Benjamin Swift
@benjaminrswift.bsky.social
Journalist in La Paz, Bolivia. Stories on climate, environment, LGBTQ+. Bylines @theguardian.com , @mongabay.com , NACLA, etc. Co-host and producer peopleplacepower.com
bswiftcreative.com
bswiftcreative.com
Pinned
‘If not fire, we’ll be killed by hunger’: villagers continue to feel fallout from Bolivia’s worst wildfires
Food shortages and health issues continue after vast areas of forest and farmland burned last year
www.theguardian.com
"Surubí says women’s responsibilities 'tripled' during the wildfires. 'We don’t just have to cook; we also play the role of doctor, of psychologist for our kids.'"
For @theguardian.com , I wrote about the social impacts of Bolivia's wildfires. 📷 Laura Barriga
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
For @theguardian.com , I wrote about the social impacts of Bolivia's wildfires. 📷 Laura Barriga
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
For the @nytimes.com, I contributed reporting from La Paz on election day in Bolivia.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/w...
Rodrigo Paz, a Centrist, Ends 20 Years of Leftist Rule in Bolivia
www.nytimes.com
October 20, 2025 at 11:35 PM
For the @nytimes.com, I contributed reporting from La Paz on election day in Bolivia.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/w...
Reposted by Benjamin Swift
Hey, has anyone else (cis or trans) been gender-policed at U.S. Open restrooms? Feel free to DM here or email jmkliegman@gmail.com. Trying to see something, potentially for a story. Please consider reskeeting my query!
For those keeping score at home, I peed three (3) times at the Open today and was gender-policed on two (2) of those occasions 🙃
Apparently my stress dream *should’ve* been about getting gender-policed by an attendant in the women’s bathroom (she apologized)
September 2, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Hey, has anyone else (cis or trans) been gender-policed at U.S. Open restrooms? Feel free to DM here or email jmkliegman@gmail.com. Trying to see something, potentially for a story. Please consider reskeeting my query!
For @theguardian.com , I wrote about a new @commsearth.nature.com @nature.com study that found that preserving the Amazon keeps communities safe from the health risks of wildfires and deforestation.
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
‘When the forests burn, the sickness comes’: how protecting trees shields millions from disease
Preserving the Amazonian rainforest keeps communities safe from the health risks of wildfires and deforestation, research has found
www.theguardian.com
September 15, 2025 at 2:04 PM
For @theguardian.com , I wrote about a new @commsearth.nature.com @nature.com study that found that preserving the Amazon keeps communities safe from the health risks of wildfires and deforestation.
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
Reposted by Benjamin Swift
‘When the forests burn, the sickness comes’: how protecting trees shields millions from disease
‘When the forests burn, the sickness comes’: how protecting trees shields millions from disease
Preserving the Amazonian rainforest keeps communities safe from the health risks of wildfires and deforestation, research has found
www.theguardian.com
September 14, 2025 at 5:01 AM
‘When the forests burn, the sickness comes’: how protecting trees shields millions from disease
For @nacla-report.bsky.social, Linda Farthing and I wrote about how, amidst bitter infighting and economic crisis, Bolivia’s left suffered a major defeat after nearly two decades of groundbreaking governance.
nacla.org/from-hope-to...
nacla.org/from-hope-to...
From Hope to Disillusionment: Bolivia After 20 Years of MAS
Amidst bitter infighting and economic crisis, Bolivia’s left suffered a major defeat after nearly two decades of groundbreaking governance.
nacla.org
September 8, 2025 at 7:33 PM
For @nacla-report.bsky.social, Linda Farthing and I wrote about how, amidst bitter infighting and economic crisis, Bolivia’s left suffered a major defeat after nearly two decades of groundbreaking governance.
nacla.org/from-hope-to...
nacla.org/from-hope-to...
Reposted by Benjamin Swift
‘The Dubai of South America’: how the promise of riches from lithium mining turned to dust in Bolivia
‘The Dubai of South America’: how the promise of riches from lithium mining turned to dust in Bolivia
Politicians have long promised the critical metal will rescue the economy but Indigenous locals say the push to exploit vast reserves threatens the ecosystem and their livelihoods
www.theguardian.com
September 3, 2025 at 11:04 AM
‘The Dubai of South America’: how the promise of riches from lithium mining turned to dust in Bolivia
Reposted by Benjamin Swift
Superb story by @benjaminrswift.bsky.social in the @theguardian.com detailing the impacts of unsustainable lithium mining on #wetlands, water and local communities in the Bolivian Andes - and the threats of much worse to come.
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
‘The Dubai of South America’: how the promise of riches from lithium mining turned to dust in Bolivia
Politicians have long promised the critical metal will rescue the economy but Indigenous locals say the push to exploit vast reserves threatens the ecosystem and their livelihoods
www.theguardian.com
September 4, 2025 at 7:28 AM
Superb story by @benjaminrswift.bsky.social in the @theguardian.com detailing the impacts of unsustainable lithium mining on #wetlands, water and local communities in the Bolivian Andes - and the threats of much worse to come.
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
For #BioScience ( @aibsbiology.bsky.social , @oxunipress.bsky.social ), I wrote about what sexual diversity in the natural world can teach humans about sex, gender, & inclusive biology.
doi.org/10.1093/bios...
doi.org/10.1093/bios...
What sexual diversity in the natural world can teach humans about sex, gender, and inclusive biology
In the summer of 1992, Bobbi Peckarsky, a researcher at Cornell University, was wading in the rocky streams surrounding the Rocky Mountain Biological Labor
doi.org
August 9, 2025 at 7:08 PM
For #BioScience ( @aibsbiology.bsky.social , @oxunipress.bsky.social ), I wrote about what sexual diversity in the natural world can teach humans about sex, gender, & inclusive biology.
doi.org/10.1093/bios...
doi.org/10.1093/bios...
For @mongabay.com , I wrote about how Indigenous communities are struggling to rebuild as wildfires return to #Bolivia.
news.mongabay.com/2024/10/in-b...
news.mongabay.com/2024/10/in-b...
In Bolivia, Indigenous communities struggle to rebuild as wildfires return
Every Sunday, Hermindo Vies wakes up early and travels by river from his village, Asunción de Quiquibey, in Bolivia’s Beni department, to the nearest major town to sell his produce. Though he knows th...
news.mongabay.com
August 9, 2025 at 7:06 PM
For @mongabay.com , I wrote about how Indigenous communities are struggling to rebuild as wildfires return to #Bolivia.
news.mongabay.com/2024/10/in-b...
news.mongabay.com/2024/10/in-b...
Excited to share my article, which includes photos and additional reporting by Laura Barriga Dávalos, in this historic issue of the NACLA Report!
doi.org/10.1080/1071...
doi.org/10.1080/1071...
Barbarella’s Kiss and the Beginning of the Sexual Revolution in Bolivia
Published in NACLA Report on the Americas (Vol. 57, No. 1, 2025)
doi.org
August 9, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Excited to share my article, which includes photos and additional reporting by Laura Barriga Dávalos, in this historic issue of the NACLA Report!
doi.org/10.1080/1071...
doi.org/10.1080/1071...
For #BioScience ( @aibsbiology.bsky.social , @oxunipress.bsky.social ), I wrote about receding water levels in Lake Titicaca and how Indigenous communities and scientists are collaborating to protect the lake and its high-altitude endemic species.
doi.org/10.1093/bios...
doi.org/10.1093/bios...
As water levels recede, Indigenous communities and scientists collaborate to protect Lake Titicaca and its high-altitude endemic species
Last October, Isaac Callizaya visited Pariti Island, where he was born and raised. Located in Lake Titicaca, on Bolivia's highland Andean plateau—known as
doi.org
August 9, 2025 at 7:02 PM
For #BioScience ( @aibsbiology.bsky.social , @oxunipress.bsky.social ), I wrote about receding water levels in Lake Titicaca and how Indigenous communities and scientists are collaborating to protect the lake and its high-altitude endemic species.
doi.org/10.1093/bios...
doi.org/10.1093/bios...
"Surubí says women’s responsibilities 'tripled' during the wildfires. 'We don’t just have to cook; we also play the role of doctor, of psychologist for our kids.'"
For @theguardian.com , I wrote about the social impacts of Bolivia's wildfires. 📷 Laura Barriga
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
For @theguardian.com , I wrote about the social impacts of Bolivia's wildfires. 📷 Laura Barriga
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
‘If not fire, we’ll be killed by hunger’: villagers continue to feel fallout from Bolivia’s worst wildfires
Food shortages and health issues continue after vast areas of forest and farmland burned last year
www.theguardian.com
August 9, 2025 at 7:00 PM
"Surubí says women’s responsibilities 'tripled' during the wildfires. 'We don’t just have to cook; we also play the role of doctor, of psychologist for our kids.'"
For @theguardian.com , I wrote about the social impacts of Bolivia's wildfires. 📷 Laura Barriga
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
For @theguardian.com , I wrote about the social impacts of Bolivia's wildfires. 📷 Laura Barriga
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
My latest for the @theguardian.com : This “signals that Bolivia has become a major driver of the global climate and ecological crisis,” says Stasiek Czaplicki Cabezas, a Bolivian environmental economist.
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
‘Global red alert’: forest loss hits record high – and Latin America is the heart of the inferno
With little state support, villagers are left to battle wildfires armed with little more than shovels and bottles of water
www.theguardian.com
August 9, 2025 at 6:48 PM
My latest for the @theguardian.com : This “signals that Bolivia has become a major driver of the global climate and ecological crisis,” says Stasiek Czaplicki Cabezas, a Bolivian environmental economist.
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...