A controversial pipeline that moves natural gas from Santa Cruz, Bolivia to Cuiabá, Brazil is back in the spotlight—this time due to news it was outfitted with a valve so it could be tapped by a gold mine part-owned by Bolivian President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada. The pipeline, which began operating last year, runs through the heart of the Chiquitano—described by scientists as the world’s last remaining large tropical dry forest. Throughout the line’s construction and since its start-up, green groups and Chiquitano indigenous communities have criticized the failure of pipeline operator Gas Oriente Boliviano (Gob), a joint venture of Enron and Shell, to meet social and environmental commitments made as part of the project. At the center of the latest... [Log in to read more]