Bolivia to extend La Paz cable car system

Bolivia's capital will start work next week on the US$450mn expansion of its cable car system, already the world's longest.

Construction is scheduled to get underway July 13 on the 2.7km light blue line, or Línea Celeste, the fifth line of La Paz's Mi Teleférico system, newspaper La Razón reported.

The new line, which will feature four stations, 159 cabins and a journey time of about 12 minutes, will link up with two of the existing lines and is the first of seven new lines planned for the system. The expansion was announced three years ago.

Mi Teleférico, whose red, blue, yellow and green lines cover a total distance of 15.3km and can carry up to 6,000 passengers/hour each, started up its first three lines in 2014 and added a fourth line in March of this year.

While President Evo Morales has pledged US$48.6bn in infrastructure and energy investments over the next five years, his government is struggling to line up financing as economic growth has slowed. Bolivia, which depends on natural gas for much of its revenue, saw export revenue drop 19% to US$7.21bn last year.

In other infrastructure news, the government plans to invest US$62mn in agricultural production infrastructure as part of the Criar program, minister for rural development, César Cocarico, told state news agency ABI.

The program, which has financing from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), will invest in grain mills, irrigation and harvesting equipment in 35 municipalities in La Paz, Potosí, Santa Cruz, Cochabamba and Chuquisaca departments.

Cochabamba, meanwhile, plans to invest 10mn bolivianos of its own funds in installations for fruit and potato industrial processing plants and looms for camelid fiber, regional planning secretary Filemón Iriarte said.

The investment drive comes after Bolivia's farmers were crippled by the worst drought in at least 25 years. The eastern Andean region this year suffered the effects of both global warming and the La Niña phenomenon, where cooler ocean temperatures cause drought in the highlands, affecting crops and livestock. President Morales is seeking US$500mn in international emergency aid to invest in potable water and irrigation infrastructure.