News Americas, La Paz, Bolivia, Tues. Aug. 16, 2011: Bolivian Indians are marching to La Paz to protest a government plan to build a 300 km highway through the Amazon rain forest.
The Indians, indigenous to the Amazon plains, are protesting the plan, saying the road would be built through the Isiboro Secure indigenous territory and national park.
The $420 million road, largely financed by Brazil, would link the plains of Beni to Chapare, a sparsely populated region where Bolivian President Evo Morales began his political career as leader of the coca farmers.
Morales has blamed a “spirit of conspiracy” for the protests around the country, which includes roadblocks and strikes in some areas. “When there is no dialogue, it means that there is political intent,” he said.
