What's happened
Torrential rains in La Paz, Bolivia, have caused severe flooding, displacing residents and damaging homes. A five-year-old girl is missing, and emergency services are responding to the crisis. Local officials blame illegal construction for exacerbating the disaster.
Why it matters
What the papers say
According to AP News, the flooding has left parts of La Paz without electricity and has caused significant property damage. The deputy civil defense minister reported that around 60 homes were affected. The Independent emphasizes the emotional toll on families, particularly the search for the missing girl, which underscores the human impact of the disaster. Both sources highlight the role of poor construction practices in exacerbating the flooding, with La Paz's mayor calling for accountability for illegal building.
How we got here
La Paz is prone to flooding and landslides, particularly during the rainy season, which has just begun. Poor construction practices have made certain neighborhoods more vulnerable to such disasters.
More on these topics
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Luis Alberto Arce Catacora is a Bolivian politician who served as the Minister of Economy and Public Finance under President Evo Morales. He is the presidential candidate of MAS-IPSP in the 2020 Bolivian general election.
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La Paz, officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz, also named Chuqi Yapu in Aymara, is the seat of government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the third-most populous city in Bolivia.
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Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in western-central South America. The constitutional capital is Sucre, while the seat of government and executive capital is La Paz.