Perspectivas da mãe terra e dos povos indígenas: desafios e tensões entre a legislação e sua implementação no estado plurinacional da Bolívia

Abstract

Since the promulgation of the new Political Constitution of the State in 2009, Bolivia has been constituted as a Plurinational State, recognizing the country's cultural and legal plurality and guaranteeing rights both to the Indigenous Native Peasant Peoples and to Mother Earth (Pachamama). This new constitutional framework represented a significant advance in response to the historical demands of Indigenous peoples, especially regarding self-determination, their own jurisdiction, and collective ownership of their territories. However, more than a decade later, the practical implementation of these rights continues to be marked by contradictions and challenges. Indigenous jurisdiction still faces limitations in its enforcement, particularly in cases of territorial defense in the face of advancing extractivist interests that have caused contamination, deforestation, and fires in Indigenous ecosystems. In this context, this research analyze how the regulations of the Plurinational State of Bolivia related to the protection of Mother Earth and Indigenous territorial rights have been applied in practice, based on concrete case studies of territorial defense, in order to critically evaluate the effectiveness of the institutions and public policies responsible for ensuring land protection. The methodology adopted is interdisciplinary, drawing on legal anthropology and legal sociology to understand the cultural, spiritual, and political foundations that Indigenous peoples attribute to the land, as well as their own forms of defense and territoriality in contrast to the state legal apparatus. In this way, the research also aims to provide insights to reflect on a legal framework that addresses land issues in dialogue with Indigenous rights and the contemporary challenges related to territory.