Derrick Hindery. From Enron to Evo. Pipeline Politics, Global Environmentalism, and Indigenous Rights in Bolivia

Ignacio Arana

doi:10.5195/bsj.2014.102

Abstract

From Enron to Evo is a long-term study of Enron and Shell’s construction of the Cuiabá pipeline in eastern Bolivia. The pipeline goes through the middle of the Chiquitano forest and affects a population of about 8,000. The project also has a negative impact on four critical ecoregions; the Gran Chaco and Cerrado, which are a mixture of grasslands and scattered trees, the Chiquitano dry forest, and the Pantanal wetlands. The Cuiabá pipeline has been highly contested by the thirty-four Chiquitano and two Ayoreo communities that live in the area. After years of field research, extensive interviews and document analyses, Dr. Hindery manages to expose the murky ways in which the hydrocarbon industry works in Bolivia. This is an industry where the powerful –mainly multinational oil companies and the Bolivian government– abuse the ecoregion and the indigenous populations that live on it.

Highlights

From Enron to Evo is a long-term study of Enron and Shell’s construction of the Cuiabá pipeline in eastern Bolivia, which goes through the middle of the Chiquitano forest
After years of field research, extensive interviews and document analyses, Dr Hindery manages to expose the murky ways in which the hydrocarbon industry works in Bolivia
Dr Hindery convincingly demonstrates that the Morales administration has continued with some of the “neoliberal” policies of previous administrations, despite its strong rhetoric against capitalism and these types of politico-economic policies

Summary

Introduction

From Enron to Evo is a long-term study of Enron and Shell’s construction of the Cuiabá pipeline in eastern Bolivia, which goes through the middle of the Chiquitano forest. This is an industry where the powerful – mainly multinational oil companies and the Bolivian government – abuse the ecoregions and the indigenous populations that live on them. In the following four chapters, the author centers his analysis on indigenous mobilization, extractive development, and environmental struggle under the government of Morales.

Results

Conclusion