Starting early Monday, the indigenous communities Jutun and Jachuy Aylly Jila are set to block both highways that connect Uyuni with Potosí and Oruro (Ruta Nacional 5 and 30)
Zoom In: The conflict stems from three hydroelectric plants (Kilpani, Landara, and Punutuma), owned in a joint venture between Comibol (Corporación Minera de Bolivia) and ENDE Valle Hermoso (Empresa Nacional de Electricidad), which generated electricity for the Porco Municipality and part of southeastern Potosi for 25 years.
Currently, the plants are paralyzed, and even though the state government wants to administer and reactivate them, ENDE is not authorizing their operation due to an outstanding debt on their balance sheet.
Travel Alert: Neither ENDE nor the central government has released a statement yet. Therefore, the planned roadblocks on both highways connecting Uyuni with Potosí and Oruro are likely to begin on Monday, further complicating travel with the soon-to-be-disrupted La Paz-Oruro route.