was invaded in 2001: