President Evo Morales won recently in what historically should be considered a landslide with some 67% national support for his administration through the Referendum Revocatorio.
At the same time many of his political enemies- the prefects of Santa Cruz, Tarija, Beni, and Pando also won by a substantial margen, all over 50% with Costas from Santa Cruz winning some 70%
The biggest issue is the IDH or the tax revenue generated from oil/ gas which was “confiscated” by Morales to support his national social security system that gives about 240 bolivianos monthly to citizens over the age of 65.
In the macro, you see the battle between autonomy and nationalization. But the nuances sometimes aren't that easy to nail down and a long history of transitioning since 1996 from a national to a descentralized government has meanth new changes and new political dinamics. This transition has had support from the World Bank, the U.S. and others. Still, Hugo Chavez has been closely allied with Bolivia which has helped it's ability to create/ support health and education programs/ support for nationalization. It also means having leaders at least rhetorically against the U.S. and the "west." Still, although Venezuela is giving millions to Bolivia, much of it still comes through lones with interest. Nationalization is an ambiguous term as well because it still allows for private management that is essentially contracted out. Just like the "nationalization"of the largest telecommunications company ENTEL still allows for the management to remain and for non-state agents to run the business. As most issues here, the argument is over distribution of wealth.
Morales may have a political mandate but doesn’t appear to have a blank check.
Before the vote airports were closed by groups protesting against Morales in Santa Cruz, Tarija, and Pando. Now the prefects of Tarija, Santa Cruz, and Chuquisaka have declared they will create blockades leaving the country to Argentina and Paraguay in protest of the IDH. There have been threats in the past weeks that civic groups including some newly "youth civic groups" will take state offices and departments. At times its hard to see these "youth groups" in a serious light. They have no respect for law - they've burned police cars in Santa Cruz anddon't appear to support an intellectual agenda usually forwarded by a "student movement."In Tarija the customs office was "taken"for a short period and groups alined with MAS have said they will defend state offices. Still, I need to read up on these youth groups and excactly who are the "civic groups."
Morales recently declared that if oil ducts, state oil field, etc. are taken or damaged, etc. they will confiscate all municipal funds if political leaders from those regions participate. That includes if people are injured.
Again, the issue is the tax revenue generated from Oil/ Gas revenues, the IDH. They want some 166 million dollars to be returned to their local governments that has been used for Morales Renta Dignidad plan.
We shall see how it goes. But the rhetoric is somewhat tense with groups being clear in not ruling out violence.
A FAO Greenhouse
One of the members in my training group taking a look at a plot of lettuce
Another Visit With QBL
We visited the innaguration for a series of new chicken coops QBL financed in a small village in the low-lying andes mountains, 7 hours north of La Paz
Monday, August 25, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Sifting Through the Political Situation
Here are some impressions of mine about the current political situation. I got a number of emails asking me how I was and if it was still safe here especially last may 4th. SO......
The press isn´t amping it up- the country is divided. As far as how the press from the Nytimes describes the race relations I think they're prettyclose. As for the underlying economic and political relations, they get it sometimes although if you've read as many articles as I have over the past 4 years from the Times, they like to recycle information, phrases, impressions, and political summaries. I'm about 2/3 through the new constitution that was passed in dec. 2007 by Morales' party MAS in Oruro. It's dense, long, and more like a massive public policy document as opposed to a general guideline; it creates a national health care plan, land distribution, state control of telecommunications, and natural resources to name a few. It is somehwat under scrutiny because some of the constituent delegates who weren't with MAS or opposed to their proposal left the table after MAS lost the 2/3's vote on their version. At that point MAS tried to change it to a simple majority to pass it and thats when the other delegates from Santa Cruz and other deptartments left. Still, from most accounts, the constitution is considered legitimate although controversial ( I'm still trying to piece things together).
So on may 4th Santa Cruz decided to have a referendum on their autonomous statutes which I am in the process of reading- more or less it would involve much more local control over natural resources like gas and agriculture. They would also have their own police force and would recognize only a couple indigenous communities that are original to their dept. as ¨original¨or indigenous, as opposed to immigrants from la paz or other depts. who have moved there in more recent times. The referendum is not legitimate from most anyone's perspective but some give it "legitimacy"because it's a show of public opinion. Although about 38% of the people abstained( a couple voting stations were blocked by protestors but it wasn't overly significant), 85% of the people who did vote were in favor of the statute ( the vast majority of whom hadn´t read the actual statute nor the new constitution).
Some say Santa Cruz is crying over the fact that they have to pay taxes to the state and give up more control to the state- they're the economic engine of the country. Addittionaly, blatant racism exists in those regions as in much of the country. Demographically and many times economically speaking it's a "naturally" divided country. That has been the case for it's entire history, however.
On one hand, you gotta love Evo Morales. He's the first indigenous president and therefore in a crude way represents the 60% of the country here who consider themselves indigenous. He's radical but won in landslide victory two years ago- people wanted a change from failed neoliberal economic policies, sovereignty from the developing world including U.S. policy preferences, and the ability to control natural resources. If you've read anything about "development"after the 2nd world world, the failing war against drugs, the massive unemployment resulting from neoliberalism, and the drastic economic crisis in Bolivia in the past 10 years- you sympathize in a lot of ways. Of course there are good sides to the reforms in the 90's like bilingual education from '94 and the improved status of women. I won't get into the long and complicated discussion here. Still, Morales is controversial.
When it comes to Democracy I'm not sure if I agree with Morales since a large number of people in other departments want some kind of autonomy- more than the current constitution affords. For example, Pando and Beni recently voted for autonomy and of those who voted about 80% were in favor of the statute while obviously more or less 20% were against. At the same time, there was about a 30% abstention rate. Morales has pointed out in these votes that the abstention rate combined with the "no"vote still supports his position against autonomy- some 50% of the population in one way or another against it.
Morales is in a very tight political position and is gonna have to negotiate at some level since it is clear there are significant divisions. On August 10th Morales has called for a Referendum Revocatorio- he's offering himself and the departmental Prefects up to the people for a vote of confidence. The prefecturas, for the most part, are opposed to Morales and act as the primary filter for funds from the State among other things.
In a country where poverty is so high I think the state has to step in and allow for capitalism to do its job but, as one can see in any developing country, the state has to take a significant role ( see Michael Mann or Peter Evans among others for some fun reading).
The debate is fascinating. For example, the new "MAS"constitution limits the amount of land people can have and would distribute land to mostly poor indigenous communities (I believe it is 10,000 hectares limit per person). It also allows for indigenous judicial rights within their community. Is that limiting personal rights or saving peoples lives and giving them some land to grow food on? Is it more in line with the Andean Cosmovision/ Communitarian vision? Is it against the liberalism most "modern democracies" are based on? If so, how would it respect personal freedom i.e. individual rights? Is there a system that's entirely capitalistic and market based- one that doesn´t control prices( note: the U.S. and corn markets especially considering ethanol subsidies) and land?
Another example: I don´t agree with Morales' periodic ban on exports( perhap I don't understand the economic rationale). He recently did it with oil ( cooking) a couple months ago in Santa Cruz because the internal market prices were too high. Just a week or so ago they limited the export of chicken and certain types of cornmeal. The gov. has a regulatory agency that supposedely knows what the market price should be. Therefore Morales by decree can ban exportation ( in the case of oil some estimates say they lost 100 million dollars because of the ban). About a month ago, they came to an agreement with producers in that they should sell domestic oil at a certain price and export at whatever they wanted sighting the ¨just¨price for a population so impoverished. These kind of agreements/ issues many times baffle me and are indicative of the incredible difficulty in finding a middle ground.
In a world of such hardball politics compromise is difficult to come by.
Overall, there have been spurts of violence. On may 4th things were calm in la Paz although there were marches in most places especially SC, dept. of cochabamba, and El Alto. A few injuries but major violence wasn't a problem. Things shouldn´t get bloody but they might get ugly. I'm fine in La paz for now, but no one knows whats in store for the country in the coming months.
I hesitantly express my opinions- sometimes the papers get it right, sometimes they don't. Sometime's what you hear from people is, as with many political discussions, misinformed and based on opinion or hearsay. Amid this tangled discussion and situation, I'm just trying to keep up on whether my favorite soccer team "The Strongest" ( Mascot, The Tigers) is still losing. And they are.
TIGRE, TIGRE!!
The press isn´t amping it up- the country is divided. As far as how the press from the Nytimes describes the race relations I think they're prettyclose. As for the underlying economic and political relations, they get it sometimes although if you've read as many articles as I have over the past 4 years from the Times, they like to recycle information, phrases, impressions, and political summaries. I'm about 2/3 through the new constitution that was passed in dec. 2007 by Morales' party MAS in Oruro. It's dense, long, and more like a massive public policy document as opposed to a general guideline; it creates a national health care plan, land distribution, state control of telecommunications, and natural resources to name a few. It is somehwat under scrutiny because some of the constituent delegates who weren't with MAS or opposed to their proposal left the table after MAS lost the 2/3's vote on their version. At that point MAS tried to change it to a simple majority to pass it and thats when the other delegates from Santa Cruz and other deptartments left. Still, from most accounts, the constitution is considered legitimate although controversial ( I'm still trying to piece things together).
So on may 4th Santa Cruz decided to have a referendum on their autonomous statutes which I am in the process of reading- more or less it would involve much more local control over natural resources like gas and agriculture. They would also have their own police force and would recognize only a couple indigenous communities that are original to their dept. as ¨original¨or indigenous, as opposed to immigrants from la paz or other depts. who have moved there in more recent times. The referendum is not legitimate from most anyone's perspective but some give it "legitimacy"because it's a show of public opinion. Although about 38% of the people abstained( a couple voting stations were blocked by protestors but it wasn't overly significant), 85% of the people who did vote were in favor of the statute ( the vast majority of whom hadn´t read the actual statute nor the new constitution).
Some say Santa Cruz is crying over the fact that they have to pay taxes to the state and give up more control to the state- they're the economic engine of the country. Addittionaly, blatant racism exists in those regions as in much of the country. Demographically and many times economically speaking it's a "naturally" divided country. That has been the case for it's entire history, however.
On one hand, you gotta love Evo Morales. He's the first indigenous president and therefore in a crude way represents the 60% of the country here who consider themselves indigenous. He's radical but won in landslide victory two years ago- people wanted a change from failed neoliberal economic policies, sovereignty from the developing world including U.S. policy preferences, and the ability to control natural resources. If you've read anything about "development"after the 2nd world world, the failing war against drugs, the massive unemployment resulting from neoliberalism, and the drastic economic crisis in Bolivia in the past 10 years- you sympathize in a lot of ways. Of course there are good sides to the reforms in the 90's like bilingual education from '94 and the improved status of women. I won't get into the long and complicated discussion here. Still, Morales is controversial.
When it comes to Democracy I'm not sure if I agree with Morales since a large number of people in other departments want some kind of autonomy- more than the current constitution affords. For example, Pando and Beni recently voted for autonomy and of those who voted about 80% were in favor of the statute while obviously more or less 20% were against. At the same time, there was about a 30% abstention rate. Morales has pointed out in these votes that the abstention rate combined with the "no"vote still supports his position against autonomy- some 50% of the population in one way or another against it.
Morales is in a very tight political position and is gonna have to negotiate at some level since it is clear there are significant divisions. On August 10th Morales has called for a Referendum Revocatorio- he's offering himself and the departmental Prefects up to the people for a vote of confidence. The prefecturas, for the most part, are opposed to Morales and act as the primary filter for funds from the State among other things.
In a country where poverty is so high I think the state has to step in and allow for capitalism to do its job but, as one can see in any developing country, the state has to take a significant role ( see Michael Mann or Peter Evans among others for some fun reading).
The debate is fascinating. For example, the new "MAS"constitution limits the amount of land people can have and would distribute land to mostly poor indigenous communities (I believe it is 10,000 hectares limit per person). It also allows for indigenous judicial rights within their community. Is that limiting personal rights or saving peoples lives and giving them some land to grow food on? Is it more in line with the Andean Cosmovision/ Communitarian vision? Is it against the liberalism most "modern democracies" are based on? If so, how would it respect personal freedom i.e. individual rights? Is there a system that's entirely capitalistic and market based- one that doesn´t control prices( note: the U.S. and corn markets especially considering ethanol subsidies) and land?
Another example: I don´t agree with Morales' periodic ban on exports( perhap I don't understand the economic rationale). He recently did it with oil ( cooking) a couple months ago in Santa Cruz because the internal market prices were too high. Just a week or so ago they limited the export of chicken and certain types of cornmeal. The gov. has a regulatory agency that supposedely knows what the market price should be. Therefore Morales by decree can ban exportation ( in the case of oil some estimates say they lost 100 million dollars because of the ban). About a month ago, they came to an agreement with producers in that they should sell domestic oil at a certain price and export at whatever they wanted sighting the ¨just¨price for a population so impoverished. These kind of agreements/ issues many times baffle me and are indicative of the incredible difficulty in finding a middle ground.
In a world of such hardball politics compromise is difficult to come by.
Overall, there have been spurts of violence. On may 4th things were calm in la Paz although there were marches in most places especially SC, dept. of cochabamba, and El Alto. A few injuries but major violence wasn't a problem. Things shouldn´t get bloody but they might get ugly. I'm fine in La paz for now, but no one knows whats in store for the country in the coming months.
I hesitantly express my opinions- sometimes the papers get it right, sometimes they don't. Sometime's what you hear from people is, as with many political discussions, misinformed and based on opinion or hearsay. Amid this tangled discussion and situation, I'm just trying to keep up on whether my favorite soccer team "The Strongest" ( Mascot, The Tigers) is still losing. And they are.
TIGRE, TIGRE!!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Dancing on the Altiplano
A few Thursdays nights ago the president of Rotary Club San Jorge gave a great inspirational presentation to club members and invited guests. He explained the international and national role and achievements of Rotary coupled with what could make the club even more effective.
Afterwards I chatted with a number of Rotarians about service, the meaning of giving to others, and occasionally we dipped into more philosophical discussions. I always enjoy certain aspects of the Buddhist outlook- that we are simply a reflection of others- diamonds in net that reflect our setting. You serve just to serve as opposed to helping others in pursuit of selfish fulfillment (in my opinion, hard as heck to remove selfishness when it’s tied to the happiness of helping. At this point we could begin a fun discussion about society, the self, and the reality of theories in practice).
So after a delightful night I ventured home and watched a bit of a movie- I was nearly in bed when I got a call from the president of Rotary Miraflores, El Capitán- “Yohn! Manana vamos a pachacamaya con QBL- 8:30, plaza triangular!” Le digo “estaré allí, plaza triangular 8:30, por supuesto!”
Rotary provided the funding for more than 20 water pumps in a small community of 25 families and they were going out to see the final product.
We headed out to the site and met up with a couple members of the community who proudly showed their brandnew pumps- worked like a charm. The community did all the work with the help of a technician; Rotary/ QBL helped put up the funds.
The plan was to grab lunch in the community hall- meet up with the families, etc.
Before I knew it, I was swept up by a beautifully dressed woman in a traditional poncho, small felt hat, a flowing colorful skirt. Its tradition apparently to dance to the dining hall accompanied by flautists (These flautist were our musical performers for the rest of the day and wore traditional head dresses with plumes of feathers spouting off the sides).
Once we made it down the short dirt road and to the main community hall we ate a delicious meal of meat, rice, potatoes, and soft drinks. As we ate, the flutes continued and slowly the community trickled in, all told about 50 people. The leaders of the community said a few words, the capitan said a few as well, and from there the good times began. Since we had finished our meals and were celebrating, that meant some shared beers. It was by all accounts a modest affair, but it signaled the music and more dancing. The women who led us in at first swept us up from the table and we whirled around the small hall until the music stopped. We would rest for a few minutes, then once again the music started the dance and my 60-70 year old partner ( who had more energy than I did) grabbed my hand to dance. Bar far, the best discoteca I’ve been to so far.
Afterwards I chatted with a number of Rotarians about service, the meaning of giving to others, and occasionally we dipped into more philosophical discussions. I always enjoy certain aspects of the Buddhist outlook- that we are simply a reflection of others- diamonds in net that reflect our setting. You serve just to serve as opposed to helping others in pursuit of selfish fulfillment (in my opinion, hard as heck to remove selfishness when it’s tied to the happiness of helping. At this point we could begin a fun discussion about society, the self, and the reality of theories in practice).
So after a delightful night I ventured home and watched a bit of a movie- I was nearly in bed when I got a call from the president of Rotary Miraflores, El Capitán- “Yohn! Manana vamos a pachacamaya con QBL- 8:30, plaza triangular!” Le digo “estaré allí, plaza triangular 8:30, por supuesto!”
Rotary provided the funding for more than 20 water pumps in a small community of 25 families and they were going out to see the final product.
We headed out to the site and met up with a couple members of the community who proudly showed their brandnew pumps- worked like a charm. The community did all the work with the help of a technician; Rotary/ QBL helped put up the funds.
The plan was to grab lunch in the community hall- meet up with the families, etc.
Before I knew it, I was swept up by a beautifully dressed woman in a traditional poncho, small felt hat, a flowing colorful skirt. Its tradition apparently to dance to the dining hall accompanied by flautists (These flautist were our musical performers for the rest of the day and wore traditional head dresses with plumes of feathers spouting off the sides).
Once we made it down the short dirt road and to the main community hall we ate a delicious meal of meat, rice, potatoes, and soft drinks. As we ate, the flutes continued and slowly the community trickled in, all told about 50 people. The leaders of the community said a few words, the capitan said a few as well, and from there the good times began. Since we had finished our meals and were celebrating, that meant some shared beers. It was by all accounts a modest affair, but it signaled the music and more dancing. The women who led us in at first swept us up from the table and we whirled around the small hall until the music stopped. We would rest for a few minutes, then once again the music started the dance and my 60-70 year old partner ( who had more energy than I did) grabbed my hand to dance. Bar far, the best discoteca I’ve been to so far.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Teaching English
My class has grown! I now have 7 students (7.5 if you include Max’s 3 year old little sister who much enjoys our classes and has already mastered “hello” and “later.” Although some of the more in depth themes give her trouble her class participation is unrivaled). So I began my connection with Education Resource Center ( CRP) through Gregoria Apaza although that affiliation is no longer in tact- Gregoria decided they didn’t want me to be teaching in a setting beyond their control in a many-times anti-American/impoverished city. So I decided to teach any way. One because I really enjoy it and had already made the commitment to the director and two, because we had already had two classes. Although I was informed that these students had a decent base in English and I would be focusing on conversation, that was entirely incorrect.
All my preparation was conversation games and vocabulary building- now its numbers, introductions, present-tense conjugation, and basic grammar. Turns out they had had “a year or more of English” but only once a week for less than an hour and apparently with little to no use of mnemonics; or anything they would or could ever use in a classroom or real-life setting.Additionally I’m making all my own materials- the CRP has no money for texts and I haven’t found any English textbooks in the scattered corner librerias which are more like supply stores with a few books here or there. I’m still looking around and have a couple good leads but until then I’m the writer and editor. Which I suppose sounds alright but last I checked Wake Forest didn’t teach me how to write educational texts. On the other hand, I really enjoy it- I like the creativity and freedom of it. Next week we're going to teach eachother how to cook a dish and on Thursday we're going to have a poprock festival when we translate their favorite English songs. Any suggestions and/or resources are gladly welcomed!
All my preparation was conversation games and vocabulary building- now its numbers, introductions, present-tense conjugation, and basic grammar. Turns out they had had “a year or more of English” but only once a week for less than an hour and apparently with little to no use of mnemonics; or anything they would or could ever use in a classroom or real-life setting.Additionally I’m making all my own materials- the CRP has no money for texts and I haven’t found any English textbooks in the scattered corner librerias which are more like supply stores with a few books here or there. I’m still looking around and have a couple good leads but until then I’m the writer and editor. Which I suppose sounds alright but last I checked Wake Forest didn’t teach me how to write educational texts. On the other hand, I really enjoy it- I like the creativity and freedom of it. Next week we're going to teach eachother how to cook a dish and on Thursday we're going to have a poprock festival when we translate their favorite English songs. Any suggestions and/or resources are gladly welcomed!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
El Día Del Niño
Last weekend I accompanied Rotary Club Miraflores to a small community about an hour south of La Paz on the Dia del niño to distribute toys and others items such as baseball caps. The community is situated near the river that flows north-south from La Paz in zona sur. In January the river diverted its course and innundated a number of houses, fields crops, and had a grave impact on the region.
We worked through a contact who was the leader of a recently formed children’s activity center (although I call it a “center” it was simply someone who cared enough to plan activities for the kids around their dusty small soccer field- from all accounts it had been a great success). All told we distributed items to more than 50 children from ages 4ish to 15ish. They greeted us with a covered tent area adorned with local flowers, two liters of pepsi and plenty of energy. Each child came up to us and shook our hand before getting a toy and a hat ( a display of manners the director was proud of). We then shared pepsi and some candy with everyone. All the kids were lined up according to age groups in single file lines. Once we finished up the formalities however, I, along with others, suggested we begin the real job at hand- challenging the locals to a little game of soccer.
The president of Rotary Club Miraflores, the Secretary of the club, myself, and a couple other kids formed one team- the other team consisted of entirely too talented 9-10 year olds equipped with high altitude lungs, discipline and the burning desire of champions.
After a 30 minute battle between the two forces, random searches for lost soccer balls in the brush, and a continuous stirring of dust, the match ended. Indeed I can’t remember who won, but it matters not. We’ve arranged to schedule a rematch in the coming weeks.
After we finished the game, a number of the families overwhelmed us with plates of delicious food! It was far too much for us to handle and made me feel even less worthy than I did already- a great morning!
From there I went on to class where I did a presentation on the Spanish Colonial destruction of Andean territorial planning, culture, and daily life. Got to read some really cool laws from the 1500's. I'll try to write another blog about it!
We worked through a contact who was the leader of a recently formed children’s activity center (although I call it a “center” it was simply someone who cared enough to plan activities for the kids around their dusty small soccer field- from all accounts it had been a great success). All told we distributed items to more than 50 children from ages 4ish to 15ish. They greeted us with a covered tent area adorned with local flowers, two liters of pepsi and plenty of energy. Each child came up to us and shook our hand before getting a toy and a hat ( a display of manners the director was proud of). We then shared pepsi and some candy with everyone. All the kids were lined up according to age groups in single file lines. Once we finished up the formalities however, I, along with others, suggested we begin the real job at hand- challenging the locals to a little game of soccer.
The president of Rotary Club Miraflores, the Secretary of the club, myself, and a couple other kids formed one team- the other team consisted of entirely too talented 9-10 year olds equipped with high altitude lungs, discipline and the burning desire of champions.
After a 30 minute battle between the two forces, random searches for lost soccer balls in the brush, and a continuous stirring of dust, the match ended. Indeed I can’t remember who won, but it matters not. We’ve arranged to schedule a rematch in the coming weeks.
After we finished the game, a number of the families overwhelmed us with plates of delicious food! It was far too much for us to handle and made me feel even less worthy than I did already- a great morning!
From there I went on to class where I did a presentation on the Spanish Colonial destruction of Andean territorial planning, culture, and daily life. Got to read some really cool laws from the 1500's. I'll try to write another blog about it!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Lake Titicaca
On March 15 I went with Rotary Club San Pedro to a small village near Lake Titicaca to distribute donations of more than 300 pairs of shoes, school supplies, and clothing. We got up early on Saturday morning and traveled with three Rotarians and two contacts we had with the village who had worked there as nurses. The drive took about 4 hours and included a brief ferry ride over a portion of the lake. A stunning, sunny, 60 something degree day surrounded us the entire time. We spoke with some of the leaders of the town ( some of the few who spoke Spanish) and they gave us a brief tour including a semi-finished plaza the local authorities had promised to finish. They also explained that the new expressway ( or Bolivian equivalent) would cross through or near their town a major boost to their local economy of artesanal weavings and agriculture.
We ate a communal meal of potatoes, corn, a garlic-salt cheese, ispi, and habas- delish. After chatting with the leaders some more we distibuted all the items we had and were presented with many thanks from an assorted group of leaders. A wonderdful experience and an even more wonderful Saturday evening when we got back to La Paz.....
On March 15 I went with Rotary Club San Pedro to a small village near Lake Titicaca to distribute donations of more than 300 pairs of shoes, school supplies, and clothing. We got up early on Saturday morning and traveled with three Rotarians and two contacts we had with the village who had worked there as nurses. The drive took about 4 hours and included a brief ferry ride over a portion of the lake. A stunning, sunny, 60 something degree day surrounded us the entire time. We spoke with some of the leaders of the town ( some of the few who spoke Spanish) and they gave us a brief tour including a semi-finished plaza the local authorities had promised to finish. They also explained that the new expressway ( or Bolivian equivalent) would cross through or near their town a major boost to their local economy of artesanal weavings and agriculture.
We ate a communal meal of potatoes, corn, a garlic-salt cheese, ispi, and habas- delish. After chatting with the leaders some more we distibuted all the items we had and were presented with many thanks from an assorted group of leaders. A wonderdful experience and an even more wonderful Saturday evening when we got back to La Paz.....
The Tears of Change
Well I got my first taste of tear gas a couple weeks ago. I finished up a day at Gregoria Apaza visiting high schools to recruit for my English course I’ll be teaching at a resource center en El Alto ( they’re paying for my transportation which means about 3-4 buckaroos a week) I got back to La Paz late in the afternoon, taught an English class from 5:30-7:00 and headed to a café to grab some food before going to Rotary meeting around 8:00.
When I got closer to the café I heard the chants and shouting of the protest rally of “the pacifists”who were anti- Evo Morales. Through chants of “dictatorship NO, democracia, YES” I casually made my way through the line of police to the café a block away ( The issues are quite complicated and I’m careful to note that those chants might or might not be true).
Coffee Alexander is a trendy but nice shop next to my house and they have a killer Quinoa wrap. Around 7:50 I decided to head off to the meeting. Content with my excellent timing I neared the front of the store. It seemed to me that while everyone smokes everywhere whenever they can here, it seemed a bit much this time around. I also noticed a large group of people at the door with Bolivian flags, clearly members of the rally. Finally I noticed a man with bulging red eyes and snot running from his nose. Soon I was smacked in the face with a thin, burning, irritating feeling in my eyes and I quickly headed to the back of the store. Indeed, it was tear gas.
Turns out the police decided to break up the rally which eventually turned semi-violent when supporters of Morales (Masistas) showed up. A few car windows, and windows of a nearby university were broken, and a couple people got hit with rocks being thrown.
This I found out the next day. Of course, no worries mom, I waited in the café till all was clear, went to my apartment and made a delightful cup of tea…….
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