Ciao!

Um. OK.

Posted by Miguel at 05:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Mesa's role?

Talking w/ Paola last night, she made an interesting point. If the "responsibility" trial against Goni includes all his former ministers, why doesn't it also include Mesa, Goni's vice-president? After all, if every single minister is considered an "accomplice" to Goni's alleged crimes (what role did the minister of sports play?), why not Mesa, who was vice-president the entire time? Should he also stand trial as a member of the Goni administration? And if not, why not?

Posted by Miguel at 04:07 PM | Permalink

Between Sopocachi & Miraflores

Posted by Miguel at 06:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Get out the vote

I just finished voting in my first online Michigan primary. I voted from a wireless connection in a Bolivian café. What an amazing experience. Wow. Thanks, Dad, for emailing me my login information.

Posted by Miguel at 04:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Bolivian News Roundup

I've posted a roundup of the week's Bolivian political news over at Southern Exposure.

From now on I'll be posting most of my political news posts directly there, rather than here. I'll post a brief description and a direct link to the post, where you can leave comments. If you're interested in Latin American politics & economics news and aren't reading Southern Exposure, you should.

Posted by Miguel at 03:44 PM | Permalink

Little surprises

Sometimes it's the little things that change your day. I finally got a chance to open the comics Bay Jo sent me. Wow. She included some pictures of when she, J. Edmund, Emily, and Dave visited me at my parents' days before I left for Bolivia. Those will be thumb tacked on my dresser for sure.

My cousin David also paid yet another unexpected visit. At 7:30pm, my cell phone rings & he informs me that he's back from Peru, in El Alto, and needs a place to stay. Since I'm working at O Mundo Café, I can't do anything but send him my way, where he has to sit & wait for me to close up at midnight. And since he's very evangelico, sitting in a pub for hours isn't his idea of fun.

After a long day, I spent the morning showing him around a bit (hospitality, hospitality). Which meant another day missed at the archives. I managed to hand him over to tía Lilia for lunch, w/ the understanding that I have to go work on data collection this afternoon (if just to make up for lack of any work on Monday). He's staying tonight also, which is difficult (again). I have to work at the café until midnight, and then wake up early for an 8:30am meeting w/ the director of ILDIS (Latin American Insitute of Social Research).

I don't mind visits from friends & family. I just wish I'd have at least a few day's notice to re-arrange my schedule.

Finally, in another suprise, there's a heatwave wilting Bolivia right now. The temperature in Santa Cruz reached 46 degrees (that's 114 Fahrenheit). La Paz has been unseasonably warm in the near 30s (about 80s Fahrenheit). And this following about two weeks of rain and nationwide flooding.

Posted by Miguel at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Long hours, more to come

I've been rather busy w/ my new café-pub, so email & blogging has dropped a bit in priorities. But I do have a long Bolivian news brief to put up tomorrow, I promise. Nothing major, no revolutions in the making (yet). But lots of interesting flip-flops & interesting turns in local politics.

This week I'm working three night shifts at O Mundo Café. I just finished the preliminary menu — we'll have more selection, especially once our espresso machine's installed.

And I just picked up a batch of comics sent by Bay Jo. Yes! Now I have something to read on those long hours when I'm alone in the café (we haven't yet opened officially & rely entirely on foot traffic). I'm waiting to open the package until my shift starts.

Oh, and my brother Sam just posted a massive photo gallery of his recent trip to Bolivia over the holidays.

Posted by Miguel at 01:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

A day of nice surprises

My cousin, David, popped in for a surprise visit today (he called Saturday night). We spent the day hanging out, walking around, and curing his sorojche (altitude sickness). He's on his way to Puno (on the Peru side of Lake Titicaca) by bus, and so he's stopped in La Paz first. A nice visit overall. It meant I did no work today; it also meant I saw Lord of the Rings for my fourth time.

Posted by Miguel at 07:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Phone calls from far away

Matt, one of my oldest friends, called me today. What an amazing surprise, as I walked under La Paz rain clouds. He just thought, on a whim, to call me instead of emailing me (yes, he now has email).

Posted by Miguel at 06:12 PM | Permalink

Images from Alasitas

The annual tradition of Alasitas involves buying tiny replicas of the things you want the coming year, and offering them to the Ekeko, who carries them (literally, the things are supposed to be sown or somehow attached to him) during the year. Plaza Roosevelt was filled w/ tents selling all sorts of tiny things and food & drinks, as well as regular artesanias like wooden & ceramic crafts.

Posted by Miguel at 05:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Alasitas

Today's the close of the festival of Alasitas, a paceño New Year tradition. It's a festival dedicated to the god of good fortune. El Ekeko is a little figurine that carries all your wants & wishes for the coming year.

So. The tradition revolves around buying little miniature replicas of the desired items as "offerings" to El Ekeko. These can be quite intricate & complex. You can buy little bank notes, passports (even w/ specific travel visas), model cars & trucks, college degrees, pretty much anything you can imagine. After you buy these, they're loaded unto a little Ekeko figurine, who carries them for you during the year.

Careful w/ the care & attention paid to Ekeko, however. It can be a pain. You have to give him cigarettes to smoke (the figures have a little hole to put lit cigarettes into), coca offerings, and such. If not, you get bad fortune.

The main event, in the Plaza Roosevelt (in Miraflores), is great time to pick up nice artesanías, like clay flatware. Various craftspeople display their products, there's food areas, and other entertainments. Also available are little newspapers w/ sarcastic parodies of public figures & recent events.

At noon, both Aymaram yatiris (witch doctors) and Catholic priests bless the people's little miniatures. This involves scattered flowers and an offering of alcohol (cha'lla) to the Pachamama.

Posted by Miguel at 08:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"Fuera carajo, vayan a trabajar"

That's the quote that opened a Thursday article on Wednesday's protest march through downtown La Paz. This makes the third march attempted since October (a really small number for the city of manifestaciones), all of which have been heckled by city residents who happened to be out & about.

What's striking about this event, though, was the level of confrontations between "passersby of different social conditions" (as mentioned in La Razón) went further than in the other two marches. Anyone that has the romantic notion that the paceño middle class "joined" the October protesters on ideological grounds — rather than just hoping to find a quick return to normality — should seriously reconsider.

The protest itself wasn't entirely illegitimate. The approximately 10,000 marchers were mostly parents of schoolchildren from El Alto (the massive slum city adjoined to La Paz) protesting lack of school supplies (items). On the other hand, Education Ministry officials point out that El Alto can't expect to receive all the available items, not when so many other areas of the country also need them. Priority in providing supplies was given to the cities of El Alto, Santa Cruz, and Tarija.

But the interesting news is the reception of the protesters by people on the street. Passersby whistled at (an insult in Bolivia), yelled insults (including cursing), and confronted marchers in the street. One older alteña replied: "We fought for you in October." She was answered w/ more heckles.

As they entered the Avenida Mariscal Santa Cruz (near the post office), on their march towards the Education Ministry, oficinistas (office workers) threw water & garbage at the manifestantes. A few blocks later, the marchers were pelted w/ tomatoes.

Now, a comité antimarchista has formed (everything in Bolivia's done through a comité or a junta). I don't think any future manifestaciones will be met w/ much goodwill in the coming weeks.

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UPDATE: On Friday, the Federation of Parents of El Alto (the group that marched on Wednesday) promised not to march again, but to engage in dialogue w/ the government. Their dirigente, Bernabé Mamani even apologized to the paceño citizenry.

On the other hand, Jaime Solares & the COB gathered in Cochabamba and decided to begin a national strike & bloqueo (highway blockade) to start after Carnival. They're protesting the government's decision to raise salaries only 3% this year. They demand a raise in the minimum wage from Bs. 400 to Bs. 3,000. Other demands include: nationalization of the mines and the oil & gas industries, a trial against the president of the Central Bank, and "seizing power" by closing parliament.

Solares also criticized Evo Morales for supporting Mesa government, saying Morales must "decide whether he's on the side of the Government or the people."

Posted by Miguel at 06:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I still get to vote!

Thanks to my friend Simon, I learned that Michigan has allowed internet voting for the state's Democratic primary. I've already filled out the application, which should send the information to my old Kalamazoo address, to be forwarded (let's hope) to my parents' house.

Posted by Miguel at 09:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Where I've been (so far)

Create your own visited country map

Posted by Miguel at 09:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A glimpse of things to come

Posted by Miguel at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

What do you miss most?

Of course I miss my family. Even though I'm used to not seeing them for long spells at a time, the fact that I won't see them for about a year (except for Sam, who visited me) is strange. Especially on holidays.

Posted by Miguel at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ok. This is just surreal

I'm sitting at Café La Terraza, using their WiFi. And sitting at the table next to me are two syndicalist dirigentes, not sure from which "confederation" (they keep using the word). I'm eavesdropping, of course, but doing my best to not look to suspicious.

They're planning a manifestación for Monday. And they're quite organized, working through various logistical measures. Like how to make sure they have enough press coverage for the evening news. Or how to write up the demand letter they'll give to the COB, who'll then give to President Mesa. And how to make sure they round up enough people by Monday to make a good showing of it in front of the ministry building.

Nothing strange about this. Except. This is an expensive café, and these men are very well dressed. Actually, they look like New Jersey mafia stereotypes, w/ their slicked back hair & three-quarter leather jackets.

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NOTE: I'm not meaning to disparage these guys' convictions or whatnot, but it just seems weird to overhear two trotskyite types plan a popular protest in the same café normally filled w/ socialites & where I've bumped into a former vice president.

Posted by Miguel at 03:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Interesting developments

Parliament has gotten together, actually making progress on various issues — most notably changes to 14 articles of the constitution. Among the changes is a notable change to the Article 1 calling Bolivia's democracy "representative & participative." Other changes allow for a Constituent Assembly and the use of public referendums.

The progress was made possible by a dramatic change in attitude from MAS (Movement Towards Socialism), which decided to drop its insistence on a single, all-inclusive bill and accept piecemeal legislation. Congress should vote on the issues in the next week.

Still up in the air is the election of several National Electoral Court (CNE) vocales, to bring the body up to quorum before the 28 March gas referendum. Interestingly, there's broad agreements between MAS, MIR, and MNR on voting. The hold-out party is NFR, which insists that all current vocales step down. Still, the MAS-MIR-MNR coalition means a two-thirds legislative supermajority.

Election of CNE vocales is crucial, since this body oversees all Bolivian elections. Thus, they'll organize & monitor the up-coming gas referendum. The CNE's currently below quorum, and can't legally administer any election until its empty seats are filled by parliament.

Meanwhile, Ángel Durán, leader of the Movimiento Sin Tierra, recently announced that the group would meet to decide whether it would continue to seize lands (which is illegal) or sit down and begin negotiations w/ Mesa's government. Accusations from various sectors that MST is politically destabilizing Bolivia seem to have affected Durán. It's unclear, however, whether the position for dialogue will win out in the upcoming MST congress.

Also on the sidelines is the issue of the responsibility trial against Goni & his cabinet. The Attorney General has handed the issue over to the Supreme Court, which insists the case be more thoroughly investigated first. Left forgotten, is the parallel trial against Quispe, Solares, de la Cruz, and Evo Morales for their role in October.

Posted by Miguel at 03:16 PM | Permalink

Almost all better

When I get sick, I get really sick. I spent most of Saturday, Sunday, and Monday in bed w/ a flu &mdash. Drugged up, sipping chicken noodle soup, interrupted by occasional forrays out to eat (and get my daily internet fix). This morning, I turned the corner back towards health.

I headed down to Vrinda, a vegetarian restaurant run by Hare Crishnas (calle Aspiazo between 20 de Octubre & Sanjines), for some good food. Then a short marathon session at the newspaper archives. Back to normal.

I need to catch up on the recent Bolivian political news. But at least normality's the catchphrase. No bloqueos (yet), despite threats from Solares & Quispe to repeat October in February.

But the National Electoral Court & Parliament are all in a tizzie about the gas referendum. No one seems to know how to carry it out. See, regular elections are so simple, that illiterate voters (a large portion of the electorate) can easily distinguish parties & candidates (pictures of candidate's faces, party symbols & colors, etc.). But. What do you do when the election is over a particular question? And one that might be technical? How do illiterate voters legitimately vote on something like this? I guess no one thought about this before.

Posted by Miguel at 06:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Calle Linares

Posted by Miguel at 02:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

A man on the red planet

While I'm not so sure on the budget specifics of Bush's plan, I do think trying to go to Mars is a good idea. It's a Kennedy moment. Remember, back when liberals & progressives actually were about DOING things, you know, daring things. Not just saying "Hell, no!" to everything & anything.

Posted by Miguel at 08:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Nursing a cold

Paola & I didn't get to Copacabana this weekend. She had a sudden rush of work at the Fondo Indigena. And I came down w/ the flu; rainy season in chilly La Paz will be the death of me. I spent most Saturday in bed, and probably most of today as well. I finally admitted that, yes, I am indeed sick, and went to the farmacy to get all drugged up. I figure a marathon session of sleep should get me ready for Monday & the coming week.

Too bad, I really looked forward to a nice lunch of trucha (lake trout) caught fresh from Lake Titicaca. Some other time, I guess.

Posted by Miguel at 06:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What happens tomorrow?

This political cartoon (click to see) ran this morning in La Razón. It shows three wolves marked CSUTCB (Quispe's group), COB (Solares & de la Cruz), and MST (Angel Durán). The little guy looking out the window is President Mesa.

Posted by Miguel at 09:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Still got indie cred

OK. I'll admit it. This afternoon, I'm being quite lazy. To pass the time, I took an internet quiz to test my music knowledge (warning: MTV drones can't handle this quiz). Glad to know I did well, retaining my indie cred. I scored the high: "Good. You know your music. You should be able to work at Championship Vinyl w/ Rob, Dick and Barry."

To be honest, the quiz isn't that hard. You should give it a go. And if you think you're indie, you can find out what subcategory you are (FYI: I'm an Indie Pop Kid).

Posted by Miguel at 04:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Better than a stairmaster

These are the stairs that run up just next to my apartment (the building on the left). This is the end of Calle Guachalla; the stairs go up towards the Plaza Lira and are about a city block in length, almost straight up.

I figure that an easy way to stay (or rather get into) shape is to run these stairs every morning. So. I'm gonna buy a pair of jogging pants (mornings are cold in Alto Sopocachi) and run up & down the stairs as often as I can before I puke. Keeping in mind, of course, that my apartment's at about 3,800 meters above sea level (about 12,500 feet). I should be in a amazing shape by the time I go back to Michigan in late July.

I've decided to take a break from posting about politics for a few days. In part, because I'm in too good a mood to get depressed about miners taking hostages or whatnot. Time to be optimistic for a change, eh? After all, the exchange rate's been stable (at Bs.7.83 = $US) for a whole week.

Posted by Miguel at 03:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

El señor de los anillos

Yes, I'm crazy about Lord of the Rings (read it six times). But I still haven't posted anything about it — unlike the volume of posts when the second film came out. In part, because I was busy w/ other things (like the country's political meltdown) when the movie hype was going around. In part, because the movie opened in Bolivia on Christmas — meaning both that everyone else had already seen it (a month earlier) and that I was doing holiday family stuff. Though, of course, I did go see it opening day.

So. For those who wondered why I hadn't written about this monumental film (I'm think of you specifically, Kara), here's my take on the third & final installment of Peter Jackson's version of the epic. Just to refresh myself before writing this, I saw the film (for my third time) last night.

Posted by Miguel at 02:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

The cat's out of the bag

I've been hoping to open a café in La Paz, along w/ some friends, for a while. Today, that became a reality. We just signed papers & bought out O Mundo Café from a French-Peruvian couple who're moving back to France. The place sits near the corner of Linares & Sagarnaga (tourist meca). It's amazing, in the same building as the Museo de Coca & Museo de Textiles. I'll post pictures soon. We officially open in a few days.

Posted by Miguel at 05:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

The sea, the sea, the sea (like a broken record)

I’ve posted about the issue of the sea before. I won’t go into it again (my friends already think I’m a Chilean sell-out). But Mesa took the opportunity at the Summit of the Americas to bring up the issue, yet again. Of course, Chile’s president, Ricardo Lagos, became irritated and finally announced his position quite clearly: Chile might be willing to give Bolivia a corridor to the sea, even free of charge, “but sovereignty, never.”

This plays well in the Bolivian press, where anti-Chilean nationalist sentiment is high. But I can’t help but wonder what other issues merit more of Mesa’s attention. Bolivia’s on the brink, and Mesa focuses his energies on angering the strongest economy in the region? Unless, of course, this is just a smokescreen to prop up his popular support.

Why do I think this is a smokescreen? Today's papers also announce that re-negotiations w/ the transnational gas & oil companies are turning more & more in their favor. It seems that the more Mesa turns into a version of "Goni lite," the more he turns up the pressure on Chile — after all, the only tangible policy difference between Goni’s and Mesa’s administrations is that Mesa waves the nationalist flag on the sea issue

Ironically, the real obstacle to Bolivia’s access to the sea is Peru, not Chile. The latter country offered access, including a railroad line, near the Peruvian border. But the treaty ending the 1879 War of the Pacific stipulates that Peru must also agree to any Chilean territorial concessions. Peru insists the issue’s a bilateral one between Bolivia and Chile, essentially barring the door to a simple solution.

Posted by Miguel at 01:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Movimiento Sin Tierra

My friend Daniel Bustillos has an excellent post (en español) on recent actions by Bolivia's Movimiento Sin Tierra.

The entry's sparked by another land-taking by MST members. There's growing concern that many of the lands taken over (by force) are productive lands that generate jobs & income. Also, it's becoming evident that many MST members aren't actually "landless".

Posted by Miguel at 01:33 PM | Permalink

Cambas, kollas y chapacos

I thought it necessary to define the words camba, kolla, and chapaco for those unfamiliar w/ the terms. I'm hesitant to do so, since the terms are cultural ones that have multiple meanings (positive & negative) depending on context. Also, I want to point out that while I'm a camba (and proud of it!), I've no anti-kolla sympathies, like many cambas do. And, to be honest, I much prefer living in La Paz to living in Santa Cruz.

But there's at least two Bolivias, and I don't mean the division between the Europeanized mestizo urban populations and the indigenous campesinos (which is, of course, an important division as well).

Bolivia's divided, regionally, into three different "cultural" groups. The eastern, lowland departments of Santa Cruz, Beni, and Pando are considered camba departments (people from the city of Santa Cruz are, specifically, cruceños). The western, Andean departments of Oruro, Potosí, La Paz, Cochabamba, and Chuquisaca are considered kolla departments. People from the southern department of Tarija are known as chapacos and are neither camba nor kolla (parts of Chuquisaca also share this distinction).

Posted by Miguel at 06:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

Because it's Sunday

Why's everything closed in La Paz on Sunday? And by "everything" I mean restaurants, specifically. Paola & I took a minibus all the way down to San Miguel in a drizzling day because I wanted to eat Thai food. Only 7:30pm and most of the restaurants were closed.

So. Back up to Sopocachi, hoping to find someplace open to eat. Closed, closed, closed. Only the "American" cafés were open. Instead of Thai & Indian cuisine, we ate greasy quesadillas at Café Alexander.

In all that running around, we missed the movie. Well, we could've still gone, but we were tired & cranky from all that up & down traveling by minibus.

Know what I miss most about the US? Things being open. I don't even mean "24 hrs" open. I just mean open at normal hours. Not closed from noon to 2:30 (and perhaps not open on time or closed early). I mostly just want restaurants to be open when I'm hungry.

Posted by Miguel at 05:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Sometimes, the city's at cloud level

Posted by Miguel at 06:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Because it's Saturday

After a long Friday night out at Mongo's Rock Bottom Café (which is actually a pub, not a café), I slept well into Saturday afternoon. Finally crawled out of bed, and went down to the post office (no mail) and on to Calle Sagarnaga.

Posted by Miguel at 05:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Illimani

Posted by Miguel at 05:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Economic consequences continue

Newspapers announced the World Bank & IMF have reconsidered Bolivia's risk after October and will act accordingly. The guerra del gas lost Bolivia the option of exporting gas — at any price — until another buyer shows up (Sempra already signed a contract w/ Indonesia). Now it's announced Bolivia's economic aid (on which it survives) depends entirely on whether there's a repeat of October. $150 million if there's no conflict, $100 million if limited conflict, only $45 million if October-like conflict.

The international economic organs had expected Bolivian gas exports to lift the country out of its economic crisis and help pay off the crushing foreign debt. That option's disappeared for the time being. And October raised the risk of investment.

Meanwhile, the US is putting together a conference in which Bolivia hopes to offer peace & stability in exchange for $100 million in aid (the headline in La Razón read: "El país buscará $us 100 millones a cambio de paz"). The money would finance Bolivia's 2004 budget.

The Grupo de Apoyo a Bolivia meets 16 January in Washington, DC. The group includes 17 countries (up from 15 before), including France, Germany, Mexico, and other Latin American countries, as well as several international NGOs.

Posted by Miguel at 05:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Fulbright night out

Last night I joined a group of ex-Fulbrighters for drinks at a German pub in Sopocachi. These are Bolivian citizens who earned Fulbright awards to go to the US to study over the years. They meet once a month. Although we were from different academic backgrounds (and I think I was the youngest), we had a great time.

Eventually, of course, conversation turned to politics. Specifically, the topic of the rising regionalism in Bolivian politics. We talked about the reasons behind the anti-paceño sentiment in Santa Cruz — the oil-rich department has felt virtually ignored (politically) for a long time. And now that gas & oil drive the Bolivian political economy, they've joined up w/ Tarija (home to the largest confirmed gas reserves in the hemisphere) in challenging the center of Bolivian political power, La Paz.

Most of the crowd argued that Santa Cruz owes much to La Paz and kollas in general for its recent economic boom. And there's no disputing that fact. After all, most cruceños are recent immigrants. (Oddly, though, most have shed their kolla affinities very deliberately and are among the most forceful pro-autonomy supporters.) Still, I tried to emphasize that politics is often more about perception than actual facts — most people simplify life, and in doing so, lose the complexity.

All that matters is that cambas & chapacos feel as if their political voice is ignored by the capital. And that's enough to spark a defiantly childish: "Well, if they won't listen to me, then I'm taking my toys and going home." And like it or not, Santa Cruz & Tarija today own the lion's share of the Bolivian toybox.

In the end, the consensus was that the Constituyente was a dangerous gambit. It could easily tear the country apart — postponing it until 2005 (or even 2006) might be a good solution. In the end, a "new constitution" might be concocted just by making major amendments to the current one (as was done in 1994).

Posted by Miguel at 04:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Downtown La Paz

Posted by Miguel at 03:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Santa Cruz is awake

El Nuevo Día, one of the most important (& moderate) newspapers from Santa Cruz, ran an editorial today ("La agenda de Santa Cruz") demanding regional political & economic autonomy. Now, more than ever, Bolivia is two countries divided — culturally, economically, and now politically. And the populous, economically vibrant eastern half is angry.

Here's an excerpt (Spanish w/ my own English translation):

Posted by Miguel at 07:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

9 days & counting

Mesa's situation is about to get desperate. Everyone knows this; everyone sees it coming. On 17 January, the 90-day truce agreed upon by the leaders of October populist coup (Jaime Solares, Felipe Quispe, Evo Morales, and Roberto de la Cruz) ends. Quispe & de la Cruz have already threatened to overthrow Mesa.

Posted by Miguel at 01:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Early morning woes (w/ silver lining)

I'd quite a few things I wanted to do today, and I still have to go to the archives this afternoon (I need to catch up something fierce). So I decided to make an early mornign of it. That doesn't mean, of course, that I woke up early. It means I didn't go to sleep at all. So. Bright early at 8am I headed out to do the morning errands.

Why stay up all night? If you know me, the answer's obvious. I don't do mornings. Not at all. If I want to do something early (i.e. before noon), I just don't go to bed. I usually go to sleep around 2-3am — or later. How did this happen to you? Easy. Six years of grad school evening classes, w/ most of my departmental duties being either research assistant (make your own hours) or teaching evening courses to undergrads. Plus, I lived a block from a 24 hour coffee shop. You do the math.

How did you keep awake all night? Easy, I backed up & organized Kaneda's hard drive — especially trimming down on my iPhoto library (from 2,000+ pictures to just over 400, all nicely labeled). And don't worry, all those pictures are safely archived — twice (CD & VST FireWire drive).

I needed a dresser. Or at least something to put clothes in and such (my new apartment didn't have one). Now that the holiday rush is over (in Bolivia, prices go up, not down, during holiday shopping), I figured I'd get a better deal. Yep. Headed up to Eloy Salmón (a shopping street) and found a nice, tall dresser for Bs. 340 (about $47) — during the holidays they were asking at least Bs. 750 for similar dressers. Took it straight home on the roof of a cab — now my clothes aren't on the floor/suitcase/couch anymore. Nice.

On the way, I'd stopped at the post office. A nice surprise. Christmas cards from Vanessa, Annmarie (w/ a cool bookmark), the Walls family, and my cousin Carson. Plus, two packages from my parents. It's always nice to get mail (even if a large chunk of it's bills).

Then off to the bank to deposit a check. And here my day starts to hit a snag. Moving $$ from my account in the US to my account in Bolivia seems to be quite difficult. I have to go to the bank's central office. I sure hope my friend Daniel (who works at the Banco de Credito) can help me sort this out. As my accountant father will readily attest, I'm no good w/ money.

I decide to head next door into Café La Terraza (in Sopocachi) for a café con leche and some wireless internet. The coffee was good — and I sure needed it by this time. But. The wireless was crapping in & out. Unfortunately, this seems to happen often at the Sopocachi location. Never at the Prado.

So. Frustrated. Tired. Needing sleep. I headed to the Café La Terraza on the Prado, where I'm sitting right now. I figure I can catch up on my email & whatnot before heading for my weekly lunch at tía Lilia's.

Posted by Miguel at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Rocket Star

Two of my close friends recently opened a new coffee shop in Kalamazoo. Rocket Star Café is sure to be my new home-away-from-home when I get back to the US. I missed the grand opening. But thanks to the wonders of the internet, I got to see what the place looks like.

Posted by Miguel at 01:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Bolivian state of the union

Bolivia's president, Carlos Mesa, spoke to the nation last night in what was heralded as an important address. This was his first major policy address since he was installed in office after Goni's overthrow. In the end, he said pretty much what everyone expected — though not, perhaps, what everyone hoped to hear. The realities of Bolivian politics have to be faced. And when they're faced, you end up w/ essentially the same policies that Goni (and previous governments) adopted.

Mesa chose the date of the one-hundred-year anniversary of the treaty that formally ended the War of the Pacific. Obviously, he spent some time speaking about the issue of Bolivia's claim to maritime sovereignty, demanding that Chile cooperate on this issue.

He also announced that he would (it was previously in much doubt) remain in power until 6 August 2007. He also added that Goni's overthrow meant the end of representative democracy — and that the country was now headed towards participative democracy. This part wasn't much elaborated upon, and I'm rather skeptical. There's strong strains of democratic theory that argue that "participative democracy" isn't practicable in large nation-states, and can lead to authoritarian tendencies (it's not for nothing that J.S. Mill warned against the "tyranny of the majority" against individual rights).

The issue of the gas referendum was fleshed out, w/ a date set for 28 March. Still, Mesa took the traditional (and rational) government line that the gas must be exported — it's, after all, a major source of possible income for the bankrupt country. Mesa pointed out that while some protesters in October opposed gas exports (the conflict hinged on its export through Chile, which riled nationalist sentiments), many agreed the resource must be exported. Of course, the result of the October uprising was that the California gas market was satisfied w/ another contract, effectively closing (for some time) any possibility of gas exports (unless a new buyer suddenly comes up).

In keeping w/ the gas theme, Mesa also pointed out three pillars for his administration's gas policy: 1) increase the revenues from oil & gas transnationals (which means revising existing contracts), 2) recover sovereignty over the hydrocarbons (currently, mineral resources belong to the nation when under ground, but to the company that extracts them once out of the ground), and 3) strengthen YPFB, the state gas & oil company. In addition, Mesa's government will continue Goni's project of installing home gas lines.

Of course, w/ all this talk about Mesa's policy plans for the gas & oil industry, one's left to wonder just what the referendum will decide.

Mesa also announced a new Social Emergency Fund of $50 million dollars to support the poorest regions of the country. He specifically mentioned El Alto, which he reminded was the center of the October uprising (he called it "the most conflictive" sector of the country). Money for this fund will come from the Andean Development Corporation (CAF) & the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). At this point, Mesa also called on Bolivians to be "responsible citizens" who recognize their rights, but respect the rule of law.

Perhaps the most significant social demand — the Constituent Assembly — is now postponed to the first semester of 2005. The reasoning was that Bolivans will face two decisions in 2004: the gas referendum & nation-wide municipal elections. Also, there's no constitutional provision for a Constituent Assembly, meaning that parliament must first amend the Political Constitution of the State (CPE) to allow for such a body. Beyond that, parliament will no doubt debate the structure of the assembly (e.g. how will delegates be elected?). Hormando Vaca Diez, president of the Senate, announced Friday that the Constituent Assembly might not take place until 2006.

Mesa also made two unpopular announcements: First, there'd be no "truce" in the war on illegal coca crops. We're all holding our breaths to see what Evo Morales & the cocaleros will say to that. Second, like it or not, Bolivia needs to engage in free trade negotiations w/ the US as "a matter of necessity." Ditto (but add Solares & Quispe).

Finally, Mesa announced the obvious. The country's bankrupt; it spends 40% more than it collects in revenue (the rest of the national budget is kept afloat by US, European, Japanese, and other aid). Mesa announced the need for austerity measures — meaning cuts in the bureaucracy & projects.

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NOTE: My friend Daniel Bustillos posted a succint critique of Mesa's address (en español). Also, here's a preliminary roundup of reactions. The general consensus was that Mesa spoke for 80 minutes but made no concrete statements, only vague references & platitudes.

Posted by Miguel at 01:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Kathira en Roma

My cousin (and one of my best friends) Kathira recently emigrated to Italy. She arrived in Rome a month before I got to Bolivia. So we haven't seen each other in two years and counting.

Born three weeks apart, we grew up together. Took turns sleeping over at each other's homes as kids. Even after I moved to the US, I counted her among my closest friends.

She sent this picture today from her new home. From what I can tell, she's having a great time in Rome (she's a decent job and an Italian boyfriend). It's been her dream to travel to Italy for years, and her Italian's flawless. Now I just have to figure out when I can make it over to the Old Country to see her.

Posted by Miguel at 02:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Mercado de Hechicería

Posted by Miguel at 01:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Bolivian New Year Traditions

Although it's a few days late, I thought you might like to read about some interesting Bolivian traditions for New Years. Mostly, they involve symbolic things or activities intended to bring good fortune (of various kinds) during the coming year.

Posted by Miguel at 01:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Slow to update

Playing tour guide to a younger brother doesn't leave much time for blogging. I'm having too much fun showing Sam around the city. If you're curious to know the details of what we've been up to, read Sam's blog; he's been updating like crazy.

Posted by Miguel at 01:40 PM | Permalink

Samba New Year

Sam & I sort of crashed a party hosted by Brazilian embassy staff. My friend Stephen (a fellow Fulbrighter) knew a girl who was invited, and scored invites for Sam, Maria (another Fulbrighter), and myself. So. After dinner at a Cuban restaurant, we headed out for the year end festivities.

Posted by Miguel at 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)