Santa Cruz Update Written on December 10, 2004, by Eddie.
Oscar Vargas (MUP) officially gave his votes to 2nd place finisher, Percy Fernandez. In exchange, reportedly Vargas’ group receives half the local government jobs and will become mayor for the last two of the five year term.
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I’m so glad Percy’ll be mayor of Santa Cruz. He was a good one. And not just because it means my civil engineer uncle will likely work for the alcaldia again.
What if that job was one of the ones negotiated and received by Vargas and his cronies? I think they should at least publish the deal agreed upon.
Good point. But what I know is that Percy was pretty good, and pretty transparent (compared to Johnny & his cronies). My uncle was a civil engineer who built roads, a damned good one. I remember him going out late at night to check on things when he was off the clock (I’d go w/ him), making sure the watchmen were out, keeping the warning fires (no reflective cones in Bolivia, of course), etc.
After Johnny won the alcaldia, it took only months before most of the public workers were cicled out in favor of cronies. My uncle lost his job building city roads, and was in a rough spot for a while. He found work, instead, w/ transnational oil/gas companies (which turned him from anti-globalization to pro-export). He saw the marked difference in how he was treated, paid, and the professionalism.
Still, he regularly complains about the shoddy work of the new “civil engineers” who obviously were idiots. They’d build roads w/ no drainage, meaning mass floods. Or they’d not lay a foundation, just pour miles of cement directly onto the ground, meaning the roads didn’t last more than a few months. It was horrible.
At this point, my uncle’s not looking for a job. But many professionals still are. Percy hired professionals based on qualifications (like del Granado in La Paz), not their political views.
Anyone would be better than Johnny “the Gangster”, remember his “Take what you can” comment (in reference to his UCS party members who were part of the government)?
I think Percy would be better than Roberto as well, although this Oscar Vargas influence will be bad for not only Santa Cruz, but the entire country. Too bad that Percy had to sell his soul to the MUP in order to become mayor (for the first three years?).
It’s tough participating in the patronage system. There was a time, I was debating whether to pursue some leads with an uncle in the MNR. Obviously my connection to him would help me getting a job. Part of me wanted no part in taking part in a system that operates this way. However, I also knew that a government job would be a great experience and the one of the only ways I could stay in Bolivia for an extended period of time.
It is the absolute worst part of Bolivian politics, and there is no political will to reform the system.
I’m not opposed to that kind of “hook-ups” in general, but they have to depend on a case-by-case system. This kind of thing happens anywhere, all over the world.
But it’s a different thing when people are given a job DESPITE not being qualified, but ONLY because they know someone. And when they get a job because they’re both qualified AND know the right someone.
Also, I partly suspect that the three-year deal for Percy is because he’s most likely eying the national presidency in 2007.