Travel Notes: Chile, Panama, Bolivia, Brazil

Science Circuit Riding

Debates about pollution and managing natural resources often hinge on scientific questions. To participate in these debates, community advocates need to access scientific expertise and resources. They need to be able to identify pollutants, assess threats to the environment, evaluate environmental impact assessments (EIAs) and propose sustainable alternatives.

Enter Meche Lu.

Mercedes (Meche) Lu is E-LAW`s Science Circuit Rider for Latin America. Meche travels throughout Latin America to meet with grassroots lawyers, evaluate their needs for scientific support, and build local ability to tap scientific resources. Meche is a Peruvian pharmacist and biochemist who has collaborated with E-LAW since 1991. Her position is generously supported by the Ford Foundation.

In the past six months, Meche has traveled to work with advocates in Panama, Guatemala, Chile and Peru. Excerpts from Meche`s trip reports capture the spirit of her work.

Lead poisoning in Arica

Meche Lu, E-LAW Science Circuit Rider for Latin America

In the late 1980s, a Swedish company dumped 21,000 tons of mineral wastes in Arica, a small coastal town in northern Chile. The Los Industriales neighborhood grew up around the abandoned waste piles and for years neighborhood children played there. Local families were unaware of the serious health risks posed by the children`s exposure to lead, arsenic and cadmium.

In response to local health problems, Chilean authorities moved the waste two kilometers away. Residents of Los Industriales continue to complain about health problems that they believe are linked to toxic minerals left behind in the soil.

I collected a soil sample and sent this to E-LAW U.S., which paid a local laboratory to analyze the sample. The analysis indicated that lead and arsenic are still present in dangerous concentrations.

Lawyers at FIMA (Fiscalia de Medio Ambiente) are suing Chilean authorities and the responsible companies in order to protect and compensate the affected communities. FIMA called on me to testify in court about how I collected the soil sample and the significance of the lab results.

Pesticides in Azapa Valley

At a workshop organized by FIMA and E-LAW U.S., farmers from Chile`s Azapa Valley (near Arica) described how they mix pesticides with their bare hands. These farmers use methomil, methomyl and methamidophos -- pesticides classified as extremely or highly toxic by the World Health Organization. The workshop provided an opportunity to learn from the farmers about this and other concerns.

Farmers were interested in learning more about integrated and biological pest control. E-LAW provided FIMA and community members with legal and scientific information on the specific pesticides in question. E-LAW contacted Peruvian agronomists working for the Pesticide Action Network who provided video tapes and printed materials about sustainable agriculture practices, integrated pest control and biological control. These materials had been prepared for farmers working in ecosystems similar to Azapa.

Kuna and Embera Seek Compensation

The Government of Panama resettled the Kuna and Embera indigenous peoples in the late 1970s to make way for a hydroelectric project that included a dam and the creation of Lake Bayano. The Kuna and Embera have since been forgotten by the Government. Although indigenous lands are being used to generate electricity, the Kuna and Embera have no electricity. They also lack drinking water, schools and health facilities. The stagnant, polluted lake shore is the communities` only source of water. Malaria and dengue fever are rampant.

A Kuna village on Lake Bayano. (Photo: Meche Lu)

Advocates at Centro de Asistencia Legal Popular (CEALP) are suing the government of Panama to compensate the indigenous people. I translated summaries of peer-reviewed scientific case studies showing how dams around the world have led to higher incidences of disease and E-LAW U.S. provided CEALP with other legal and scientific information to support their demand for compensation.

On a related issue, CEALP is suing the government to stop the construction of a new dam in Tabasara that threatens indigenous and peasant farming communities. Last year, CEALP went to court and obtained an injunction stopping preliminary work on the dam. E-LAW U.S. Staff Scientist Mark Chernaik and I reviewed the project`s EIA and found many serious flaws. When proponents of the dam went back to court seeking to lift the injunction, Hector Huertas of CEALP presented our evaluation of the EIA to the judge.

The judge ruled that the injunction must continue because the EIA for the dam proposal lacks necessary information. This is the first time a court in Panama has stopped a project because an EIA document was inadequate.

TRIP REPORT: REACHING OUT TO BOLIVIA

Mexican attorney Carla Garcia Zendejas, working on contract with E-LAW U.S., traveled to Bolivia to meet public interest attorneys working to protect the environment through law. Carla was joined by E-LAW U.S. Latin America Technology Circuit Rider, Miguel Peirano. Carla and Miguel established E-LAW`s first formal ties with advocates in Bolivia. Excerpts from Carla`s trip report follow.

November 4 - November 11, 2001

Carla at a roadside overlooking La Paz

Landing quietly over the Andes mountains was welcoming and surprising. I was in Bolivia to meet E-LAW Technology Circuit Rider Miguel Peirano and introduce Bolivian advocates to the E-LAW network.

In Santa Cruz we had the pleasure of meeting young attorneys from the Sociedad Boliviana de Derecho Ambiental (SBDA), dedicated to protecting Bolivia`s wondrous forests. SBDA is eager to try new approaches to protect their woodlands.

We also met advocates at the Centro de Estudios Jurídicos e Investigación Social (CEJIS) and the Confederación de Pueblos Indígenas de Bolivia (CIDOB). These groups support numerous indigenous communities. Advocates at CEJIS and CIDOB described their struggles enforcing agreements for land tenancy, navigating their nation`s bureaucracy, and challenging the illegal sale of indigenous lands. Challenges arise when oil deposits are found on indigenous lands or multinational corporations use faulty and old pipelines, causing environmental disasters. Communities see no recourse when following legal procedures, so they protest regularly. The lawyers want to make the legal system work for the communities.

After a few days of tropical summer in Santa Cruz it was off to cool and windy La Paz, Bolivia`s capital. At 3,900 meters, the valley is breathtaking amidst the snow covered Andes.

Walking around La Paz, I witnessed a protest in which miners marched carrying dynamite. The recession, lack of work, and insecurity in the streets have put Bolivians on alert. After experiencing the warmth and caring of the Bolivian people, I can only hope that the problems they are facing will be solved in a peaceful manner.

WORKING EXCHANGE FELLOW: Mauro Figueiredo, Brazil

Maura Figueiredo, Brazil

Mauro Figueiredo of Florianopólis, Brazil, recently traveled to E-LAW U.S. for a Working Exchange Fellowship. Mauro co-founded APRENDER (Ações para Preservação dos Recursos Naturais e Desenvolvimento Econômico Racional), a new public interest environmental law organization in Brazil. APRENDER is working to educate communities along Brazil`s southern coast about protecting the environment through law. Mauro says this helps give communities a voice in their economic development while protecting the local environment. APRENDER is working on a management plan for the ARVOREDO marine reserve. With support from the Ford Foundation, APRENDER will work with E-LAW U.S. to empower communities to manage natural resources sustainably. Visit APRENDER`s web site at http://www.aprenderecologia.org.br.