Situation in Bolivia

"The situation in Bolivia continues to be tense...” These are the headings of the emails I have been receiving almost daily from Peace Corps. The Bolivian president Evo Morales, the countries first indigenous president, has declared that "Dead or alive, I will have a new constitution by December 14th". The new Constitution will give him increasingly more power, which is exactly what the Media Luna (Santa Cruz and other allied regions) do not want. There is a sharp divide between the country, which is most simply broken down to a fight between the indigenous people (the majority of which live in the La Paz, Cochabamba regions) and the other European decent Bolivians who live in the more southern regions, such as Santa Cruz. The extreme racism between the Camba (Santa Cruz) and the Collas ( La Paz) is seen in all aspects of life.

Politically, things are pretty confusing in Bolivia. It is hard to tell which demonstrations, civil strikes (paros), road blockades are serious and which are not... they simply happen all the time, for reasons ranging from petty arguments, to others which could turn in to country wide fighting.

I have been in Cochabamaba since last Sunday (11/25). I am here along with the rest of my B-45 group for In-service training, and a project design workshop. My counterpart, Dona Deisy bailed out of coming with me for fear of the political situation at the last moment. At the time, I wasn't sure if she decided not to come just because she didn’t want to, or was seriously nervous. As the week has gone on, we have had some disruptions. Last week there were riots in Sucre, where the Constitutional Assembly have been meeting. 4 people were killed in the midst of the protests and political unrest. I have heard from other volunteers that were there, that they watched the city go up in flames, while listening to reports that the prisoners from the jail had been released and were armed on the streets. Peace Corps put us all on an emergency action plan, in which all volunteers had to check in and confirm their safety and whereabouts.

In Cochabamba, we also had a Paro (civil strike) one day last week. There was no transportation, and all stores were closed. It was not a dangerous day, and we were able to have our meetings in a nice hotel in downtown Coch. It was actually really peaceful walking through the streets with no cars. The roads were all blocked off by random branches, tires and trashcans, making us wonder if these people kept spare paro blockading equipment in their houses or garages. It was truly an amazing site seeing business people and Chollitas all walking over the bridges in the silent Cochabamba streets.

This week has been normal so far. We have been warned of marches by Cocaleros- coca leaf farmers tomorrow. Peace Corps, of course is very on top of monitoring the situation... but we truly do not know what could happen in the next few weeks. For now, we are hoping for the best, meaning that the situation passes and we are able to stay in country working as normal...