Indigenous protesters in the Bolivian Amazon resumed their cross-country march Oct. 1, a week after their progress was halted by a police assault. "We have resumed the march and our intention is not to clash with anybody," indigenous leader Adolfo Chávez told Reuters. But as they passed through the villages of Marimonos and Palos Blancos towards the town of Caranavi, the road was lined with local campesinos who booed and hurled insults including "¡flojos!" and "¡pagados!"—"lazy" and "paid," an apparent reference to accusations that the protesters are in the pay of political interests. Scattered physical confrontations were reported. However, indicating a split among the local populace, other residents formed a cordon to defend the marchers and chanted, "Don't molest them, let them pass!" (ANF, Oct. 2; BBC News, Oct. 1)

Bolivia's Interior Minister Sacha Llorenti became the latest cabinet member to resign Sept. 28 in the wake of police repression of an indigenous protest in the Amazonian rainforest zone of the country. Llorenti, the target of much criticism, said he was stepping down because he did not want to be "a tool of the right, of the opposition, which intends to attack the process of structural transformations." Other officials to step down in the aftermath of the violence include Defense Minister Cecilia Chacón and several ruling party lawmakers. Llorenti was immediately replaced by Wilfredo Chávez, a close ally of President Evo Morales who until now has served as deputy government coordination minister. Ruben Saavedra, meanwhile, was chosen to resume leadership of the Defense Ministry. He had left that post in April to lead Bolivia's legal fight against Chile to regain access to the Pacific Ocean.

Bolivian Defense Minister Cecilia Chacón resigned in protest Sept. 26, the day after National Police used tear gas and mass arrests to halt a cross-country march by indigenous protesters in the Amazonian department of Beni. In an open letter to President Evo Morales, Chacón gave notice of her "irrevocable" resignation, stating: "I do not agree with the decision to intervene in the march and I cannot defend or justify the measure when other alternatives existed." The police charge on the protesters' encampment outside the village of Yucomo came hours after Morales proposed a regional referendum on the issue that sparked the protest—his proposed new road cutting through the rainforest to Brazil.

Indigenous protesters armed with bows and arrows in the Bolivian Amazon broke through a police blockade to continue their cross-country march on La Paz Sept. 24—with Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca in the vanguard of their charge. One police officer was wounded, apparently by an arrow which struck his face. Officials said Choquehuanca was used as a "human shield" by the protesters, along with another government minister and a police commander, after they approached them to negotiate. Choquehuanca told EFE after his release: "I was preparing for talks when women surrounded me and then there were problems. There were some who were angry and they forced me to walk." But he also struck a conciliatory note: "The fact that they decided to free me is a sign that they want to resolve matters through dialogue."

In recent weeks, indigenous representatives from 90 organizations from across the Amazon Basin unanimously approved a new action plan that calls for a pan-Amazonian "consolidation" for the survival of ancestral knowledge and the protection of forests, water, biodiversity and the climate. The action plan, titled, "The Manaus Mandate: Indigenous Action for Life" is the end result of the First Regional Amazonian Summit, which took place in Manaus, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas, from August 15-18. The four-day summit, organized by the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations in the Amazon Basin (COICA), brought together representatives of indigenous peoples from all nine Amazonian countries, as well as government representatives, international organizations and members of civil society from across the Amazon Basin.

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan on Sept. 19 lifted an injunction on damages levied against US oil giant Chevron, making the company potentially liable for $8.6 billion in compensation to Ecuadoran citizens for an oil spill in the 1990s. The award will not be granted immediately, pending appeals in Ecuador and a decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. Chevron responded by insisting it is the victim of fraud: "There is no legitimate evidence supporting any finding of liability against Chevron because Texaco Petroleum Company cleaned up its share of environmental impacts in Ecuador and the remaining impacts are the responsibility of the government of Ecuador and its state-owned oil company, Petroecuador." Jim Tyrrell, attorney for the Ecuadorans, countered: "We are very excited that the court has reached this decision. It represents a triumph of the rule of law over the sensationalism created by Chevron's PR department." (San Francisco Chronicle, Sept. 20)

Isolated indigenous peoples in remote areas of Peru's Amazon rainforest are being ‘bribed’ with painkillers and pens, as industry giants seek to open up their land to explore for gas, according to Survival International. The UK-based group say it has learned that even members of INDEPA, Peru's indigenous affairs agency, have put pressure on communities so research can be carried out in the reserve where they live. Enrique Dixpopidiba Shocoroa, a Nahua leader, said his tribe have been given medical equipment, stationery, and promises of temporary work. Workers from Argentine gas giant Pluspetrol have recently been into the Kugapakori-Nahua Reserve to conduct environmental tests on the land’s suitability for exploitation. The reserve was created in 1990 to protect the territorial rights of vulnerable tribes.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services raised its outlook on Bolivia last month, citing new investments in the country's mining and gas sectors. S&P still rates Bolivia's long-term credit at B+, four steps below investment-grade status, but the positive outlook raises the prospect of a higher rating in the near future. The agency especially cited progress in long-stalled talks between the Bolivian government and Jindal Steel & Power over the $2.1 billion iron ore project at El Mutún (Santa Cruz department), and recent agreements to exploit lithium (in Potosí). (Dow Jones, Aug. 22)