La Coyuntura

This might be something that not too many of you are interested in, but I wanted to give a “brief” sum-up of the political situation here in Bolivia for those of you who may be following the news and hearing about recent deaths or planned demonstrations. I am not sure if these explanations are even relevant or interesting to those of you who have not lived in Bolivia and have not experienced the racial and political tension that have shaped this country, but I hope that this will give a bit of insight into Bolivian politics. At the very end there is a bit of speculation about the impact of the US on Bolivia, so maybe that will be a bit more interesting. Enjoy!
January 2009, will be a historic month in Bolivia. While Americans, with the exception of a few Deep Southerners in denial, have been eagerly awaiting this time as one that symbolizes the (hopefully) positive changes that will come to our country in terms of economic management, government programs, war spending, etc., etc., as we welcome our new president to his position, Bolivianos too are waiting for this historic month to arrive, though with an air more of apprehension and anxiety than excitement, and an undeniable fear of what this change may bring.

On January 25, 2009, Bolivians are voting on their new Constitution. President Evo Morales claims this Constitution will bring about a new Bolivia, a change that all Bolivians deserve, and a change in which, in his words in a recent interview, campesinos (the indigenous, rural, and often landless population of Bolivia) will finally know what it is like to be in the upper-class, and white people (“blancos”) will finally know what it is like to be poor.

Ironically enough, in his new Constitution, Evo guaranteed the inalienable protection from discrimination for all people.

As an extranjera (foreigner) that has been living in Bolivia for the last three months, I am far from an expert in Bolivian politics, and lack the advantage of a lifetime of living with Bolivian politicians, the vast majority of whom have the habit of promising things during their campaigns, following through on very few of these promises, and then stealing a large chunk of the citizens’ tax money and running off to the United States. However, despite this disadvantage, I have been talking politics with many people in the last three months, and will try to give you all an idea of the “coyuntura,” the situation, here in Bolivia, and the implications of that the new Constitution and the current political situations have for Bolivian citizens here.

Bolivia is a starkly divided nation, with five natural resource- and agricultural-rich states forming a lovely half-moon on the east side (calling themselves the medialuna), and four poorer states laying to the west of them. The medialuna, for quite some time now, has insisted on autonomy: that the revenues from the currently nationalized natural resources should be placed in the hands of the regions of these resources; AKA, the medialuna is insisting that Bolivia adopt a commercial system similar to that of the United States, instead of losing a large chunk of their money in paying taxes and supporting areas of Bolivia that are not as economically successful (mostly because they, although nearly as resource-rich as the medialuna, are investing their money in economic activities that are not suitable to their climate nor geography).

Despite this stark division, that causes economic and racial tension that often breaks out in the form of road blockades, violence, and sometimes murder, every region of Bolivia shared a common hope in 2005 when Evo Morales was elected to be the next president – a hope that, eerily enough, mirrors the hope that Americans now have for Barack Obama. Evo was the first indigenous president of Bolivia, representing a long-underrepresented and discriminated population of his country. Like Obama, Evo came into power during a politically turbulent time in his nation, and promised political and economic stability, an end to poverty, protection for the rural poor, and equality for all people. Most importantly, Evo promised something that the people of Bolivia had not seen for a very, very long time: Change.

Here’s a shortlist of what Evo’s presidency of change has accomplished in the last three years:

1. Many threats to take unused land under government control (without payment to owners) to give to campesinos, without any capacitation programs for them. This was tried once before with the agricultural reform in 1954, only to find that, without any capacitation program, the campesinos had no knowledge of how to work their new land, and therefore could not farm it. They also were not provided with any information on the local market, so did not know what crops to produce or where to sell them, resulting in absolutely no drop in poverty despite the intention.

2. Payment to campesinos to create roadblocks to stop traffic, and more importantly, transport of goods such as food, between cities, for various reasons, usually involving a fight for land. These roadblocks usually break out in violence and can result in deaths; a year ago, a roadblock between Santa Cruz and Cochabamba resulted in many people going hungry as food trucks could not make it into the city. Other roadblocks, such as one recently created by foreign used auto importers, result in the death of people on both sides of the block.

3. Eradication of the coca eradication program. Although the coca-cocaine issue is an extremely complicated one, and although I personally think that the US and Europe has a responsibility to focus more on cocaine programs in their respective countries instead of destroying coca fields by the masses down here in Bolivia (many of these coca crops are used locally and never used for cocaine; the coca leaf has many natural, medicinal, and cultural purposes here in Bolivia), I still feel that Evo should be working to destroy cocaine laboratories, as they are, beyond destroying the lives of millions of people worldwide through addiction, are also destroying the rainforests of Bolivia from drug-trafficking corridors that could be used for eco-tourism or other sectors of the economy. In addition, many of Evo’s closest supporters, living close to him in huge mansions of La Paz, are involved in cocaine drug rings, and it has become obvious that Evo has other motives in throwing out the U.S. DEA and the coca eradication program than simply that coca is part of Bolivia’s natural and cultural heritage and should be protected as a natural medicine.

This is just a brief list, obviously. Many of Evo’s “cabinet” has also been involved in drug rings, violence, and murder. To say the least, he has lost the confidence and trust of many of the people that originally voted for him; even campesinos are starting to become skeptical. However, he still has wide popularity, and the hope for change still exists among many of the rural poor of this country, who make up a vast majority of the population. And, come January, Bolivia may be in for permanent change. Here are some elements of this new Constitution. I read it earlier this evening, and believe that my translation was correct, though my interpretation may not be, so if you are a Bolivian, please correct me! (Note: I actually included some good things too):

1. According to Evo, a “promise” of autonomy. This is created as an incentive to the medialuna to support the new Constitution. Unfortunately, the Constitution contains no guarantee of autonomy, despite what he says. It creates the possibility of autonomy, with a two-thirds vote of a region, under the rules and regulations of “The Framework Law of Autonomy and Decentralization,” which has not yet been written (the draft will be ready by the end of December or beginning of January). Then, if autonomy does pass, it becomes nearly irrelevant, because later in the Constitution it firmly states that the most important resources of the nation, those of which the medialuna have been fighting for, such as hydrocarbons, will always be property of the federal government.

2. The granting of autonomy to campesino populations, including judgment of crimes according to their own traditions, within limits of the constitution and federal laws.

3. Equal rights to all Bolivians and foreigners living within Bolivia, with special emphasis on afrobolivianos (ex-slaves), campesinos, and especially campesino women.

4. A limit on the maximum amount of land that a single person can own at one time, the amount of which will be determined on January 20 as well, between 5,000 and 10,000 hectares (1 hectare = 2.5 acres I think). Note that many people in the medialuna own much more land than this, and this is Evo’s plan to be able to take over this land to give it to campesinos (without, I must add again, any programs to teach these campesinos how to manage their land or to provide them information on the market and selling their goods). Also, many commercial farms in Bolivia that provide a large amount of the alimentation for this nation would be unable to make any money on such a small plot of land, and would go bankrupt. One of the feared consequences of this change would be a national food shortage.

Tensions are growing between the people here. It began with “Autonomía, carajo!” (carajo is a pretty strong curse word here) t-shirts, and will most likely grow to violent blockadees. Bolivians and foreigners alike are anxiously waiting to see what January brings.

Meanwhile, we are also waiting to see how January will change the relationship between the U.S. and Bolivia. Evo-supporters have happily put up banners spanning the wide downtown streets saying “Bolivia, Venezuela, and Cuba united against the Empire” while Evo and Bush take turns worsening the relationship between the two nations, both kicking out the other countries’ ambassadors, Evo kicking out the DEA, and Bush putting Bolivia on the nation’s blacklist, cutting off all trade and impoverishing 20,000 more Bolivians, and then, completely illogically, pushing Obama to improve trade relations with Colombia, which has a stronger cocaine trade with the U.S. than Bolivia. Bolivians have already heard rumors of Obama working to improve its relationship with Cuba and Venezuela (some of these rumors I think may be wrong, and have something to do with the fact that socialist leaders of South America and democrats in America both have the labels of “leftist” in their respective countries), and are waiting to see if Obama will hope for the same with Bolivia. Evo has already expressed his pleasure at Obama’s election and his willingness to work with him in the future. However, many Americans living in Bolivia are anxiously waiting to see how Obama will react towards Bolivia; they are wondering if Obama will choose Bolivia as the nation to “rule with a hard fist,” to show his force as a new president.

Personally, I am really excited to be part of such a momentous day both here and in America, and am anxious to see what the day will bring for both countries.

Only in Bolivia...

Only in Bolivia...

...can you ignore the fact that you have a blog for a few weeks right after asking for donations.

No, really, I'm sorry I've been slacking on this! I'm going to try to give a quick update on my life and the craziness that has been going on in the last month or so!

So. Only in Bolivia....

...can a first birthday party take 3 months to prepare for and seem as important as an (American) wedding.

I say American wedding because Bolivians put even more effort into their weddings than their children´s first birthdays. One of my cousins was having her first birthday while I was here, so the family bussed it down to Santa Cruz, the tropical paradise (or for me, inferno) 10 hours away from Cochabamba. Although I didn´t get to see a bit of Santa Cruz while I was there, I did get to experience a full-on Bolivian first birthday celebration, which, it turns out, is a really big deal here. My Aunt Carmen, the grandmother of the baby, spent a full month up until 3, 4, or 5 in the morning every night, and she, along with her daughter and the mother of the baby, made everything from porcelain invitations (for 80 people!) to handmade goodie baskets (for 80 people!) to homemade artwork. To give a bit of a taste for what the party looked like:


My cousin, Andrea, and her now one-year-old baby, Yara, in the middle of a mess of dressed up kids. You´ll notice a Snow White in the middle of the bottom row...this little angel refused to play any of the games the entire party because she ¨was waiting for her dwarfs to arrive,¨and when they never did arrive, she promised us that she would call their cells and see what was wrong. No, really.
This is me, getting all cuddly with the entrance decorations. The balloons here and in the other photo above it were the proud work of a morning of turning purple and passing out.


Please tell me why this evil, pink-bellied monster is an appropriate one-year-old birthday decoration?!?!?!

I got stuck in a clown sandwich by the end of the night. I´m putting this up because I FINALLY have a photo of my other sister, Boria, the 24-year-old, for you all, but, unfortunately, she is a clown. This is the only photo I have of her, but don´t worry, it shows her good side (Just kidding, but for the record, she fortunately doesn´t speak English).

The other part of the festivities included the mini-mountain of food that my family prepared: two gigantic cakes, empanadas, traditional Santa Cruz cheese rolls, enough traditional Bolivian candies to make any kids´teeth fall out, a variety of banana breads, dulce de leche tarts, other sweet breads and muffins, and some chocolate chip cookies that I made to sport my good ol´Uncle Sam pride (chocolate chip cookies are so rare here that I was unable to find chocolate chips...the scandal!!!). I blame all this food on the reason why I was unable to hold my own in limbo with the kids...a near-disaster considering the skirt I was wearing and the 80 people present. Boria, the clown sister holding the limbo stick at the time, later told me that, as I fell to the floor, she didn´t know if she should try to grab my hand or my skirt. Though no worries, nothing happened.

After this weekend of preparation and then a party full of food, clowns, musical chairs, and many, many people (but unfortunately for one little girl, no dwarfs), I was exhausted and ready to go home.

My Aunt Carmen later asked me how I liked Santa Cruz that weekend, because I hadn´t yet been there. I responded by telling her I really liked her house.

Needless to say, I didn´t mention to any Bolivian that their one-year-old has no chance of remembering probably the second-biggest party of their life. But it was fun for the rest of us. :)

Only in Bolivia...

...can you be monkey-loved in the middle of a tropical forest.

One weekend, after going to Santa Cruz with my family, I went with the FSD interns and a couple of friends to the Chapare, a tropical rainforest about 4 hours away from high-altitude, desert-y Cochabamba. This place was so beautiful!! One of my friends we went with happened to be an excellent Bolivian frog-ologist (forgot the name in English) that had done pretty extensive research in the area, and the result was that we had connections all over the place. We got to go on a night hike to see a tarantula devouring a cockroach, got to explore bat caves and get within a couple feet of fruit and VAMPIRE bats, got to explore caves with countrywide-famous birds called Guarachos, which, to me, no matter the fact that this is the only place in the world you can see them, are still really ugly; and to camp in National Parks and in university research areas, where we snuggled uncomfortably into our hot and humid tents after being told that, if we slept outside in the fresher air, a bug that enjoyed to crawl up noses and infest brains would happily do just that. Here´s one photo from one of the hikes, plus the vampire bats:

We also "had the privelege" of getting up at 4:45 AM to hike to an area to see wild parrots. Unfortunately due to our lethargy at such an unpleasant hour, our inability to get a taxi willing to drive us to a small village where they were unlikely to be able to find people to drive back, and the donkey-worthy stubbornness of my fellow intern, Evan, to find a river crossing where his delicate feet would not get wet (just kidding, amigo :) ), we didn't get to see too many parrots.

To cross the river without getting wet, Evan spent a good amount of time bushwhacking through the rainforest for 30 yards or so, an impressive feet if you saw how thick this vegetation was (for conservationists out their yelling out in indignation, rainforest vegetation grows back to exactly how it was 10 years later...ooo, impressive!), and was now at a loss as to how too continue (the vegetation was too thick now) and had decided to start hanging from several vines above the river to see if this helped him magically cross the water (I think that is what he was waiting for...there isn't really any other explanation for what he was doing).

Before he did this, however, he had to get rid of the pineapple that we had brought along on the hike and sportingly carried for a few hours, and he felt the only way to do this would be to chuck it across the river to his friends waiting with open arms, no matter how impatient we were getting with his silly shenanigans. He spent a few good minutes wrestling with the foilage, trying to get a good angle on the throw, and chucked it...right into the river. I panicked to see my favorite fruit swept away from us by rushing water, and on the instinct that any pineapple-obsessed person possesses, jumped into the river and rescued it. As I got back out, Evan was still hanging from his vines wondering what he was going to do next, and we heard a macaw call, and looked up, and saw the last of the parrots, a beautiful green and yellow blur of eagle-sized birds, fly above our heads. Evan, to state the obvious, did not get to see them )and a few seconds later, was wet up to his knees as he conceded defeat and jumped into the river to cross it). All in all, we probably only saw 20 parrots or so, and only 2 species of an amazing amount of species that live there. However, at least we got to eat pineapple. ;)


THEN, we went off to what could well be my favorite place in the world, which had LIVE, UNCAGED MONKEYS!! (I don´t know why I had to stress that they were alive just now, but it is a perk.) The place is called Parque Nacional Machia, and for a few hours we hiked around the place while monkeys wrestled at our feet, jumped on our heads, and tried to sneak things out of our pockets. THEN, because we had been walking for several hours in a tropical rain forest and had sweated a pretty amount, one monkey JUMPED on me and began to lick my neck for a solid minute! I feel that a play-by-play in pictures speak louder than words:

Unfortunately, no matter how much fun it is to have a very forward not-so-gentlemanly monkey attack you with kisses in the middle of the jungle, my joy was a little bit hampered by the conservation conversation (ooo, wouldn´t that be fun to try to say out loud after three months of talking almost all Spanish) I had shortly after. The way this park is managed, monkeys are more than accustomed to human presence (bet you couldn´t have already gathered that from the photos), and the result is that any sickness that a human has poses a major exposure risk to the monkeys of the park, or, possibly, to a whole species of monkeys in the Chapare. We spent a chunk of conversation debating if the benefits of environmental awareness and protection that came out of such close contact with the rainforest outweighed this risk to the animals...we still don´t have a solid answer.

Well, that´s about it about this last month! In other news, I have pierced my ears for the first time ever in my life because of the gorgeous earrings down here (my family and I went on a family piercing trip). I also discovered about a month ago how much of a sense of humor that my host family and I share, which is pretty much down to a tee, and have now found that I prefer to spend my time at home nearly rolling around on the ground laughing and more or less seeing how much we can lovingly insult each other, instead of going out (wild, I know). Also, I´m feeling really lucky to be coming home to visit my family for Christmas, so if you want to get together, shoot me an email or call my home phone (or my Bolivian cell phone, if you really want to burn the bucks)! And thanks to all of you who are donating!! I´ve gotten some really great emails from some of you, and it has been so inspiring!!

That´s about all! I hope all is well and hopefully I´ll be seeing a good chunk of you all (my, what an image) soon!

Cheers,
Sarah