Bolivia says forest fires in the country are under control

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Vice Minister of Civil Defense of Bolivia, Juan Carlos Calvimontes, informed this Thursday (2) that the fires have been raging for weeks in the country, especially those in the department of Santa Cruz, are practically under control.

The official added that in the municipalities of the Santa Cruz region, 82% of the fires occurred in areas of grasslands and small bushes, while the remaining 18 impacted wooded areas.

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Calvimontes said that according to data provided by the Authority of Social Control and Inspection of Forests and Land (ABT), until August 30, 1,407,914 hectares had been burned throughout the national territory, of which 67% belonged to Santa Cruz and 26 percent to the department of Beni, as the two most affected.

He detailed the vice minister in his explanation that in 2019 the total volume of burned areas was 5,305,512 hectares, and in 2020 5,021,820 were burned.

In this regard, the Bolivian authorities made 54 notifications to owners of places where the fires originated, of which four are already in criminal proceedings. In recent days, 21 cases were submitted to the Prosecutor’s Office to open investigations, identify the perpetrators and make those responsible pay before justice in an exemplary manner.

Among the actions of the Bolivian government, on August 13, the Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo, together with the regional authorities of Santa Cruz, created the Chiquitania Cabinet, which approved a series of actions to quell and eradicate the growing fires in that area.

This measure corresponds to the federal government’s accusation of a lack of forcefulness of the Santa Cruz government to solve the worrying situation of the occurrence of fires.