Bolivian Markets’ Potential Access to China by Alysun Littlefield

(Source: International Business Times)
Premier Li Keqiang Speaking on the Potential Railway through South America

In 2015, Premier Li Keqiang promised to provide $10 billion to study and eventually construct a railway that would run from Brazil's Açú Port, northeast of Rio de Janeiro on the Atlantic Ocean, to an undecided port on Peru’s Pacific coast. This 3,000 mile long railway would make it significantly cheaper for South American goods to make it to Asia.

(Source: RailNews Media Ltd)
Evo Morales of Bolivia speaking with Premier Li Keqiang of China about Bolivia's Role with the South American Railway

The major issue with the proposed route was the 140 mile stretch of inhospitable rain forest from the Brazilian city of Cruzeiro do Sul to the Ucayali River in Peru, which could not only have a large negative impact on the environment, but would also have run through territory populated by a dozen different indigenous tribes.

After careful consideration, the Chinese estimate of the cost of the railway to be more than $60 billion, basically killing the project. Bolivian President Evo Morales instead suggested the route come from Brazil’s Port of Santos, run straight through Bolivia, and end in Peru’s southern port of Ilo. This route would not only be less environmentally destructive and dramatically cheaper, estimated $13.5 billion in total, it would also give Bolivia direct access to the Pacific ocean, which could solve many problems it faces due to its landlocked status.

(Source: Inter-American Dialogue)
The Proposed South American Railway

(Miami Herald) (Reuters)

NWMUN Portland Country Facts by Makena Hulme

We are privileged to send our most experienced delegates to the North West Model United Nations conference in Portland for the first time ever next year. In order to get ready for the vigorous conference, it is essential that we do excellent research, keep up on current events, and write wonderful academic paperwork.

Bolivia

Basic Facts

Capital: La Paz

Population: 10,800,882 (2015)

Currency: 1 boliviano (B$) = 100 centavos

Current Events

• Experts seek underlying cause for persistent health inequalities in the Caribbean
•  United Nations Paris Climate Agreement goes into effect on November 4^th
•  Bolivia’s Morales accuses Chile of restricting access to ports
• The disappearance of Lake Poopo destroyed the livelihoods of hundreds of fishing families and has added to a new category of climate refugees
• In Bolivia, drinks made from the endangered Titicaca water frog are promoted as a cure for many ailments, without scientific support
• Thousands of fish are dead in Lake Alalay and scientists are researching what caused oxygen levels in the lake to drop so rapidly
•  Evo Morales loses bid to seek a fourth term
• Morales’ secret dead son has been found alive and in good health
•  Bolivia’s health ministry has recommended eating llama instead of processed meat, after the World Health Organization warned an excess of red meat could cause cancer
• Anger in Chile ensues as International Court of Justice at the Hague declares it has jurisdiction to rule on Bolivia’s claim to a strip of the land in the Pacific Ocean

Spain

Basic Facts

Capital: Madrid

Population: 48,146,136

Currency: euro

Current Events

• List of new Catholic cardinals named by Pope Francis
•  Euro zone economy resilient to recent shocks
• More than 100 African migrants were saved from the Mediterranean off the coast of Spain
• Spain has plodded along without an elected national government for a year as of October 2, 2016  (New York Times)
• Barcelona is using superblocks as a transportation initiative to ease traffic and pollution and make better use of public spaces
• Hundreds of thousands of Catalans took to the streets of four major cities to urge their leaders to push for separation from Spain
• A hospital patient in Madrid died of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever in Spain without having traveled to an endemic area.
• Spain’s Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez steps down to clear way for formation of government
• Spain’s Donana coastal wetlands being added to UNESCO danger list
• The chef Jamie Oliver’s inclusion of chorizo in paella causes a “paella gate” and unites fractured Spain together against Oliver