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Bolivian Project Proposes to Create a Defense of Mother Earth
an article by Cambio, Bolivia
The Framework Law of Mother Earth, one of several draft laws ready for treatment by the Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia, provides for the creation of a Defense of Mother Earth. The Minister of Justice, Cecilia Ayllon, has reported that the draft Framework Law of Mother Earth is one of the nine new drafts accepted in April.
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The President of the Senate Commission on Land, Resources, Nature and Environment, Julio Salazar, said that the rule will be discussed next month. According to Salazar, the law "creates the Defense of Mother Earth, in other words there will be institutions that care for Mother Earth, which are complementary and recognize her rights as a living being."
The Commission President says that the government of Evo Morales, through these regulations and other actions, is seeking equality between humans and nature. The draft Framework Bill of Mother Earth, in this spirit, aims to achieve a state of wellbeing. In fact, President Evo Morales in a press conference in Vienna, confronting the policies of invasion and plundering of natural resources by capitalism as well as the crisis of that system, has proposed the development of a new "political thesis" to save humanity, out of respect for the rights of Mother Earth and harmony with nature.
Salazar explained that the draft Framework Law of Mother Earth has been developed since 2009 in various workshops with the participation of various social organizations and sectors involved with the issue.
Paragraph I of Article 25 of the draft Framework Law Mother Earth says that the Defense Office for Mother Earth, at the same level as the Attorney General, the People's Ombudsman and other authorities at any level of government with respect to its powers, "will be expected to work through administrative and / or judicial institutions in order to obtain protection and guarantee the rights of Mother Earth ... "
According to Salazar, the draft law, which provides for obligations and sanctions on the general population, is now in the hands of the President of the Senate.
The Framework Law of Mother Earth, which is in its final phase of processing and approval, will lead to other measures for comprehensive care of the environment. "This standard must be able to supersede the laws concerning mining, water, forests, land, environmental and other regulations and mobilize and morally revolutionize the consciousness of the many Bolivians who have not been interested previously in natural resources and their defense, "said Senator Julio Salazar.
The Assemblyman explained that the neo-liberal laws, which still are in place, have made possible the looting of the flora and fauna of the country and the pollution of the environment. He recalled that loggers swept through the hardwood forests of Bolivia and did not replenish them as required by law, nor did they pay for the cost. They were never sanctioned for this.
(Click here for a Spanish version of this article)
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DISCUSSION
Question(s) related to this article:
What is the relation between the environment and peace?,
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LATEST READER COMMENT:
One way to understand the relation between environment and peace is to turn the question on its head and ask what is the relation between the environment and the culture of war. Here is what I say in my book The History of the Culture of War :
The exploitation of the culture of war involves not only exploitation of people, but also exploitation of the environment. In recent years everyone has become more aware of the dangers of environmental pollution, with special attention to carbon emissions which have increased atmospheric carbon dioxide and resulted in global warming. This is also related to the loss of the world's forests which redress the problem by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Insufficient attention has been paid, however, to the great environmental destruction and pollution caused by military activity.
Historically, military-related activity has been one of the primary causes of deforestation. This was already evident in ancient times as described above in the case of Greece and Rome. More recently, the British Empire was a major destroyer of forests, as described for India in an article by Budholai (available on the Internet) :
"The early days of British rule in India were days of plunder of natural resources. . ...more.
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