On December 31, 2024, park ranger Marcos Uzquiano was dismissed from his duties by the National Service of Protected Areas (Sernap) and on January 3, 2025, an administrative process was initiated against him for his work as president of the Bolivian Association of Park Rangers and Conservation Agents (Abolac), an organization that brings together all the agents that protect Bolivia’s protected areas. The dismissal, which alleges a conflict of interest between his roles as public servant and as union leader, follows previous attacks against him and his colleagues, including retaliative charges of defamation and slander filed by a cooperative miner in 2023. Despite the Obudsman’s Office filing a constitutional protection action and the constitutional court invalidating Uzquiano’s dismissal on January 13, 2025, he has not been reinstated by Sernap. His dismissal and administrative process violate his right to association and unionization. Furthermore, his work in denouncing environmental crimes has been criminalized, generating an inhibiting effect on civil society.
The case of Uzquiano highlights the use of the judicial apparatus as a tool to delegitimize and silence activists, especially in the environmental field, and underlines the structural deficiencies in the protection of human rights defenders in Bolivia. On a systemic level, this event may contribute to a change in public perception of the security and freedom of human rights defenders and may generate both domestic and international pressure for structural reforms to ensure greater protection for defenders and to strengthen the legal protection framework. If, however, Uzquiano is not immediately reinstated, this case could contribute to the normalization of the criminalization of environmental activism by creating an environment of impunity. This broader context of criminalization and lack of institutional protection creates a climate of uncertainty and intimidation, limiting the ability of defenders to act freely on behalf of their communities and the environment.