Presentation of the documentary “Habilito” and discussion with producer Chuck Sturtevant.

Description of the documentary:

Habilito is a system of debt peonage in use throughout the Bolivian Amazon. Merchants advance market goods to indigenous people at inflated prices, in exchange for tropical hardwood and other forest products. When it comes time to settle accounts, the indebted person almost always finds that the wood he has cut doesn't fulfill his debt obligation, and he has to borrow more money to return to the forest to continue cutting. This permanent cycle of debt permits actors from outside these indigenous communities to maintain control over the extraction of wood and provides them with a free source of labor in the exploitation of these resources. The dynamics this interaction between radically different cultural logics in this exploitive system, show some of the challenges inherent in the relationships between indigenous peoples in the Bolivian lowlands and national actors have an interest in accessing their land and resources.

Link to the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl1GlWQU0S8

See for more information:

For info contact Isabella Radhuber

Isabella is a visiting Post-Doc within the research program ‘Nationalization of Extractive Industries, Conflict and Cooperation in Bolivia and Ecuador’ (see www.iss.nl/nebe)