Photograph of Madelyn Paredes Maroni taken by Jessica Peñaloza Cladera for Rising Voices.

Eleven young people from various Indigenous and Afro-Bolivian communities in the Gran Chaco region in Bolivia participated in the workshop entitled “Roipea Taperai” (“Opening Paths,” in the Guaraní language). The workshop focused on the terms used in Bolivian media when reporting on climate change or Indigenous peoples in the region (you can read more about the workshop here). What follows is an interview with one of the participants from this workshop.

Madelyn Paredes Maroni comes from San Antonio del Parapetí in southern rural Bolivia, whose population is mainly Indigenous Guaraní and whose local government is autonomous. The town is 300km away from the state's capital, Santa Cruz. Paredes Maroni is part of the local School of Indigenous Journalism and the Area Development Program that the Christian non-profit World Vision carries out in her community.

Word cloud for the terms “Chaco” and “disasters” generated by Media Cloud.

Rising Voices (RV): During the workshop the participants chose a word cloud and identified some terms. You chose the cloud from the search for “Chaco” and “disasters”. Within that cloud, you identified the term “road” as a word you wanted to reflect on. How have you seen that term represented in the media?

Madelyn Paredes Maroni (MPM): Como la carretera empieza desde el Espino hasta Boyuibe, abarca toda mi zona Parapitiguazu. Pasa por mi comunidad.

Sobre la carretera  […] los términos que usan para representar son progreso, ingresos económico para los comunarios, como también para los productores. Así se la representa. 

Madelyn Paredes Maroni (MPM): The road starts in El Espino and reaches Boyuibe, it covers my entire Parapitiguazu area, it runs through my community.

The word “road” […] is represented by the terms “progress”, and “economic income” for the community members, as well as for the producers.

RV: What words should a word cloud include for the term you chose?

MPM: Tendrían que estar conflictos, documentos, acuerdos, desastre, incumplimiento, bloqueos, licencia ambiental y naturaleza.

MPM: It should include “conflicts”, “documents”, “agreements”, “disaster”, “non-compliance”, “blockades”, “environmental license” and “nature”.

RV: During the workshop, the group created an imaginary word cloud with terms that they think represent them. What words did you highlight in your cloud and why?

MPM: Más que todo «naturaleza» y «licencia ambiental» porque se ve muy afectado. En mi zona comienza la comunidad de Lachipo y se extiende hasta la comunidad de Itatí. Yo puse «naturaleza» y «licencia ambiental» porque hace un tiempo tuvimos un problema. Hubo un acuerdo que se hizo en la zona [con la empresa constructora de la carretera], pero ahí hubo un incumplimiento de parte de la empresa que, sin permiso, se entró a sacar y a explotar áridos fuera de los límites de donde tendría que sacarlo. Entraron a sacar piedras del río Ripio.

MPM: Most importantly “nature” and “environmental license” because the environment is greatly affected. The community of Lachipo is present in my area and extends to the community of Itatí. I chose “nature” and “environmental license” because a while ago we had a problem. There was an agreement that was made in the area [with the highway construction company], but there was a breach on the part of the company that, without permission, entered to remove and exploit aggregates outside the limits of where they were supposed to remove them. They went in to remove rocks from the Ripio River.

RV: What does media do not report about or discuss about your region?

MPM: Como bien sabemos, nosotros tenemos una planta compresora de gas en mi zona que está entre la comunidad de San Francisco y la comunidad de Tarenda. Lo que no estamos informando es sobre las desventajas que nos causa o los problemas que nos traería tener una planta compresora de gas en esas dos comunidades de la zona.

MPM: As we well know, we have a gas compression plant in my area that is between San Francisco and Tarenda. There is no reporting about the disadvantages [the gas compression plant] is causing us or about the problems that it would bring in those two communities.

RV: What example of harmful or incorrect information have you noticed in the media, including social media, about your area?

MPM: Veo que no se habla del impacto que ocasiona tener una planta compresora de gas que funciona día y noche. Vemos que ahí está el fuego constante, ya sea de noche o de día. No informamos, voy a incluirme, sobre cuál es el daño que ocasiona esta planta compresora que tenemos allá en especial cómo afectaría al medio ambiente, al aire, al suelo. 
[Los medios] solo dicen que ahí va a haber progreso. Que en la comunidad o en la misma zona va a haber progreso, pero no es así. En mi zona, en esas dos comunidades, no tenemos gas a domicilio, seguimos comprando del camión que vende gas.

MPM: I notice that there is no mention of the impact of having a gas compression plant that operates day and night. We see that there is constant fire. We (including myself) do not report about the damage caused by this compression plant that we have there, especially how it would affect the environment, the air, the soil.
[The media] only say that there will be progress. That there will be progress in the community or in the area, but that is not true. In my area, in those two communities, we do not have gas at home, we continue to buy it from the truck that sells gas.

RV: What do you want the people of the Gran Chaco to know about climate change in the region?

MPM: Yo quisiera que sepan que la tala de árboles y  las quemas son también problemas que causan el cambio climático. Por ejemplo, [debido a] la tala de árboles hoy se nos hace cada vez más lejos ir a recoger leña. Se va a veces en la mañana y se vuelve en la tarde [en busca de leña]. 

En cuanto a la explotación de los recursos naturales, en específico los del río […], en mi comunidad San Antonio tenemos un río que debemos cuidar, ya no tenemos que explotar los áridos que tenemos cerca o ahí mismo porque de aquí a la larga es probable que los peces no suban más  […]. En San Antonio el principal alimento de las familias es el pescado. Los mismos comunarios los consumen, van al río, incluso de otras comunidades, a pescar. En mi casa todos consumimos el pescado  […] si es que seguimos explotando ahí los áridos, el río se va a dañar.

MPM: I would like them to know that cutting down trees and burning them are also problems that cause climate change. For example, [due to] the felling of trees, we have to go farther and farther to collect firewood. Sometimes, one leaves in the morning and returns in the afternoon [in search of firewood].

Regarding the exploitation of natural resources, specifically those of the river […], in my San Antonio community we have a river that we must take care of, we no longer have to exploit the aggregates that we have nearby or right there because in the long run, it is likely that the fish will not swim upstream anymore […]. In San Antonio the main food for families is fish. The community members consume them, they go to the river, even from other communities, to fish. In my house we all eat fish […] if we continue to exploit the aggregates there, the river will be damaged.

RV: What do you want the people of Bolivia and the world to know about climate change in your region?

MPM: Quisiera […] que reduzcamos la tala de árboles, las quemas, que se ayude a concientizar a la gente, a la población sobre la importancia del medioambiente.

MPM: I would like […] that we reduce the felling of trees, the burning, that we help make people aware about the importance of the environment.