- Title: Bolivian protesters call for international help to fight wildfires
- Date: 26th August 2019
- Summary: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (AUGUST 25, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DEMONSTRATORS DURING PROTEST PROTESTERS CLAPPING AND HOLDING BOLIVIAN FLAG PROTESTERS WRITING AND PAINTING A POSTER (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LUIS RICO, SAYING: "The Bolivian Amazon is injured today. We have all come here to the administrative capital for the Government to listen to us, for them to investigate who caused this disaster, where the Government is the first impotent, so we come here to ask for international help." PROTESTERS DURING DEMONSTRATION TWO STUFFED ANIMALS HELD UP ON WALKING CLUTCHES PROTESTERS HOLDING A BOLIVIAN FLAG AND A POSTER READING (Spanish): "EMERGENCY, INTERNATIONAL HELP FOR THE BOLIVIAN AMAZON" PROTESTERS HOLDING A POSTER READING (Spanish): "HELP" 9 VARIOUS OF PROTESTER WEARING A ZEBRA COSTUME (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ALEJANDRA DEL CARPIO, SAYING: "The fires have come back on last night and apparently the plane they brought hasn't really worked, so we need international help. It's been more than 20 days and they are still burning, the Chiquitania that is very important to me." VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS APPEALING FOR INTERNATIONAL HELP POSTER READING (Spanish): "INTERNATIONAL HELP NOW FOR THE CHIQUITANIA!" PROTESTER WRITING BANNER READING (Spanish): "INTERNATIONAL HELP "
- Embargoed: 9th September 2019 01:08
- Keywords: fire fighters Bolivia wildfires La Paz
- Location: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
- City: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
- Country: Bolivia
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Fires
- Reuters ID: LVA001ATPV9S7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Dozens of angry Bolivians demonstrated on Sunday (August 25) in central La Paz, appealing for international help to fight the raging wildfires devastating large areas of the Bolivian Amazon.
The blazes burn unabated across vast swaths of hilly tropical forest and savannah near Bolivia's border with Paraguay and Brazil. At least 1 million hectares, or approximately 3,800 square miles, have been impacted by the fires, officials said.
Bolivia late last week contracted a Boeing 747 "Supertanker" from the United States to help with the fire-fighting, and has mobilized more than 2,000 firefighters, as well as small aircraft and helicopters. But the area affected by wildfire has nonetheless nearly doubled since Thursday.
The Amazon basin's vast forests are widely seen by scientists as a buffer against climate change.
Bolivia's portion of the Amazon, while not as extensive, remains heavily forested. The Andean nation is one of the poorest in the western hemisphere but one of the richest in biodiversity.
(Production: Monica Machicao) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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