The Villa Tunari – San Ignacio de Moxos Highway, also known as the Cochabamba–Beni Highway is a road project in Bolivia connecting the towns of Villa Tunari (in Cochabamba Department) and San Ignacio de Moxos (in Beni Department). It would provide the first direct highway link between the two departments. While the highway has been discussed for decades, a $332 million loan from Brazil's National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), approved by Bolivia in 2011, will make construction possible.[1] The project has an expected overall cost of $415 million and extends 306 kilometres (190 mi), divided into three segments: Segment I from Villa Tunari to Isinuta (47 kilometres, 29 mi), Segment II from Isinuta to Monte Grande (177 kilometres, 110 mi), and Segment III from Monte Grande to San Ignacio de Moxos (82 kilometres, 51 mi).[1] The contractor building the road is OAS, a construction firm based in Brazil.
In June 2011, President Evo Morales inaugurated the project with a ceremony at Villa Tunari. However, neither a final design nor environmental approval had been released for Segment II. Opposition from indigenous residents in the Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory and environmentalists led to a protracted public conflict about the highway, ending with the prohibition of highway passing through the park. The future of the project remains unclear.
In May 2010, the a meeting of TIPNIS Subcentral and corregidores throughout the territory stated their "overwhelming and unrenounceable opposition" to the project.[2] In July 2011, following the beginning of construction the Subcentral TIPNIS (the representative institution of indigenous residents in the territory), the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia, and the highland indigenous confederation CONAMAQ announced they would participate in a national march opposing the project.
A major concern about the impact of the road is its contribution to deforestation: "Empirical evidence has shown that highways are motors for deforestation" concluded a study of the project by the Program for Strategic Investigation in Bolivia (PIEB).[3] The study projected that the road would markedly accelerate deforestation in the park, leaving up to 64% of TIPNIS deforested by 2030.[4] A technical report submitted by the Bolivian Highway Administration (ABC) established that the direct deforestation caused by the road itself would only be 0.03%;[5] similarly, President Morales has spoken of a 180-hectare deforestation, an area equivalent to a rectangle 180 km long and 10 m wide.[6] Morales government officials claim 49 of the 64 communities of TIPNIS are now in favor of the construction of the road.[7]
The Subcentral, the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia (CIDOB), and the highland indigenous confederation CONAMAQ carried out a national march from Trinidad, Beni to La Paz in opposition to the project, beginning on August 15, 2011. On September 25, a police raid on the march resulted in the detention of hundreds of marchers, who were later released. The march regrouped and arrived in La Paz on October 19 to a massive public welcome. During the march, other movements such as the Cochabamba campesino confederation and the colonos union in Yucumo mobilized in favor of the project. In early October, the Plurinational Legislative Assembly passed legislation authored by the MAS authorizing the road following a consultation process, but indigenous deputies and the indigenous movement opposed the bill. At the opening of negotiations with the protesters on October 21, Morales announced that he would veto the legislation and support the text proposed by the indigenous deputies. This text was passed by the Assembly and signed into law on October 24, effectively ending the conflict. Law 180 of 2011 declares TIPNIS an intangible zone and prohibits the construction of highways that cross it.[8]