Rumble in the Jungle

As Brazil takes the lead in bringing infrastructure development to South America, indigenous communities are fighting for their way of life.

BY NOAH FRIEDMAN-RUDOVSKY | JULY 20, 2012

The IIRSA project that would bisect the Tipnis National Park is currently one of the most controversial of those proposed. The highway would dramatically change a part of Bolivia that until now has been largely untouched by the outside world. Above, 62 year-old Carmelo Aguilera, a Yuracaré Indian, washes his face. Carmelo has lived his entire life on the edge of the Isiboro river in Tipnis Park. He spends his days chopping firewood, fishing, hunting, and bathing.

Noah Friedman-Rudovsky