Bolivia [23/08/2026 - 14/09/2026]
In February 2026, I registered for a volunteering project with Broederlijk Delen, a non-profit organisation here in Belgium. The initiative is called Raíces Rebeldes, centered around the expansion of extractivist practices in the Mercosur region. My interest was piqued as the master's thesis I wrote last year was about neo-extractivism and the new EU-Mercosur trade agreement (I'll add here that I received the highest distinction for it, earning me my self-anointed title of Mister Matrícula).
Throughout history, there have been successive generations of extractivism. The current third- and fourth-generation extractivism is characterized by the intensive use of water, energy, and other resources. Despite the differences between traditional extractivism and progressive neo-extractivism, a new type, whereby the State plays a more active role in capturing surplus and redistributing, thereby guaranteeing a certain level of social legitimacy, the negative social and environmental impacts are incessantly repeated. [...], contemporary neo-extractivism refers to a way of apropriating nature and a development model based on the over-exploitation of natural goods, largely nonrenewable, characterized by its large scale and its orientation towards export, aswell as the vertiginous expansion of the borders of exploitation to new territories, [...]. Consequently, it designates and expands on the activities traditionally considered extractive. (Svampa, 2019)
The program consists of monthly online meetings via zoom with participants from Guatemala, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, and our group from exotic Belgium; a five-day world camp in July (could also be registered here); and a two-week stay in Bolivia.
Below you will find my blog entries tied to the aforementioned culmination of Raíces Rebeldes - the visit to the Puliwya Achka Aylluska Mamallaqta, also known as the Wuliwya Walja Ayllunakana Marka, equally known as the Tetã Hetate'ýigua Mborívia, likewise known as the Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia. In short, Bolivia: