Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Even if Sucre is the constitutional capital and La Paz the political capital, Santa Cruz is, without any doubt, the economic capital. At the beginnings, it was a small agricultural town that lived on sugar, cotton, and rice, the discovery of hydrocarbon resources led to stupendous economic growth in the region. From then, the neoliberal model is very present and many headquarters of huge national firms have settled there. However, there is no building, neither traffic: the meticulous preparation of its urbanization (rare situation in Latin America) into 8 concentric rings allowed it to stand with a provincial atmosphere, relax, also clean and well done, a little bit like a new rich and quite a poser. In addition, Santa Cruz is also, and above all, the entrance door for various extra-urban richness with the natural parks of Amboro and Noel Kempff, the beginning of the Amazon rainforest, the circuit of Jesuits’ missions (see after), Saimapata ruins…