September 29, 2024, 2:48 PM
September 29, 2024, 2:48 PM
“The declaration of emergency opened up the possibility of receiving international aid.”. What we have received is important and I do not think that more resources will come. The strongest thing would be if they approve the credits in the Assembly, because then there will be many more resources to deal with the fires,” said the Vice Minister of Civil Defense, Juan Carlos Calvimontes with in relation to the request to declare a national disaster that has gained strength in recent days because the fires are uncontrollable andThey have consumed more than 7 million hectares in Santa Cruz alone.
During an interview on Bolivia TV, the vice minister He clarified that declaring a national disaster will not significantly change the possibility of obtaining greater international cooperation: “Many believe that by declaring a national disaster more help will arrive from abroad, but that is practically impossible. Fires are not a problem exclusive to Bolivia, it is a situation that also affects several countries,” he said.
He stressed that the issue has been politicized and, proof of this, is that there are two large credits blocked in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly. One of them is from the IDB, for 250 million dollars, allocated to the emergency program for natural disasters and health; and the other, that of the Andean Development Corporation (CAF), of 75 million dollars, for the support program for management in the event of adverse climate events. “If we add it up, it is 325 million dollars, which I can dare to say“Even with the risk of being censored or questioned, I do not believe that we will receive international aid greater than these resources that are blocked in the Assembly,” he insisted.
The vice minister emphasized that the Government has acted quickly and responsibly since the fires began in the country, mobilizing resources without waiting for the municipal or departmental governments to take the initiative. He added that, since June, they have been working to fight fires, displacing more than 4,433 forest firefighters from the Armed Forces and using advanced techniques, with aircraft such as the BK-117, Z9 helicopters, and planes such as the Electra, Eco Charlie and Super Puma.”
He also mentioned the hypothesis that the fires were arson intentionally for destabilizing purposes. “We cannot rule out this hypothesis. The fires have been deliberately generated to generate confusion in their country and that their highest peak could reach precisely when different political actions had come together to destabilize the Government, something similar to the strategy they did in 2019, which did not work for them. territorial control of the area,” he noted.
According to Calvimontes, political operators, not only from CREEMOSbut other political forces, have acted in an articulated manner to generate certain discomfort and upheaval in the population. One of those actions, according to the vice minister, was trying to force residents to abandon their communities to make believe that the situation was extremely serious.
The authority also noted that the fire complexes were intentionally provoked. “We have found tires in strategic places to join the games and generate such complexes.” He cited the example of the municipality of San Pedro, where during an overflight they found a truck loaded with fuel, ready to light fire. In addition, there were three heavy pieces of machinery piling up stubble to set it on fire. “We return to the theory and hypothesis that many irresponsible people use the fire to camouflage their illegal activity of land appropriation“, said.
The vice minister highlighted the positive results of cloud bombing, mentioning that, in Concepción, the most affected municipality, the rains managed to control the situation.
