International aid boosts Bolivia's wildfire battle

More international aid arrived in the Bolivian central region of Santa Cruz, one of the hardest-hit areas by the wave of wildfires ravaging the Andean country.

Santa Cruz airport received a water bomber, the Electra Tanker 481, with a capacity to carry 11,300 liters of water, from Canada, and an Airbus BK117 D3 helicopter, with a capacity to carry 1,000 liters of water, from the Airbus Foundation of France, President Luis Arce said on his X account.

Arce also mentioned that 40 Spanish firefighters and eight experts from Spain arrived to bolster the battle against the flames.

The European support was coordinated by Team Europe, which comprises the EU and its member states’ embassies, and it was operated through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

EU ambassador to Bolivia, Jaume Segura, said: “We want to express our solidarity with the country and those affected by the wildfires. We know it’s a big problem with big significance for the country. And, in the end, it’s a problem we suffer in Europe and around the world as these are effects of climate change. In this sense, with Team Europe, we’ve moved resources from our member states, such as the Spanish firefighters who are here today. But also, from other countries such as France, Italy, Sweden or Germany. We use resources together through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, which has allowed all these resources to join the fight against wildfires.”

Canada and the EU joined other countries, such as Brazil and Venezuela, in sending support to Bolivia to combat the flames.

The Andean country is on track for a potentially record year of fires, exacerbated by drought and land clearances linked to booming cattle and grain production.

South America is being ravaged by fire from Brazil's Amazon rainforest through the world's largest wetlands to dry forests in Bolivia, breaking a previous record for the number of blazes seen in a year.