- World Report 2024: Bolivia (hrw.org)
Political interference has plagued Bolivia’s justice system for years. The government, both under former Interim President Jeanine Áñez and current President Luis Arce, has used an overbroad definition of “terrorism” to prosecute political opponents. Prison overcrowding, inadequate health care, and excessive use of pretrial detention continue.
- Why Bridges Don’t Sink (practical.engineering)
The essence of a bridge is not just that it goes over something, but that there’s clear space underneath for a river, railway, or road. Maybe this is already obvious to you, but bridges present a unique structural challenge. In a regular road, the forces are transferred directly into the ground. On a bridge, all those forces on the span get concentrated into the piers or abutments on either side. Because of that, bridge substructures are among the strongest engineered systems on the planet. And yet, bridge foundations are built in some of the least ideal places for heavy loading. Rivers and oceans have soft, mucky soils that can’t hold much weight. Plus, obviously, a lot of them are underwater.
- Bolivia (Wikipedia)
Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in western-central South America. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay to the southeast, Argentina to the south, Chile to the southwest, and Peru to the west. The seat of government and administrative capital is La Paz, which contains the executive, legislative, and electoral branches of government, while the constitutional capital is Sucre, the seat of the judiciary. The largest city and principal industrial center is Santa Cruz de la Sierra, located on the Llanos Orientales (eastern tropical lowlands), a mostly flat region in the east of the country.
