Blogs Bolivia Frappr Map
November 27, 2005 on 6:26 pm | In Uncategorized | 1 CommentIt is apparent that those who make up the Bolivian blogosphere reside in all parts of the world. There are those who live in Europe, the Middle East and in other parts of the Americas. I am still waiting on the first Bolivian blog written from Africa. In order to get a better sense of where this community is located, I’ve created a Bolivian Blogger Frappr Map. Please feel free to add yourself.
Two Persons and a Bolivian
November 26, 2005 on 6:55 pm | In Uncategorized | 1 CommentWhile cleaning my email inbox, I ran across this picture that my friend David sent me awhile back. As you can see, it’s quite odd. (English Translation: Fatal Accident in Flores, Two Persons and a Bolivian Die)
Apparently, Cronica TV is a sensationalist television channel in Argentina, which makes a habit of flashing bizarre headlines.
Double Standard
November 24, 2005 on 12:37 pm | In bolivia presidential elections 2005 | 2 CommentsThe U.S. ambassador at the time, Manuel Rocha, has been blamed for the surprising finish by Evo Morales in the 2002 elections. When he claimed that the Bolivia would risk their foreign aid if Morales were elected, many denounced his statements as interventionist and meddlesome. For some, those comments provided a little extra incentive to vote for the MAS candidate.
This time around the current ambassador, David Greenlee has been forced to hold his tongue, although recently his open-ended statement was left open for interpretation. Many wondered and others opined when he said, âI hope that there will not be any negative changes (in drug policies) because Bolivia would be the country that would suffer.â Critics would say that this statement constitutes as a threat from the country to the north. But others would simply say that radical changes to the drug control policy may bring about unknown results including less pressure on the real criminals.
Itâs hard to not get caught in these types of no-win situations, when the U.S. ambassador has its place firmly in the political arena in Bolivia. Whenever something comes up, the press rushes to the embassy for some public comment or reaction. Ideally, the embassy should continue the vague neutral and boring statements that the State Department makes and say âweâll work with whoever becomes the next Presidentâ and stay out of the public spotlight over the next month. The majority of Bolivians would say that the U.S. should âpubliclyâ stay out of internal matters, even they all know that behind-the-scenes there must be some maneuvering.
Now that much of South America has made a move towards the left, other countries are starting to have some influence in Bolivia. So itâs no wonder that foreign officials are beginning to make a pronouncement about these upcoming Bolivian elections. A diplomat from Venezuela, Azael Galero, made a faux pas by pulling a Rocha, on a much larger scale, which others criticized the U.S. for doing.
Venezuelan diplomat Azael Galero compared the Bolivian right-wing candidate for next month’s elections, Jorge Quiroga, to Pontius Pilate.
He said Mr Quiroga was defending the “interests of the empire”, adding: “you are either with Chavez or with Bush”.
Already the Bolivian government has reacted and will bring their concern to Venezuelaâs attention. However, this is Morales chance to publicly denounce this similar interference. It would go a long way in proving or not that Morales does not blindly follow Hugo Chavez and can call him out on matters like this.
Update: 11.25 - Alvaro Garcia Linera, MAS VP Candidate said in a press conference: “We have always refused any interference from any embassy; we have always criticized meddling by the US embassy. Accordingly, we do reject interference by the Venezuelan chargĂ© d’affaires.” As expected, Tuto Quiroga also condemned the comments.
Ban the Cell Phone
November 22, 2005 on 11:07 pm | In bolivia presidential elections 2005 | No CommentsAs seen on P.A.T. news, Mario Cossio (ex-MNR), who is running for Prefect in Tarija will formally request that cell phones, especially those with built-in cameras be banned from the voting booth. Cossio is concerned that the phone could be utilized as a tool for voter fraud. According to Cossio, a person would receive a camera phone, enter the voting booth and take a picture of the completed ballot. With that image, they would exchange the picture and phone for payment for supporting a certain candidate.
Forget the cash reward, I think the voter would rather keep the camera phone.
Evo Morales in the New York Times
November 20, 2005 on 9:28 pm | In bolivia presidential elections 2005 | 5 CommentsPeople outside of Bolivia know relatively little about Evo Morales. Some romanticize the movement as a faultless leftist utopia, while others demonize Morales by utilizing the same generalizations without truly seeing how the rhetoric has evolved. Itâs fair to say that these inconsistencies (dare I say, “flip-flops”) cloud the reality of where the entire MAS movement stands in relation to policy proposals, ranging from the extreme radical left to something more towards the center. This New York Times magazine article by David Rieff should provide better clues to where the party stands, while hoping to draw attention to differences from Latin Americaâs public enemy No. 1 and No. 2.
Even though Morales calls Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro close friends, it is his admiration for Brazilâs Lula that may give a sign as to how he might govern.
Many Bolivian observers say they believe that MAS is nowhere near as radical as its rhetoric makes it appear. They note that conservative opponents of Brazil’s current leftist president, Luiz InĂĄcio Lula da Silva, also predicted disaster were he to be elected, but that in office Lula has proved to be a moderate social democrat. And MAS’s program is certainly much more moderate than many of its supporters would like. Washington, however, is not reassured. Administration officials are reluctant to speak on the record about Morales (the State Department and Pentagon press offices did not reply to repeated requests for an interview), but in private they link him both to narco-trafficking and to the two most militant Latin American leaders: Hugo ChĂĄvez, Venezuela’s leftist populist military strongman, and Fidel Castro.
With over 75% of Bolivians favoring nationalization, itâs hard to say what contractual changes may be in store. Most agree that it is far from the Quispe model of confiscating everything without due compensation. It becomes more apparent that partnerships with the oil companies are still desired, but without the natural resource ownership by the foreign companies that has been the norm. This position suddenly doesn’t seem so radical, as it is duplicated around the world.
A telltale sign of this is the way Morales and MAS, while not repudiating previous statements about the changes they want to make in the Bolivian economy, seem to be leaving the door open to a more moderate approach. Increasingly in speeches and interviews, Morales has taken to emphasizing that when, for example, he speaks of nationalization, he is mainly speaking of Bolivia’s reassertion of sovereignty over its natural resources and of partnership with multinational corporations, not, Ă la Fidel Castro, of the systematic expropriation of the multinationals’ interests in Bolivia. Morales commented to me that “Brazil is an interesting model” for cooperation between the state and the private sector, and, he added, “so is China.”
There are many who feel that MAS is so ill-equipped to govern a nation and that they might blow the potential treasure of natural gas reserves. However, there have been some prominent economists who think that their proposals arenât so wacky after all, which may prove important in legitimizing their position.
Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel laureate who was formerly the chief economist of the World Bank and is now a professor of economics at Columbia University and a stern critic of many international lending institutions, put it to me this way: “They could do it.” If Bolivia abrogated its existing contracts, he said, some of the non-Western oil giants would gladly negotiate new deals on better terms. “Petronas” - the Malaysian state oil company - “would come in, China would come in, India would come in.” If Morales did nationalize the country’s oil and gas, the multinational oil companies that currently hold the Bolivian concessions, including Repsol, a Spanish company, and British Gas, would probably sue Bolivia in an international court and try to organize an international boycott. But Stiglitz dismisses that threat: “If you had three, four, five first-rate companies around the world willing to compete for Bolivia’s resources, no boycott would work.”
When most people talk about Morales, phrases that come to the forefront always are associated with drug trafficking. Yet, with the number of political enemies he has, no one has yet to find proof that he teams up with the drug dealers. Without this proof, it seems difficult to place oneâs finger on why Morales is so dangerous to the region.
Publicly, Thomas A. Shannon, Noriega’s successor, has taken a more low-key approach. But the Bush administration’s view of Morales does not appear to have changed significantly. Michael Shifter, a senior fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue, a policy group in Washington, and one of the shrewdest and most experienced American observers of Latin America, told me that he has been struck by the depth of conviction in Washington that Morales is dangerous. “People talk about him as if he were the Osama bin Laden of Latin America,” Shifter told me, adding that, after a recent lecture Shifter gave at a military institution, two American officers came up to him and said that Morales “was a terrorist, a murderer, the worst thing ever.” Shifter replied that he had seen no evidence of this. “They told me: ‘You should. We have classified information: this guy is the worst thing to happen in Latin America in a long time.”‘ In Shifter’s view, there is now a tremendous sense of hysteria about Morales within the administration and especially at the Pentagon.
Itâs easy to lump Morales into the camp of Castro, where individual freedoms have been severely curtailed and with Chavez, who has overstepped his bounds on many occasions. However, Morales seems to want to distance himself from many of the extremes that both men employ.
But he is at some pains to make the point that neither Venezuela nor Cuba is a model for the kind of society he wants Bolivia to become. Castro and ChĂĄvez, he told me, are his friends, but so are Secretary General Kofi Annan of the United Nations, President Jacques Chirac of France and Prime Minister JosĂ© Luis RodrĂguez Zapatero of Spain. Morales also makes a point of emphasizing that the era of “state socialism” is past. Even when he is talking about the nationalization of Bolivia’s natural resources, which with the depenalization of coca cultivation is the central plank of his campaign, Morales is at pains to point out that the model he has in mind is closer to Brazil’s state-owned oil giant, Petrobras, than to anything Castro would endorse.
Lofty Expectations
November 18, 2005 on 10:26 pm | In bolivia presidential elections 2005 | No CommentsEvo Morales seems to be promising the moon during this election season. In reality, some think Morales isn’t as radical as his rhetoric. He needs to secure the campesino vote and hope that Felipe Quispe’s MIP does not steal support from the Altiplano and some areas of El Alto. But his campaign promises, which will not be easy to implement with a strong opposition in Congress (assuming he wins the Presidency, which is far from certain), may be a bigger headache than first realized. A recent Financial Times article sees the pressure from the social movements (such as Cochabamba activist Oscar Olivera) as being a key actor in the day after the inauguration.
But ultimately, a Morales administration could be brought down by failing to satisfy its supporters. Asked how long the social movements would grant Mr Morales to nationalise the gas industry, Mr Olivera is unequivocal: “We will give him one day.”
We have to remember that Morales originally supported a 50-50% split on the controversial hydrocarbons issue, but politically it was in his best interests to push for full nationalization. I imagine that his team of advisors prefer the moderate and centrist model, but the overwhelming pressure from the radical left is too much to ignore.
OAS to Monitor Elections
November 17, 2005 on 1:05 am | In bolivia presidential elections 2005 | No CommentsA group of election observers, headed up by Colombian Horacio Serpa, from the Organization of American States arrived in Bolivia. They have set up shop and will remain in the country through the December 18 elections. Currently they are meeting with the different candidates. President Eduardo Rodriguez has also requested the presence of the United Nations and the Carter Center. In addition to the various international organizations, MAS candidate Evo Morales would like to see Brazil’s Worker’s Party (PT) observe the elections as well. No word on whether President Lula’s party will formally participate in the observation process.
From Evo’s Photo Album
November 13, 2005 on 9:54 pm | In bolivia presidential elections 2005 | 7 CommentsThe MAS campaign recently released some childhood photos of its Presidential candidate, Evo Morales. These photographs were published to Yahoo! Photos by Reuters. The one that stands out (pictured below) really captures the essence of next monthâs elections. For the first time ever, an indigenous Bolivian citizen is on the verge of capturing the Presidency of the Republic of Bolivia.
In the middle of rural Orinoca in the Department of Oruro, 17 year-old Evo (in blue) timidly poses with his mother, father, brother and others from his family. On that day, surely in a million years, Evo would never imagine himself leading in the polls of an election, nearly three decades later. That picture places things in perspective and reminds us of the possibilities of different groups of Bolivians.
Like me, Tuto Quiroga and Samuel Doria Medina are minorities in Bolivian society. No one in my family wears polleras (skirts typical of campesina women). No one in my family works as an empleada (domestic house worker). No one in my family is discriminated against because of our last name (a luxury not afforded to members of a Mamani or Choque family).
This forgotten class of people, which makes up a large bulk of Boliviaâs population, would not believe beyond their wildest dreams that he/she would have a legitimate opportunity to become President of the country. I remember the clichĂ©d phrase that schoolchildren from the U.S. are always told, âyou could become President someday.â Iâd be willing to bet little Evoâs teacher never uttered that phrase to him or any of his classmates. Sadly this is the pattern of marginalization throughout society.
Thatâs what this election is all about â counterbalancing this inequality.
While I havenât always agreed with Evoâs tactics or use of rhetoric, any objective-minded person must admit that something must fundamentally be altered in the country. The only option for the left is far from perfect, but it resonates with a large part of the electorate and even with growing numbers of middle class, including many from my family in Cochabamba. That is why he is polling so high, because the old ways havenât made a significant dent in these divisions.
Unfortunately, there has not been an effort by the middle class to reach out to the poorest of our Bolivian brothers and sisters. Even though many of the middle class still are not entirely on stable economic footing, there is a social safety net provided by the family structure is still a lot more than most count on. Those with the power have never been eager to share with others. The mess in Congress by the lame duck politicians are proof of this â they wanted to delay the elections as long as possible because it was the easiest job they ever loved.
These fundamental differences and wedges within Bolivian society will not diminish as long as we stay the course with the status quo. Trickle-down economic policies and a society that concentrates power and wealth in the hands of a select few wonât alter the fate of hundreds of thousands of Bolivians who have been left out. Will it be expropriating land from anyone who is not a member of an indigenous group? No way, although some want voters to believe thatâs the countryâs future.
It’s easy for us to criticize Evo because we don’t face the same life that many in Bolivia contend with everyday. If the traditional political parties had improved lives during their times in office, then would Evo Morales even be where he is?
More pictures after the jump.
Continue reading From Evo’s Photo Album…
Bolivians Demand the External Vote
November 13, 2005 on 10:44 am | In Uncategorized | 3 CommentsBolivian residents in Argentina will begin a hunger strike in protest of the lack of voting rights abroad. According to the Constitution, there is a provision that allow for Bolivians who live outside of the country to have the right to cast their vote. However, there is not a formal mechanism in place to allow that to happen. Logistical and financial obstacles are key issues to consider. It is far too late to implement something for the December elections, but there is hope that for the next elections (whenever that is) that this process would be defined.
This will also give the politicians time to determine who would actually benefit from the suffrage of an approximate a large portion of eligible voters. Some say that there are an approximate 2 million Bolivians who live outside of the country (which is about 25% of the total population).
A hunger strike in the U.S., especially Virginia, would be unheard of. Most Bolivians I have spoken with are strongly in favor of being able to cast a vote here in the U.S. This is something that I favor as well, as it would force Bolivians abroad to take a more active interest in what is happening back in Bolivia. We would probably expect some of the candidates to come to the area to do some campaigning and baby-kissing.
What Could Have Been
November 10, 2005 on 1:03 am | In futbol | 3 CommentsThis weekend features the first leg of a series of home-and-home series between countries to qualify for the remaining five berths in the World Cup for next summer.
South Americaâs fifth place team plays the winner of the Oceania region for one of those slots. Saturdayâs match is a replay of the same scenario with Uruguay meeting Australia for the coveted spot in 2001. Back when the qualifying process began in 2003, according to my calculations Bolivia had a legitimate shot at making the 5th place finish. Winning every single game at home with the psychological and physiological advantage of the high altitude stadium could have made these dreams a reality.
However, those calculations were off by a large margin. Not only did Bolivia not come anywhere close to 5th, it finished dead last, including several terrible losses and ties in La Paz. At the time, I remember daydreaming and vowing that if Bolivia were to have the opportunity to play in that playoff series, I would be in Bolivia for that week no matter what. Even if I had to fly to Bolivia for one day and fly back the next, it would be well worth it to be in an environment where a return to the World Cup was on a possibility.
Thereâs always 2009.
The five games slated for Saturday:
EUROPE:
âą Czech Republic vs. Norway
âą Spain vs. Slovakia
âą Turkey vs. Switzerland
SOUTH AMERICA/OCEANIA
âą Uruguay vs. Australia
NORTH, CENTRAL AMERICA & CARRIBBEAN/ASIA
âą Trinidad & Tobago vs. Bahrain
Bad, Internet Café, Bad
November 9, 2005 on 1:29 am | In Uncategorized | 2 CommentsA 24-hour internet café was closed by the city for its negative effect on the youth of Cochabamba. Apparently, the lure of online computer games was too much for some to resist. The internet café provided much needed services such as a cafeteria and even mattresses so that the youngsters could rest between games.
âWith the 24-hour operation, it allowed the kids to pass countless hours playing online games which created an addiction. The parents complained that their children didnât return home to sleep and they stole money to spend at the cafĂ©. Many of the school children dropped out of school and lost an entire year of schooling,â said Pedro Lima, head of the Department of Moral and Public Events.
Some of the children spent three entire days without leaving the café as they kept advancing various levels in the games.
Internet cafes have popped up all over Cochabamba. In most cases, school children would head over to these establishments to play the latest game, which a couple of years ago was Starcraft. I never even tried to use the internet during these times as all of these kids would occupy every single computer. They would often pay for 15 minutes of internet time at a time, which would fly by. The cafĂ© operator would need to call out that the time was up and you could hear the despair in their voices, âjust five more minutes!â They would soon have to ante up an additional 50 centavos for an another 15 minutes of gametime.
However, it is not only schoolchildren who attend to this addiction. Near our apartment in Cochabamba, there is an internet café which is located in a building full of Brazilian medical students. Every afternoon they would come down to play one of these online computer games. They would become very animated talking trash very loudly to their friends who were playing with them at other computers, hooting and hollering with no regard for others in the café trying to check email or look up something online.
There is a very good reason why these internet cafes continue to thrive in Cochabamba and that is because there is definitely a demand for cheap sources of entertainment.
Tuto Needs Some Attention Too
November 6, 2005 on 12:49 am | In bolivia presidential elections 2005 | 14 CommentsIs there anyone else running in this race besides Evo Morales? Everywhere you look on Bolivian local news, CNN en Espanol and other foreign press, all you see is Evo side by side with Hugo Chavez and Diego Maradona for all of Bolivia and the world to see.
The 2nd place candidate Tuto Quiroga feels left out. So what does he do? He makes statements that doesn’t resonate with the majority of Bolivians.
Quiroga, when asked about the Summit of the Americas defended the free market and an open commercial relationship with the government of George W. Bush..
“I want to fill George Bush full of products (how else can one translate - “Al señor Bush yo le quiero llenar de productos“?). We must sell more goods to the United States, and when you sell more, it generates more employment and more opportunities. We’re going to go as a government to tell them we are going to make a fresh start and a new external debt tab,” said Quiroga. He also emphasized that Evo Morales “got on the wrong train” alluding to the convoy which Morales participated in along with other international figures from Buenos Aires to Mar del Plata, where the summit was held.
Does anyone actually believe this line of thinking? The majority of Bolivians have waited to see the results of this type of rhetoric trickle down to them for far too long. What it has done in the past is make the gap between rich and poor larger and larger. That is the reason Evo Morales is polling in the 30s.
“Everyone has the right to get on the wrong train. If Evo Morales wants to get on the wrong train, fine, (but) Bolivia will not get on the wrong train because it needs to sell products and not send insults,” said the ex-President.
I hope, for Tuto’s sake, that he doesn’t use this whole train thing for the rest of the campaign. Tuto offers no alternative, it is simply a message of “stay the course” and maintain the status quo. For the majority of Bolivians, the status quo is unacceptable.
Evo Courting China?
November 6, 2005 on 12:39 am | In Uncategorized | No CommentsEvo Morales rejects the free trade agreement coveted by George Bush. Without a doubt, other countries beside the U.S. would love to get its hands on the natural gas. China has emerged as one of those potential partners, but a deal with that gian econonmy may bring about mixed and unfavorable results.
Morales said part of the model could sidestep economic relations with the United States in favor of increased trade with China. Chile and Brazil have also explored strengthening those ties, with mixed results. Brazil granted China market economy status last year, but a flood of inexpensive Chinese imports has undercut local producers, much to Lula’s disappointment.
Some of the products exported by China would be a direct threat to the microbusinesses and artesans that the MAS’ economic platform revolves around.
Forty Percent
November 6, 2005 on 12:04 am | In bolivia presidential elections 2005 | No CommentsMy original prediction that Evo Morales will receive 40% of the popular vote may be a bit low if one follows past history. Pagina 12 from Argentina published an interview prior to Evo’s participation in the festivities in Mar del Plata. One point becomes especially important, the fact that past polls always underestimated MAS’ final tally. If that happens again, could it be possible that Evo wins outright?
P12-If MAS does not obtain 50% + 1 and the election needs to be decided by a Congressional vote, could there be an alliance with the right?
EM-Neither of the candidates are proposing a structural change. Doria Medina and Tuto Quiroga want to maintain the economic model. We are banking on winning the 50% + 1, because in the two previous national elections in which we participated, we were always underestimated in the polls. In 1997 we tripled the poll results and in 2002 we finished in 2nd. Now they say we have 38% and if we triple that, we win by a landslide.
Too much can happen in the next six weeks, but no one seems to know if Evo has peaked or is just gaining momentum. No one believes for a minute that he’ll triple the 38%, but there may be a record number of blank votes in the December election, which would probably help the front runner.
Evo y El #10
November 5, 2005 on 1:23 am | In bolivia presidential elections 2005 | 2 Comments
Say what you will about the Bolivian Presidential candidate who is steadily gaining momentum. Already leading in most of the recent polls, Evo Morales may come across a bit awkward when dealing with the media. He may spout off utilizing the same overused vocabulary from time to time. His campaign may overlook minute details that may appear to make him irresponsible. However, Evo Morales’ last few days in Mar del Plata may prove to be a turning point in this election.
Evo was like a social butterfly, he was everywhere. Next to President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Evo would nod approvingly and clap in agreement. He was one of the leads in a march next to Hebe de Bonafini from the Madres de Plaza de Mayo. But it was being in the presence of (depending on who you ask) the 2nd best footballer in the world, that may give him a tremendous boost in the polls. Evo is now an international celebrity among the anti-globalization movement.
In terms of strategy, one may expect Diego Armando Maradona to arrive in Bolivia over the course of the next six weeks to help the Evo and MAS campaign. Imagine an Evo-Diego tour across the forgotten parts of Bolivia bringing soccer balls to communities in need of some attention. Sure it may seem like a populist type of publicity stunt, but it would accomplish two things. For starters, it would refocus the campaign and make poverty the number one issue. For some reason, people criticize Hugo Chavez for talking too much about poverty. Whether or not he is sincere about his concern about the poorest in his country is one thing, but at least the subject is being discussed. An appearance in a pueblito could really convince some skeptics that Evo is big-time. It probably wouldn’t necessarily impress the upperclass, but the poor campesinos unsure about Evo’s ability to govern, might see Evo as a legitimate force to be reckoned with. There might be something mystical about the candidate bringing one of the most famous South Americans to the country.
Now some might say that it would be foolish to appear next to Maradona, who is almost as famous as his struggles with drugs, as his footballing, but Evo’s appearance at the protests in Mar del Plata only reinforces his image as the candidate of change in Bolivia.
Photo: Reuters
Goni Got “Served” in Washington DC
November 3, 2005 on 8:50 am | In Politics | 5 CommentsSurreal would be a fairly descriptive word for Tuesday eveningâs events. It wasnât so much seeing a former Bolivian President live and in color, speak so frankly about Bolivia and its current state of affairs that seemed unusual, but rather it was the odd, and possibly historic occurrences throughout the night.
Invited by a friend to the event hosted by the organization Princeton in Latin America where Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada was on hand in Washington, DC to speak about the current state of South America. Quite rarely does âGoniâ appear in public as he still remains very much on the minds of Bolivians for some unanswered questions.
His talk took a back seat to the pre-game festivities. I found a place near the front giving me time to come up with some sort of heavy-duty question (I failed, but more on that later). Near the back of the room, a young man with a digital camera would flash repeated pictures of Goni, as another man handed him a brown envelope. Piecing together the turn of events was difficult from my vantage point, but I would learn later what had transpired.
Apparently he was served with legal papers. From a Press Release from those involved with this event:
November 1, 2005, Washington, DC â Former Bolivian president, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada (1991-1997, 2002-2003) was served with legal documents today by U.S. citizens acting on behalf of Bolivian human rights organizations. Mr. Sanchez de Lozada is being summoned to testify in an investigation undertaken by the Bolivian Office of the Attorney General where he is accused of the wrongful deaths, injuries, illegal imprisonment and other crimes against Bolivian citizens.
Goni attempted to remove himself from the situation as all the parties involved were escorted from the event. The ex-President tried to laugh it off, but when I glanced over my shoulder, I saw him standing alone in the hallway, he appeared visibly shaken and disturbed at the surprise.
After all of that was out of the way, Goniâs 30 minute talk would begin. The title of his speech was âQuo Vadis South America,â although it ended up concentrating heavily on the events in Bolivia. Itâs hard to say whether he shuffled things up and purposely focused on Bolivia, and in a way, to defend himself because of the incident prior to the speech. He didn’t appear to be operating off of notes. Those in attendance all had varying degrees of knowledge and interest in Bolivian politics. There were some officials from the Bolivian embassy present, as well as some students who spent time in the country.
The main problem in South America, and especially Bolivia, in Goniâs eyes was the unholy alliance between drug money and radical social movements. He didnât hesitate to specifically mention Evo Morales as a beneficiary of coca money. He made it clear that Evo wasnât involved in the shipping, Goni indicated that Evo was a recipient of tax revenue from coca, which helps funds the MAS political machine. There was hardly a mention of Hugo Chavez, in regards to funds for Bolivia. However, it may be logical to think that Evo has some idea of whatâs going on in the Chapare area, but probably is not directly involved with illegal activities. If he was involved directly, with so many enemies within the country, surely someone somewhere could make a link if he wanted to, but so far there has been no proof. Yet, this was the first time I have heard of this coca tax.
Continue reading Goni Got “Served” in Washington DC…
Roundup at Global Voices Online
November 2, 2005 on 10:30 pm | In Uncategorized | No CommentsMy fourth weekly roundup of Bolivian blogs is up at Global Voices Online. You may see a pattern forming in that you can expect a new roundup every Wednesday evening/night for the indefinite future. As always, if there is a blog that I have been missing, please let me know.