I realize that my posts are of a more personal nature. That's the point of this blog, give friends and family some news and pictures while I'm away for a long time. However, in the slight case that you guys have heard about Bolivia in the news recently (and not just about the US ambassador being kicked out), I guess I should address the recent political developments. There has been increasing violence and conflict in Bolivia, especially in the last week. All of this is happening in the eastern parts of the country where there are movements for autonomy of these provinces. So on a personal note, there is almost no repercussions here. As usual, I hear the noise of people marching outside for one reason or another (that's almost everyday here, and I kinda like to see that people aren't afraid to take the streets for their demands) so I'm assuming that lately it might be some pro-Evo rallies in this time of conflict. I live in Evo's stronghold, and he just received a huge 66% approval rate in the country, so democracy is on his side for now. One problem that could eventually affect me directly is that protesters in the south are blowing up natural gas pipelines or blocking gas transport so there will be (and apparently is right now) a gas shortage even in La Paz. But that doesn't worry me too much. All it will do is make me eat lots of sandwiches because I have a gas stove.
What is more worrisome for the future is if the conflict escalate further instead of running out of steam... It could potentially maybe lead to some sort of civil war. I think the leaders on both camps want to avoid that though, so it's just a matter of controlling the mobs. This obviously isn't a fun prospect, and quite frankly, I am not equipped to fully understand the situation and explaining it to you. Luckily, if you're interested in understanding it further like I am, there are great blogs available like http://gringotambo.wordpress.com/ and http://www.democracyctr.org/blog/index.htm . This is how I get my information about the whole situation. It is well contextualised so you don't need to have lived here for years to understand the ramifications of certain developments (I feel like I'm reading a "fill in the blanks" when I read local newspapers).
Happy (?) reading!
Update: the gringo tambo blog posted the link to this really interesting interview that discusses clearly and simply what are the issues in Bolivia. It's a great introductory course on Bolivia!
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