Running On Fumes: The Politics of Natural Gas in Bolivia

This article examines energy security in Bolivia during the Evo Morales administration, focusing on natural gas. The article begins by analyzing the Gas Wars and the consequences of such events. Despite the anti-imperialistic rhetoric, President Morales’ administration has implemented fairly conservative fiscal policies. This work focuses on the various challenges that Bolivia faces. Brienen argues that Bolivia will likely become a minor energy player in the regional market as opposed to an energy power house. It is also important to note that many social programs have been funded by the profits from natural gas. However, if more natural gas is not found, it could be possible that Bolivia could become “ungovernable.”https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/jgi_research/1018/thumbnail.jp

Energy Security in the United States: A Glance at the Major Issues

The article analyzes U.S. energy security and begins with an examination of the U.S. energy profile. The article then explores some of the major threats to U.S. energy security. Today, the U.S. is in a comfortable position in terms of its energy supply. However, great debates exist with regard to the size of hydrocarbon reserves. Disputes also continue regarding how long the U.S. will be able to use technology to extract gas and oil. While the U.S. has witnessed a boom in natural gas, hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has caused many Americans to worry about the consequences of such practices

The clamor for schools rural education and the development of state-community contact in highland Bolivia, 1930-1952

This article argues that in the development of a system of indigenous education in Bolivia, the indigenous communities or ayllus were mainly responsible for the rapid spread of indigenous schools throughout the Bolivian rural areas in the first decades of the twentieth century, and that these communities remained the driving force behind the expansion of indigenous education until the educational reforms of the 1930s and 1940s, during which time the state reestablished its control over the almost entirely independently functioning indigenous schools. Likewise, this paper also argues that contrary to its popular image as the «house of the exploited» and breeding ground of indigenous radicalism and politicization, in the end it was the famous «escuela-ayllu» of Warisata that after its foundation in 1931 would become the means through which the state managed to regain control over the rural and indigenous educational system during the aforementioned reforms.Este artículo interpreta el avance de la educación indígena boliviana (1900-1950) a partir de la noción de que fueron las comunidades indígenas que impulsaron la rápida expansión de la educación indígena durante las primeras décadas del siglo XX, y de que hasta las reformas educativas que tuvieron lugar a partir del año 1931 —la fundación de la famosa «escuela-ayllu» de Warisata— se puede considerar la educación indígena como asunto netamente indígena, en el cual el estado central juega un papel muy superficial limitado. Además, este artículo reinterpreta el papel de dicha escuela-ayllu de Warisata dentro de las reformas educativas de las décadas de los 1930 y 1940, sugiriendo que justamente esta «casa de los explotados» fue el instrumento primordial a través del cual el estado central supo reintegrar las diferentes escuelas indígenas que hasta entonces existían en un estado de casi completa independencia del mismo estado

A response to “Trends in tropical tree growth: re-analysis confirms earlier findings”

We recently demonstrated that growth trends from tree rings from Van der Sleen et al. (2015) and Groenendijk et al. (2015) are affected by demographic biases. In particular, clustered age distributions led to a negative bias in their growth trends. In a response, they challenge our analysis and present an alternative correction approach. We here show that their arguments are incorrect and based on misunderstanding of our analysis, and that their alternative approach does not work

Does Cedrela always form annual rings? Testing ring periodicity across South America using radiocarbon dating

Tropical tree rings have the potential to yield valuable ecological and climate information, on the condition that rings are annual and accurately dated. It is important to understand the factors controlling ring formation, since regional variation in these factors could cause trees in different regions to form tree rings at different times. Here, we use ‘bomb-peak’ radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dating to test the periodicity of ring formation in Cedrela trees from four sites across tropical South America. We show that trees from Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela have reliably annual tree rings, while trees from Suriname regularly form two rings per year. This proves that while tree rings of a particular species may be demonstrably annual at one site, this does not imply that rings are formed annually in other locations. We explore possible drivers of variation in ring periodicity and find that Cedrela growth rhythms are most likely caused by precipitation seasonality, with a possible degree of genetic control. Therefore, tree-ring studies undertaken at new locations in the tropics require independent validation of the annual nature of tree rings, irrespective of how the studied species behaves in other location