VZCZCXYZ0002
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLP #0382/01 0701853
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 111853Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY LA PAZ
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 0274

UNCLAS LA PAZ 000382 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV TSPL TBIO EAGR ENRG ECON AMGT APER
SUBJECT: EMBASSY SCIENCE FELLOW PROGRAM 2009 BOLIVIA 
 
REF: SECSTATE 10843 
 
¶1. The La Paz Prefecture (state government) in Bolivia has 
been dramatically impacted by the effects of climate change. 
The La Paz prefect (governor) is anxious to investigate the 
causes of these problems, work towards finding solutions, and 
integrate best practices into his water projects.  In the 
interest of completing this project Post requests a fellow 
for the full 3 months of this program.  While conversational 
Spanish ability would be ideal for this appointment, lack of 
Spanish knowledge is not prohibitive.  No clearance is 
needed.  We leave timing issues to the fellow, but please 
note that winter and summer are reversed in the Southern 
Hemisphere and that the term of the current prefect ends in 
April 2010. 
 
¶2. The unique topography of the La Paz Altiplano has 
responded particularly strongly to the temperature changes 
produced by global warming.  Droughts are common in most of 
the high-altitude department, while the lower altitude Yungas 
region suffers from unseasonal flooding.  The water supply 
which the capital city of La Paz, rapidly expanding city of 
El Alto, (with more than 1.6 million inhabitants combined) 
and neighboring communities depend upon is threatened by 
fluctuations in the water level of Lake Titicaca and 
shrinking glaciers in the Andes.  In the past two decades 
glaciers comprising these ice caps have decreased in size by 
43 percent.  Additionally, extensive flooding in La Paz in 
the past months has been attributed to global climate change 
by the local government. 
 
During a meeting with La Paz Prefect Pablo Ramos Sanchez, 
Post found him eager to work with the United States on these 
issues.  He expressed a clear interest in the ESFP program by 
offering whatever resources the prefecture was able to spare 
in terms of transportation and logistical support.  Prefect 
Sanchez has committed to providing a bilingual engineer with 
whom to partner the fellow, if no Spanish speaker can be 
found.  The Prefect, who also happens to have been a recent 
rector of Bolivia's largest university in La Paz, has also 
volunteered to coordinate outreach to climate, agriculture, 
and hydrology experts and academics as requested.  Prefect 
Sanchez is enthusiastic to work with the USG, describing 
global warming as a "problem of humanity," not a local or 
national issue. 
 
An ESFP fellow would give Post the opportunity to work 
hand-in-hand with a ruling party,(MAS)aligned politician in a 
positive and productive manner.  It will also be help to 
debunk the popular Bolivian viewpoint, especially among MAS 
politicians and supporters, that the U.S. is indifferent to 
issues of environmental sustainability in Bolivia. 
 
Post and the La Paz Prefect specifically discussed the 
possibility of using an ESFP fellow to conduct a review of 
ongoing prefect water management projects, including 
rainwater canalization, irrigation, well construction, and 
waste water treatment.  Upon completion of the fellowship, 
the fellow could present a report with suggested improvements 
to such projects, as well as suggestions for the prefecture 
to promote water conservation in drought-stricken 
populations.  However, both Post and the La Paz Prefect 
remain highly flexible about the details of any ESFP 
fellowship and would relay heavily on suggestions from the 
selected fellow to develop a fellowship plan, so long as the 
fellow remains focused on climate change and/or water 
conservation.     An ideal candidate would be a hydrologist 
or climate change specialist.  Post ESFP contact is familiar 
with the climate change related work of Professor Lonnie 
Thompson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonnie Thompson)and 
suggests him as a possible candidate for consideration of 
this fellowship.  Thompson is a tenured professor at Ohio 
State University, a land grant institution. Professor 
Thompson has extensive experience with tropical ice caps, 
including expeditions in Peru, as well as an outstanding 
working relationship with the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration and the National Science 
Foundation. 
 
¶3. The General Services Office of the La Paz Embassy will 
support the ESFP fellow by providing housing, transportation, 
and any necessary office support. 
 
¶4. The Regional Security Office has cleared the ESFP fellow 
to travel Bolivia as necessary in the capacity of their 
fellowship. 
 
¶5. The Embassy point of contact for this proposal is Charles 
Sellers in EcoPol.  He can be contacted at 
sellerscr@state.gov or (591)(2)216-8057.  The secondary 
contact on this project is Margaret DaRocha who can be 
contacted at darochamm@state.gov or (591)(2)216-8170.  The 
fax number for both Charles and Margaret is (591)(2)216-8855. 
 
The La Paz Prefect appointed an engineer (Edgar Cala) to act 
as a working level contact for support of the fellow, 
although he insisted that he was personally interested in 
acting as the fellow's main point of contact with the 
Prefecture, as climate change is a subject for which he has a 
"personal passion."  His contact information follows: 
Prefecto a.i. Lic. Pablo Ramos Sanchez, Prefectura del 
Departmamento de La Paz (State Prefectural Government of La 
Paz Department), (591-2) 220-4397, Fax: (591-2) 220-4182, 
parasan @hotmail.com . 
URS