Una Ruta Corta para la Impunidad: Los Caminos Ilegales en la Amazonía Peruana — Parte 1: Una Tranquila Ciudad Llamada Bolognesi

This story excerpt was translated from Spanish. To read the original story in full, visit the La Mula website. You may also view the original story on the Rainforest Journalism Fund website here. Our website is available in English, Spanish, bahasa Indonesia, French, and Portuguese.

A SUNDAY LIKE ANY OTHER

Edgardo, known as "El Sapiteño," drives his pickup truck every day, carrying passengers from Bolognesi, the small capital city of Ucayali's Tahuanía district, to a hamlet called Nueva Italia, 45 minutes away.

On the dusty, bumpy route, he stops every few minutes. Passengers climb in and out, carrying their cargo, settling into the truck's hopper or squeezing into the battered cab. The suffocating heat of the jungle is only relieved on rainy days, which when it rains, fills the road with mud and puddles that muddy the windshield and the entire truck.

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