Pulitzer Center-Supported Report on Indigenous Group Named a Finalist for Bolivian Journalism Prize

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A Pulitzer Center-supported story on the Ese Ejja Indigenous people’s struggle for land access in Bolivia was named a finalist for the Franz Tamayo Prize, an award that celebrates excellence in investigative journalism in Bolivia. The winners were recognized at a gala held at La Universidad Privada Franz Tamayo in La Paz on September 8, 2026, according to a report by Agencia de Noticias Fides (ANF).

"Confinados y sin territorio" (“Confined and Without Territory”)—by grantee Nelfi Fernandez Reyes for Mongabay—documents the struggle of the Ese Ejja of Eyiyoquibo, Bolivia, to secure access to their ancestral territory, which is under threat by land grabbers. 

For nearly a decade, their land claim stalled with Bolivia’s land reform agency as the same agency granted an area larger than New York City to social organizations affiliated with the political party that governed Bolivia for the previous two decades. Overcrowding, extreme poverty, and mercury pollution continue to threaten the community’s survival.

The story is part of Fernandez’s reporting project The Land Traffickers of the Bolivian Amazon, uncovering who is responsible for trafficking land in the Bolivian Amazon, how they operate, the role of state actors, and how Indigenous communities are organizing to defend their territories. 

A leading figure in 20th century Bolivian culture, Tamayo was a journalist, intellectual, writer, and politician.