Bajo el cielo mas puro de América

09.24.2004

Today is 24 September, the Santa Cruz regional holiday. It's an interesting year for it, since it follows on the heels of last year's October "guerra del gas" & the national gas referendum. One of the results was a Santa Cruz more disillusioned w/ national politics than ever. (Just three months ago, 100,000 cruceños marched in the city, demanding political autonomy.) You can see it in headlines from the city's major papers: El Deber ("Santa Cruz leader, but unjustly treated by the State"), El Nuevo Día ("Nothing brakes the cruceño advance 194 years after calls for independence"). Even La Paz's La Razón ("Santa Cruz celebrates its day apart from the national agenda"). President Mesa took the opportunity to reiterate his promise for greater political autonomy for the region (though papers report he was "coldly' met). And, of course, the night ended in true cruceño style by crowning a new beauty queen.

Last year, I'd hoped to visit Santa Cruz & join my cousins celebrating a 24 de Septiembre jumping up & down in the central plaza. Instead, I was trapped in La Paz, besieged along w/ the rest of the city. The contrast could not have been starker.

Also. Sometime tonight. Abuelita & Dad land at the city's international airport. I'm sure they'll be glad to see family after a long flight. I've been to the cemetery where abuelito will be buried; it's a really nice plot.

Posted by Miguel at 04:05 PM