Vivian Palomequi walked for a month and more than 900 kilometers from her home in the Bolivian Amazon to the capital, La Paz.
She arrived in late April to protest a law she fears will accelerate deforestation and land privatization.
"We declared a state of emergency and started marching," said Palomequi, a leader of the Peasant Farmers' Union.
"We had no other choice."
The march is part of a broader backlash against the environmental policies of President Rodrigo Paz's administration.
Since taking office in November, Paz has staffed ministries with former agroindustry leaders, opened protected areas to mining, and criminalized environmental defenders.
Mass Indigenous and peasant mobilizations are not new in Bolivia.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, large marches followed similar routes from the Amazonian lowlands to La Paz.
Resistance to extractive projects continued under previous leftist governments, including that of Evo Morales, Bolivia's first Indigenous president.
While those administrations championed pro-environmental rhetoric, they faced criticism for pursuing ecologically destructive policies. That pattern of state-backed environmental destruction meeting fierce resistance persists under the new government.
President Paz ran as a centrist with few environmental proposals beyond a domestic carbon market plan.
Eight months into his term, activists and analysts argue his policies have continued or worsened the extractive agendas of previous administrations.
"It's the same old policy," said Ruth Alipaz, an Indigenous leader from the Amazon north of La Paz.
"When a crisis hits, the response is to ramp up resource extraction – and that takes place right inside our territories and protected areas."
Land Law Sparks Outrage
The law that drove Palomequi and hundreds of others to march was passed in early April.
It allowed small family-owned plots, constitutionally protected from sale or seizure, to be converted into medium-sized holdings, exposing them to foreclosures and corporate buyouts.
Proponents argued it would help smallholders access formal financial systems. But Indigenous and peasant farmers feared it would lead to land dispossession and expand the agroindustry frontier.
"When a small property enters a free commercial land market, it turns into a financial asset," said Alcides Vadillo, regional director of Fundación Tierra.
"From that moment on, it can be traded, sold, divided up or foreclosed on."
Protests forced the government to repeal the law in May, with a replacement to be drafted later.
However, environmental economist Stasiek Czaplicki Cabezas believes the damage is already done.
"In 10 years, you will see that the small properties that have been converted to medium properties have had higher rates of deforestation."
The marches occurred against a backdrop of unprecedented agroindustry influence in the government.
The former president of Anapo, a powerful soya and wheat producers' association, now leads the development planning and environment ministry.
The former president of the CAO, another agribusiness lobby, was appointed minister of productive, rural and water development.
Previous leftist administrations were also friendly to agribusiness, but now corporate agroindustry does not need to negotiate with the government.
"They are the government," Czaplicki Cabezas said.
Mining Deregulation and Rising Tensions
Activists are increasingly alarmed by the deregulation of Bolivia's mining sector.
In May, the Paz administration signed an agreement with mining cooperatives, lifting barriers to operating in protected areas and Indigenous lands.
In April, a ministerial resolution reduced legal requirements for nearly 4,000 non-compliant mining operations.
Gold mining, fueled by lax regulations and record global prices, was already expanding across Bolivia's tropical lowlands, contaminating Indigenous territory with mercury and encroaching on national parks.
The recent deals will create a complete lack of control over mining in Indigenous territories and protected areas, Alipaz said.
Government deference to mining cooperatives is not new; they have long leveraged political representation. With a history of organizing national road blockades, the sector holds immense sway.
"The government is afraid because it doesn't want to confront the miners," Alipaz said.
Nelly Coca, a community leader from the Tariquía national reserve, spent last Christmas and New Year blocking a Brazilian hydrocarbons company, Petrobras, from entering the reserve.
Police forcibly dismantled the blockade, and Petrobras initiated legal proceedings against Coca and 16 other activists.
Petrobras Bolivia stated it has held an environmental license for the project since July 2025 and complies with all legal requirements.
Hydrocarbon activity in Tariquía has been disputed since Evo Morales opened protected areas to oil and gas extraction in 2015.
Coca feels betrayed by President Paz, who as mayor of Tarija had pledged to protect the reserve. "Now he's the chief architect of its destruction," she said.
"If we are defending the environment, if we are protecting the water, I think we should be applauded for it – not persecuted the way we are."
Human rights lawyer Thomas Becker said Coca's experience exemplifies Bolivia's failure to secure free, prior and informed consent required by its constitution and international law.
"The Paz administration's rush to sell off Bolivia's natural resources, alongside its growing alignment with the United States, has come at a steep cost to communities."
Edgar Carpio Chávez, a peasant union leader who marched with Palomequi, also feels betrayed.
"We voted for him, and he invited us to his inauguration, and even paid for our travel," he said.
"Now look how things have changed – he left us with no choice but to walk more than 1,200 km just to get him to listen."
In just eight months, the Paz administration has also authorized the use of genetically modified HB4 soy, considered controversial hydroelectric projects, and supported parliamentary initiatives to open the country to carbon credits.
Czaplicki Cabezas warned that a lack of work to remove dry combustion material could leave Bolivia vulnerable to a severe fire season intensified by El Niño.
"Prevention of forest fires is not part of the current government's policy."
For Palomequi, the administration's priorities are clear. The government refused to meet with marchers while the agribusiness lobby receives immediate meetings.
"What's clear now is that we have to remain vigilant," she said. "We are on high alert."
