Franz Chávez

Franz Chávez has been an IPS Correspondent from Bolivia since November 2003. He covers Bolivian current affairs and the country’s dynamic transition from market-oriented government to government supported by indigenous people and low-income sectors of society. To provide adequate coverage of the complex Bolivian reality, especially for an international audience, Chávez tends to focus on those stories generally neglected by mainstream media, putting a special effort into contextualising events in what is currently one of the poorest countries in Latin America.

September 29, 2026

Sri Lanka

What Sri Lanka’s Easter Judgment Finally Reveals

Sri Lanka’s September 22, 2026 Easter Sunday judgment marks a decisive legal reckoning with one of the country’s deadliest terrorist attacks, convicting 15 of 24 defendants after an extensive examination of thousands

Geopolitics/Human Rights/Judiciary

Exclusive: Inside Sri Lanka’s Easter Plot — Read the Full TAB Judgment

The 22 September 2026 Trial-at-Bar judgment provides a detailed account of the alleged network behind Sri Lanka’s 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, tracing the prosecution’s case from ideological indoctrination and recruitment to weapons, explosives, logistical support and the coordinated suicide bombings

September 29, 2026

Bluffing Is Not Diplomacy

Editor's Choice/Geopolitics

Sri Lanka has every right to speak forcefully on Palestine and international justice. But moral authority abroad cannot substitute for diplomatic precision at home.

Sri Lanka and China Deepen Indian Ocean Policy Dialogue

Events/Sri Lanka

The Pathfinder Foundation and the China Center for South Asian Studies (CCSAS) at Sichuan University launched the Colombo Maritime Dialogue 2026 Report at a

Bolivian Women Fight Prejudice to Be Accepted as Mechanics

September 23, 2023

Bolivia

In Bolivia, more and more women have gone from being homemakers or street vendors to joining the noisy world of engines, their hands now covered in grease after learning that special touch

Women Recyclers in Bolivia Build Hope, Demand Recognition

July 19, 2023

Bolivia/Human Rights

They haul many kilos of recyclable materials on their backs but receive little in return. These Bolivian women who help clean up the environment from dawn to dusk are fighting for recognition