Photo of Daniel Arías taken by Jessica Peñaloza Cladera
A total of 11 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 (more about the workshop is available to read here [1]). What follows is an interview with one of the participants in this workshop.
Daniel Arias Zeballos is an Indigenous Chiquitano, from the municipality of Roboré [2] in the department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia. He is a member of the San Manuel Indigenous community, where he serves as cacique (an elected highest authority within the territory of his community). At the municipal level, he is also president of the Municipal Youth Council.
For Arias, it is of vital importance that in order to mitigate climate change that we preserve the environment, revalue traditional knowledge and work in collaboration with the Indigenous peoples. It is also important that the mass media verifies all the information they receive from these regions from sources that do not necessarily come from there. For example, Arias says that the media often blames Indigenous people for generating large-scale forest fires [3] as a result of their prescribed burning, an age-old practice. “Our burning is controlled,” he points out, explaining that the people of his community burn a maximum of five hectares that are used to farm for their own consumption. The main problem, he says, are the large producers who have authorizations to burn [4] between 10 and 50 hectares, because in these cases the fire can get out of control more easily.
During his participation in the Roipea Taperai media literacy workshop, Arias analyzed word clouds and proposed new terms that, from his point of view, should be included in the stories presented by the media today. He talks about all this in the following interview.
Word cloud for “Chaco” and “environment” generated by Media Cloud [5].
Rising Voices (RV): During the workshop the participants chose a word cloud and identified specific terms. You chose the cloud that results from the search for “Chaco” and “Environment”. Within that cloud, you identified to reflect on the terms “development” and “culture”. How have you seen these terms represented in the media? What has caught your attention the most from the word cloud?
Daniel Arias (DA):
En los medios de comunicación las palabras “desarrollo” y “cultura” no tienen mucha prioridad, principalmente los que se refieren a la cultura y a las creencias dentro de nuestras comunidades. Por ese motivo, creo que si no hablan de nuestra cultura, no hablan de nuestra identidad. Tampoco están hablando de nuestros bosques, de nuestra flora o de nuestra fauna. Para un chiquitano un pueblo sin fauna, sin naturaleza, es un pueblo y una cultura sin identidad.
Daniel Arias (DA): In the media, the words “development” and “culture”– especially when referring to the culture and beliefs within our communities – are not given much priority. For this reason, I believe that if the media doesn't discuss our culture, then it doesn't discuss our identity, our forests, our flora or our fauna. For a Chiquitano, a town without fauna, without nature, is a town and a culture without identity.
RV: What words should a word cloud include for the terms you chose?
DA: Me gustaría que hubiera en esta nube las palabras: «propuesta de proyectos»; «producto de cultivo en hortalizas en árboles forestales»; «plan de proyectos» o «trabajar con la reforestación». Hoy en día necesitamos un proyecto que venga destinado para este sector, que es la reforestación de nuestros bosques.
DA: I would like this cloud to include the words: “project proposal”; “vegetable garden in woodland”; “project plan” or “reforestation work”. Currently, we need a project that is intended for the reforestation of our forests.
RV: During the workshop, the group created a word cloud with terms that they believe represent themselves. Explain what words you highlighted in your cloud and why.
DA: Las palabras que he destacado en mi nube de palabras han sido más que todo “proyectos productivos” y “plan de riesgos”. ¿Por qué he elegido estas dos frases? Porque […] no llegan los proyectos que deberían llegar a las zonas indígenas, es como que los están desviando a otros lados […] se podría decir de parte del Gobierno Central y del Gobierno Departamental. Se están destinando estos fondos a otras cosas pero que el sector campesino e indígena los necesita. Son proyectos productivos para vivir mejor, para el vivir bien de cada familia indígena. Después, si hablamos sobre […] el plan de riesgo para nosotros, en los pueblos indígenas, se podría decir que esto debería ser primordial y [deberíamos] tener un plan de riesgo porque en la actualidad estamos sufriendo el cambio climático, entonces, necesitamos un plan de riesgo para así poder controlar un poco o buscar otra alternativa al problema que tenemos ahorita, que estamos atravesando hoy en día con la contaminación del aire, de nuestro medio ambiente.
DA: The words that I have highlighted in my word cloud have been mostly “productive projects” and “risk plan”. I have chosen these two phrases because the projects that should reach the Indigenous areas are not implemented, it is as if they are diverting them to other places, perhaps by the Central Government and the Departmental Government. These funds are being used for other things, but the peasant and Indigenous communities need them. They are productive projects so that each Indigenous family could live better, could live well. Risk plans for Indigenous peoples should also be paramount because we are currently suffering from climate change; we need a risk plan in order to be able to have some control or find an alternative to the problem that we currently have with air and environmental.
RV: What topic is not discussed in the media your region or area?
DA: […] No se habla de cultura en los medios, no se habla sobre la preservación de nuestros bosques. Puede ser que a nivel nacional en los medios más grandes hablen, pero que salga netamente de cada región indígena campesina es muy poco. También […] sobre nuestra identidad, nuestra cultura, enfocarnos más en resaltar lo que es nuestra cultura. Tanto la cultura chiquitana, como la guaraní, la ayorea y otras muchas que hay dentro de Bolivia, pues se están perdiendo. Es muy escaso [lo que se muestra en los medios] y por ende nosotros también estamos con estos pequeños problemas. No hay programas, por ejemplo, donde haya el estudio de nuestra lengua nativa, […] tampoco salen programas dirigidos en nuestra propia lengua.
DA: The media doesn't discuss about culture, about the preservation of our forests. It may be that this topic is addressed at the national level by mainstream media, but there is considerably less information sourced from the peasant or Indigenous regions. Also we need our identity and culture to be highlighted. Both the Chiquitano culture, as well as the Guaraní, the Ayorea and many others in Bolivia, are being lost. Information about us is very scarce in the media and this affects us. There are no programs, for example, for the study of our native language, nor do programs run in our own language.
RV: What examples of harmful or incorrect information about the problems in your region have you seen in the media, including on social networks?
DA: […] El problema ahorita que perjudica y me atrevo a decir es la poca información con la que manejan los medios para respaldar sus notas. ¿Por qué digo esto? Por ejemplo, hoy en día al sector indígena y campesino, los medios de comunicación los tildan como si fuéramos […] los que provocamos los incendios […], los que hacen desastres forestales. Lo cual no es así, nos están echando la culpa a los pequeños productores. Estos pequeños productores sí hacen chaqueo pero es un chaqueo controlado. No toman más de cinco o cuatro hectáreas. Ahora los hemos llamado aquí a los del Gobierno Central, deberían sentarse y analizar estos temas porque los que provocan incendios son los grandes productores. Por ejemplo, la colonia Menonita tiene luz verde, se puede decir, para desmontar más de 20, 30 o 50 hectáreas, lo que un indígena o un originario solamente tumba y todavía con precaución a lo mucho son cuatro hectáreas y es para vivir, para el día a día. Porque ahí ellos generan su economía, generan su ingreso, de ahí viven y ahí se sustenta toda su familia. O sea que ahorita dentro de cada departamento donde hay zonas indígenas, como que nosotros los indígenas somos la oveja negra dentro del rebaño. Cuando la verdad los medios de comunicación deberían trabajar un poco más en lo que es investigar, ser más elocuentes con las investigaciones para poder transmitir sus noticias, para poder hacer escuchar la voz del pueblo en serio, la voz del pueblo indígena. Que vean cuál es […] la realidad dentro de las comunidades donde son afectadas.
DA: The current harmful problem is the little information the media has to support their stories. I say this because, for example, the Indigenous and peasant communities are labeled by the media as if we were the ones who caused the fires, the forest disasters. They are blaming the small producers, but the burnings they do are controlled and they do not take more than five or four hectares. We have called the Central Government here, they should sit down and analyze these issues because the ones that cause fires are the big producers. For example, the Mennonite colony is allowed to clear more than 20, 30 or 50 hectares, while an Indigenous producer only cuts down, and still with caution, at most four hectares, and it is for their subsistence, for the day-to-day use. That is what their economy is based on, their source of income, of subsistence for their entire family. So, currently, within each department we the Indigenous people are being seen as the black sheep. The media should investigate a little more, be more accurate with their reporting, in order to make the voice of the Indigenous people heard. They should see how the communities are affected.
RV: And what do you want the people of the Gran Chaco to know about climate change in your region?
DA: Lo que yo quiero es que se sepa, a conciencia, lo que es preservar nuestros bosques, preservar nuestra naturaleza, cuidar, darle un mejor uso al agua que hoy en día es un gran problema[…]. Hay comunidades donde se sufre. […] da pena ver a los indígenas que están viviendo la escasez de agua y es preocupante. Y en base a esto, no existe hasta ahora, de parte de los Gobiernos Municipales, un plan de riesgo para atender, para cubrir esta falencia que hay. Así que yo llamaría a la conciencia tanto en mi zona, en las seis comunidades tanto indígenas como campesinas a nivel municipal y por qué no a nivel nacional […] que nos preocupemos, que ya cambiemos, nos eduquemos en la forma de ver de cuidar nuestra naturaleza, tener más ímpetu con lo que es la espiritualidad también dentro de los pueblos indígenas, que respeten de parte de nuestro Gobierno Central, lo que son las creencias dentro de cada cultura.
DA: I want people to be aware of what it means to preserve our forests, our nature, to take care of it, make better use of water, which currently is a big problem. There are communities that are suffering. It is sad and worrying to see the Indigenous people experiencing water scarcity. And based on this, up until now, there is no risk management on behalf of the Municipal Governments. So I would call for awareness both in my area, in the six communities, both Indigenous and peasant, at the municipal level, and, why not, at the national level that we care more, that we make changes, that we educate ourselves to take care of our nature, to strive to understand the spirituality of Indigenous peoples, that our Central Government respect the beliefs within each culture.
RV: What do you want the people of Bolivia and the world to know about climate change in your region?
DA: Me gustaría muchísimo que sepa Bolivia y al mundo entero, lo ricos en cultura que somos acá en Bolivia, porque la verdad somos un país riquísimo, bello en cultura, a la cual no le estamos dando mucha importancia y no se dan cuenta que si nos enfocamos y de verdad tenemos una visión más a fondo a la cultura que tenemos en cada departamento, acá a nivel Bolivia, van a ver el gran cambio que vamos a dar (…), se podría decir la gran lucha que vamos a dar con el cambio climático. ¿Por qué le digo esto? Porque sí podemos aplacar en gran parte ahorita nosotros podemos calmar un poco el cambio climático escuchando la voz de los pueblos indígenas que están en Bolivia. Decirle a todo el mundo, al país más que todo, que no vean al chaco como la taza de café de las autoridades de turno tanto nacionales, como departamentales y las municipales, que no vean a nuestros territorios indígenas como una taza de café donde nos pueden estar explotar y sacar los recursos. Tenemos recursos pero pongámonos a pensar que se nos vienen a nosotros las consecuencias y como pueblos indígenas seremos los más afectados. Pedirle al Gobierno Central que respete nuestras tradiciones y costumbres, nuestro territorio indígena, porque si no respetamos va a seguir la explotación, el desmonte y la contaminación y no vamos a poder frenar esto. En cambio si trabajan coordinadamente con los pueblos indígenas vamos a poder poner un alto, nosotros como indígenas sabemos cómo nos comunicamos con el medioambiente y creo que es lo más importante.
DA: I would very much like Bolivia and the whole world to know how rich in culture we are here in Bolivia, because the truth is that we are a very rich country, with a beautiful culture, but to which we are not giving much importance and they do not realize that if we focus and really have a more in-depth vision of the culture that we have in each department in Bolivia, they will see the great change that we are going to make (…), the great fight that we are going to put to mitigate climate change. I believe we can mitigate climate change to a great extent by listening to the voice of the Indigenous peoples in Bolivia.
I want to tell the whole world, and especially our country, that they should not see the Chaco and our Indigenous territories as a coffee cup belonging to the national, regional and municipal authorities, which they can exploit and take resources from. We have resources, but let us think about the consequences and as Indigenous peoples we will be the most affected. Ask the Central Government to respect our traditions and customs, our Indigenous territory, because if we do not respect it, exploitation, clearing and contamination will continue and we will not be able to stop this. On the other hand, if they work in coordination with the Indigenous peoples, we will be able to put a stop to it; we as Indigenous people know how we communicate with the environment and I think that is the most important thing.