While many continue to see the national treasure of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, led by President Evo Morales Amayra to be the constant passing of legislation and policy enacting social reform and sustainability, here is the latest: Bolivia has passed legislation declaring the species "Inia Boliviensis" to be a national treasure. Commonly known as the Bolivian pink dolphin, this species has been threatened by the mercury contamination associated with illegal gold mining operations. Progress in the form of conservation policy is a strong point of this Presidency. The upcoming "World Conference on Indigenous Peoples" in 2014, will uphold a continued focus on sustainability and inherent Human Rights of Indigenous People.
In March of 2010, President Evo Morales Amaya’s H.E. Ambassador Pablo Solon addressed a panel with Sean Sweeney of Cornell at the Martin Luther King Jr. Union Hall of SEIU 1199 with updates on climate change policies. The following year after COP17, wrote a paper on the results of the Cancun conference on climate change, titled COP17: The Great Escape III, describing how Bolivia stood alone in Cancun to defend the Rights of the Mother Earth, resisting Genocide and Ecocide. He mentioned that to do otherwise would be considered cowardly diplomacy, at a time when “350,000 people die each year from natural disasters caused by climate change. “ One can look into the recent policies of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, to find that it is simple mathematics adding up to progress: a small farmer unionist rising to the position of Presidency in a democratic election monitored by Independent third parties, including the Carter Foundation; and the only opposition in the world to this President is from multi-national stake holders who have lost out on free unlimited access of the vast Bolivian natural resources as well as the Indigenous labor of Bolivia. When a developing nation exercises the right to nationalize the natural resources of their own country, it seems then that multi-nationals jump to bang the war-drum, slandering leaders for not freely giving away their resources in exchange for starvation and exploitation of Indigenous Peoples. One can look into this Presidency and see the positive results for Indigenous People of the world, and in his Indigenous Nation. Thanks to his policies, and the writings of his Ambassadors, we are experiencing progress in the field of sustainability. At the United Nations, and the League of Nations before that, world leaders have a safe space to come together and discuss sovereignty and foreign policy.
(*) Pablo Solon is an international analyst and social activist. He was chief negotiator for climate change and United Nations Ambassador of the Plurinational State of Bolivia (2009-June 2011, now E.D at Focus on the Global South in Bangkok, Thailand). http://pablosolon.wordpress.com/
