In the tropical Bolivian city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, a wealthy farming hub ...
SANTA CRUZ DE LA SIERRA/LA PAZ, Bolivia - In the tropical Bolivian city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, a wealthy farming hub on the edge on the Amazon rainforest, President Evo Morales gathered with ranchers late last month to celebrate a maiden shipment of beef to China.
On the outskirts of the city, however, the cost of a rapid increase in farming was clearly visible. Wildfires were raging, likely sparked by a rise in slash-and-burn land clearances for cattle ranching or soy farming. And they have drawn attention to Morales’ newfound support for an industry once at odds with his government and put him on the defense ahead of the Oct. 20 election.
After a wave of criticism over his government’s initial slow response to the fires, Morales leapt into action late last month, hiring a Boeing SuperTanker to douse flames with water and joining firefighters battling them on the ground with hoses. Morales, once a coca farmer himself, placed the blame on periodic droughts that hit hard this year. “If you smoke a cigarette and toss it out it’ll spark and there’s a fire,” Morales told ranchers at the ceremony in Santa Cruz last week.A decade ago, Morales was so despised in Santa Cruz he avoided the agriculture fair it hosts ever year. The traditionally conservative farming province feared his plans to break up large rural estates.
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