Latin America Rising > Sabotage intensifies fuel crisis in Bolivia

 

Bolivia alleges fuel sabotage tied to international criminal network

By Macarena Hermosilla

   

Bilivan consumers have felt the impact of contaminated gasoline. More than 10,000 vehicle owners, including long-distance transport operators and private drivers, have reported severe engine damage. File Photo by Luis Gandarilas/EPA

April 1 (UPI) -- Bolivia's government, led by President Rodrigo Paz, said it has uncovered an international criminal network responsible for sabotaging and adulterating imported fuel shipments that entered the country over the past five months.

Interior Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo told a news conference Tuesday that at least 150 million liters of gasoline and diesel were tampered with, citing an official investigation that identified a scheme involving fuel theft and contamination with water and oil in Chilean territory.

Authorities said the operation targeted tanker trucks transporting fuel to Bolivia, particularly in northern Chilean cities. In those locations, part of the fuel was allegedly siphoned off and replaced with a mixture of water and oil, according to local broadcaster Unitel.

President Paz said the adulteration began around October.

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Investigators believe the network operated mainly in Chile, with additional links and operational hubs in Paraguay and Argentina. The direct economic loss to the Bolivian state is estimated at $150 million, excluding indirect costs linked to transport disruptions.

Consumers also have felt the impact. More than 10,000 vehicle owners, including long-distance transport operators and private drivers, have reported severe engine damage.

"We are facing an attack against the assets of Bolivian families," Paz said, adding that the government will pursue legal mechanisms to compensate those affected, according to local newspaper El Deber.

Bolivia's landlocked status makes transporting fuel from Chile critical to its energy supply chain. The country relies on Chilean ports such as Arica, Iquique and Mejillones to receive international shipments of crude oil and refined products.

After a virtual meeting Tuesday, Paz and Chilean President José Antonio Kast agreed on a joint roadmap to dismantle the transnational organized crime network behind the fuel adulteration, according to Bolivia's state-run broadcaster BTV.

As an immediate response, Bolivia announced tighter controls at facilities operated by state energy company Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos, known as YPFB, and the National Hydrocarbons Agency. Authorities will implement mandatory laboratory testing at production sites and border checkpoints.

Civil society groups have called for accountability as the investigation continues, urging authorities to prosecute those responsible abroad and to address potential internal failures that allowed the sabotage to go undetected for months.

The crisis comes as Bolivia faces a severe fuel supply shortage. After a structural decline in domestic hydrocarbon production, which fell about 44% between 2014 and 2024, the country shifted from a net exporter to a heavily import-dependent market. Bolivia now imports about 90% of the diesel and 50% of the gasoline it consumes.

The situation has worsened since 2023 due to a shortage of foreign currency, particularly U.S. dollars, complicating payments to international suppliers and contributing to intermittent shortages and partial disruptions in transport and productive sectors.

Canadian Convulsions > Canada's government and Justice system are listing precariously to port; Liberal MP sabotages emergency meeting on violence against women

 

Canadian courts and the government easily destroy careers of valuable people who have the nerve to speak the truth out loud. They protect those whose very goals are to destroy everything that Canada has stood for for centuries. 

We so badly need a change in government and a change in the Canadian Justice system that is so terribly skewed to the far left.

Dr Jordan B Peterson

@jordanbpeterson

Apparently the Canadian Supreme Court is going to release its decision on my appeal next week re the actions of

@CPBAOntario

in mandating my "re-education." Who cares? Every medical professional and psychologist in Canada who has an iota of interest in their right to speak their mind. Every licensed professional in Canada, in general--teachers, engineers, social workers, etc. More news as soon as possible.

12:01 PM · Aug 2, 2024

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Catherine The Grateful

@ccatherineharv1

I am interested. I filed for a review of my license revocation. I expect the decision to be bad news for freedom of conscience and speech in Canada, because the authorities are determined to silence certain ideas and viewpoints, and to keep using DEI identitiarianism to punish dissent and falsely accuse people of "harm".

1:46 PM · Aug 2, 2024

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Liberal MP says she regrets 'distress'

caused to witnesses who left meeting in tears

Liberals don't do anything they regret unless it is exposed for the mean, despicable act that it was intended to be. Vandenbelt cut off the witnesses testimony very deliberately to save the hapless Liberals from criticism.

Alessia Passafiume The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - Liberal MP Anita Vandenbeld fell short of an apology after instigating a fracas on Wednesday that led two witnesses testifying about violence against women to storm out of a parliamentary committee hearing.

Vandenbeld said in a statement that she deeply regrets the "distress that this meeting caused the witnesses."

The statement came after a domestic violence survivor Cait Alexander demanded an apology from the MP for what she described as "abusive" behaviour.

"Sorry, I don't accept this statement from her," Alexander, who appeared before the committee as a witness, said Thursday.

"She knew what she was doing. She didn't make a mistake — mistakes happen. I can forgive mistakes. This was intentional."

Another of the committee's witnesses, women's' advocate Megan Walker, said Vandenbeld's regrets don't amount to an apology.

"It's not an apology — it's a statement," said Walker.

"She has caused an entire community of women and girls who have faced abuse and are following this some distress, and that's not acknowledged here."

The rare summer meeting was scheduled for MPs to hear from advocates for domestic violence victims and a deputy chief of the Peel Region Police in light of several high-profile cases this summer.

It began with detailed testimony from Walker, an advocate to end violence against women, and Alexander, who shared graphic photos of the abuse she suffered with the committee.

When given the floor, Vandenbeld accused Conservatives of playing politics with the trauma of survivors, putting together the agenda in haste and limiting the ability of other MPs to suggest witnesses.

She insisted that she cares about survivors' stories, and outlined some of the actions the federal government has taken to address violence against women.

But rather than pivoting back to the topic of violence against women after airing that complaint, Vandenbeld called for a debate on a motion related to abortion rights — an issue the Liberals have tried to pin the Conservatives down on for months.

The witnesses shouted their frustration at Vandenbeld and others who voted for the motion, but they were effectively ignored for the rest of the meeting as MPs debated speaking orders, the Conservatives' stance on abortion and the narrow scope of who was called to testify.

Both witnesses eventually left the meeting in visible distress.

Alexander said Thursday she wished Vandenbeld's words included a promise of more meetings on the issue, with representation from Indigenous women and the LGBTQ community.

"I understand it was last minute, but it's an emergency hearing for a reason," she said.

"I would want survivors to be heard from all walks of life."

The parliamentary secretary to the minister of women, Lisa Hepfner, who also serves on the committee, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Conservative social development critic Michelle Ferreri rebuked Vandenbeld's statement on social media Thursday, and called the MP and her party hypocrites for professing to be part of a feminist government.

Ferreri posted several videos of committee on social media, calling the incident "shocking," and demanded a full apology from Vandenbeld.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 1, 2024.

Ferreri should be demanding the resignation of Vanderbelt for deliberately abotaging the work of the committee. But this is Liberal style. Destroy the committee and the witnesses rather than allowing the truth to be told.

The truth is, the Trudeau government has done very little for women in Canada and has done absolutely nothing about child sexual abuse in 9 years. This is disgraceful!

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