Bolivia Emergency Powers Debate: Bolivia’s Senate approved a bill to repeal limits on the use of emergency powers, as La Paz and El Alto face a deepening blockade crisis with shortages of food and fuel and protests demanding President Rodrigo Paz’s resignation—raising the stakes for how the state responds to unrest. Amazon Crime Pressure: A new report flags organized crime as a major obstacle to protecting the Amazon, with criminal groups expanding across Amazon municipalities (including Bolivia) driven by drug trafficking and illegal gold mining, putting Indigenous communities at heightened risk. Mining, Water, and Wildlife: Peru’s Quellaveco copper mine is accused of contaminating watersheds and harming wildlife and local livelihoods, with critics pointing to metals and health concerns—an Andean cautionary tale for mining governance and water protection. Lithium Triangle Reality Check: Coverage revisits the lithium boom in Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni and the wider Lithium Triangle, but notes extraction remains the bottleneck—while new approaches like Direct Lithium Extraction could reshape timelines and impacts. Urban Resilience in La Paz: A Bolivia-focused urban resilience effort links social investment to climate and landslide risk in peripheral neighborhoods, aiming to improve services and reduce vulnerability in fast-growing Andean cities. Crypto Mining and Ecosystems: A look at how cryptocurrency mining could threaten South America’s wetlands and dry forests ties rising electricity demand to pressure for new energy infrastructure in biodiversity hotspots like the Pantanal and Gran Chaco.