- The emergency decree mobilizes resources and dispatches rescue teams to regions stricken by both flooding and drought.
- El Niño is driving dramatic shifts in global weather patterns, with warnings of an unusually powerful event affecting multiple continents.
Updated 5 min 13 sec ago
November 1, 2026 07:04
LA PAZ — President Rodrigo Paz declared a state of emergency on Saturday, unlocking additional funding and assets to confront the devastating impacts of the El Niño phenomenon. The measure also authorizes the deployment of extra rescue units to the hardest‑hit areas, as the nation confronts simultaneous flooding and drought conditions, Paz announced in a nationwide address.
“This event will have very severe consequences in terms of drought and floods, and we need the cooperation of all institutions,” Paz said.
A recent government report shows that the drought has already affected 78,000 families across six of Bolivia’s nine departments, resulting in the loss of more than 75,000 head of cattle.
El Niño operates by warming surface waters in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, prompting widespread changes in wind, pressure, and rainfall patterns worldwide.
The United Nations has cautioned that the current El Niño could reach “unprecedented” intensity, threatening Latin America, eastern and southern Africa, Asia, and the Pacific with severe disruption.
Neighboring Peru has recorded soaring temperatures and wildfires, claiming the lives of at least 12 people. Meanwhile, Chile’s capital, Santiago, endured its wettest October on record.
