Tense Territories

This chapter explores how the expansion of natural gas production in the Bolivian Chaco has shaped the possibilities for lowland indigenous groups, such as the Weenhayek, to: a) recover ancestral lands; b) consolidate self-governance and autonomy; and c) access gas rents in order to sustain traditional ways of living. It traces the interactions between the organizational processes of the Weenhayek, and state-led efforts to promote hydrocarbons investment within their territory. It uses a case of state-promoted consultation and compensation to describe the tensions that natural gas projects catalyze within Weenhayek populations and organizations, as well as between them and the state. These tensions must be understood in relation to Weenhayek economic practices and territorial and organizational experiences in both historical and contemporary periods. They must also be understood as products of non-transparent corporate practice and government policies favoring central political imperatives over the territorial projects of lowland indigenous groups.