The Minister of Defense, Walter Astudilloreported that it rejected Bolivia’s request for help to combat the forest fires that are currently ravaging its territory. The announcement was made on September 9 during a presentation to the Defense Commission of the Congress of the Republic of Peru.
On that date, Astudillo reported: “While these emergencies were happening, between Saturday and Sunday, we also received a request from the sister country of Bolivia requesting the support of aircraft to fight the fires in their country. Obviously, the response was not positive because we, with the aircraft we have, are acting efficiently particularly in three regions (of Peru): Cajamarca, Lambayeque and San Martín.”
The three regions specified by the minister were affected by forest fires recent. In the case of Lambayeque, the flames claimed the life of a 66-year-old woman and 12,0755 pine saplings were affected. Meanwhile, in San Martín the flames destroyed 393 hectares of forest. Regarding Cajamarca, several hamlets in the province of Jaén have been affected.
In this context, the Ministry of Defense had to prioritize the national situation. “You will understand that the use of aircraft is when a certain level is reached. There are different institutions from different ministries, regional and local governments that act immediately. Likewise, there are also rapid intervention brigades, but there comes a time when, when intervention is required, they act immediately, after coordination with thePeruvian Air Force“, he explained.
Astudillo stressed that, to date, forest fires are a concern for the Peruvian State. More than 25 emergencies have been recorded, of which 15 have been controlled, while 12 remain active and require supervision for their complete extinction.
Unfortunately, Bolivia has announced that it does not have the capacity to put out the current fires that are affecting its nation. For this reason, it has declared a national emergency in order to request and obtain international assistance.
The Minister of Environment and Water, Alan Lisperguer, reported that three protected areas have been affected by fires: the Cotapata National Park, in the north of the department of La Paz and covering some 65,000 hectares; the Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, in the department of Beni (northeast) and covering 1.5 million hectares; and the San Matías Integrated Management Natural Area, in the department of Santa Cruz (east) and covering 2.9 million hectares.
For his part, the head of Bolivia’s education portfolio said that the thick clouds of smoke have reached the capitals of five of the country’s nine departments, which is why the government has suspended in-person school classes there.
