Bolivia news stories on Newser

Bolivia Seizes Spanish-Owned Power Firm

Rob Quinn — Wed, 02 May 2012 04:19:00 CDT

Bolivian President Evo Morales marked May Day by ordering the country's armed forces to seize the assets of the country's main electricity company. Spanish-owned Red Electrica owned and operated around 85% of Bolivia's power grid, and Morales announced that he was nationalizing the company because it had failed to invest...

Bolivia Is Now a McDonald's-Free Zone

John Johnson — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 10:40:05 CST

Those traveling in Bolivia can forget about a Big Mac. McDonald's has closed its eight restaurants there because of weak sales, making Bolivia the only nation in Latin America without the golden arches, reports the Hispanically Speaking News blog . The chain tried without success for 14 years to gain a...

Teen Commits 'Suicide by Piranha'

Rob Quinn — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:40:00 CST

An 18-year-old Bolivian picked a bizarre and gruesome way to commit suicide, police say. The intoxicated teen jumped out of his canoe into a stretch of river infested with piranhas and bled to death after suffering dozens of bites, the Sun reports. Police believe the death was suicide because the...

Bolivia to Give Nature Same Rights as Humans

John Johnson — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 16:48:06 CDT

Bolivia will soon put in place a first-of-its-kind law that gives Mother Nature the same rights as humans. The idea behind the Law of Mother Earth is to try to rein in pollution and the exploitation of natural resources, reports the Guardian . It grants nature several rights, including the "right...

Bolivia to Chile: Give Us Sea Access or We'll Sue

Matt Cantor — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:15:19 CDT

After more than a century with no access to the Pacific, Bolivia is threatening to take Chile to international court in a fight for its right to sail. Bolivia lost those rights in a war 132 years ago, and it remains an “open wound,” according to President Evo Morales. “We...

In Bolivia, a Quinoa Quandary

Kate Schwartz — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 14:14:05 CDT

Quinoa is a food so remarkable it's been praised by NASA scientists—and Americans and Europeans have taken note, gobbling up the protein-heavy Andean plant (generally miscategorized as a grain), which sells for as much as $5 a box. But with quinoa's ascent comes a troubling predicament for the Bolivians...

Landslide Rocks Bolivian Capital

Matt Cantor — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 08:01:50 CST

Some 800 families were left homeless after Bolivia’s capital was hit with a “mega-mudslide” yesterday, CNN reports. No deaths or injuries were reported in the La Paz disaster, which was prompted by heavy rains. "So far we are talking about 5,000 (people) affected," said a city spokesman last night,...

Priest Who Blessed Bolivia Prez Nabbed in Coke Lab

Rob Quinn — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 02:33:00 CDT

Chewing coca leaves has a strong—and legal—place in the Aymara culture of Bolivian president and former coca farmer Evo Morales. Running a lab churning out hundreds of pounds of processed cocaine, however, doesn't. The Aymara priest who presided over Morales' traditional blessing ceremony has been arrested after a...

Butch Cassidy Saddles Up Again

Jane Yager — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 08:24:56 CDT

Forty years after his apparent death in a Bolivian shootout at the end of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Butch Cassidy is back. Blackthorn, a new movie set to begin filming next month, has Sam Shepard taking Paul Newman's old role, saddling up as an older Cassidy who returns...