Julio 07, 2005
A Senseless Death
A few weeks ago, my cousins talked me into seeing the new Batman movie, and I reluctantly agreed. One cousin was Bolivian-American, born and raised in Alexandria, VA. The other, recently arrived from Bolivia a year and a half ago and found employment at my cousin’s place of business.
It was a Friday night and parking spaces were at a premium. After nearly 10 minutes of circling the lot, we spotted a space opening up. Finally! All of a sudden, a high school-aged kid sprang out of nowhere and claimed the spot as his own, as some sort of explorer. He was holding it for the car he was riding in. Just by standing in the spot, he seemed to think he automatically qualified as the spot’s rightful owner. After all, what were we going to do, run him over? Another of his companions joined him in this claim.
My recent immigrant cousin, who was driving at the time, attempted to engage the two homeboys in some rationalization to no avail. Then, he started to get angry, yelling at the two. I said, “Let’s go, it’s not worth the trouble.” The driver was puzzled by our apathy. We explained that a parking space was hardly worth the trouble of the unknown. Arguing could lead to some sort of fight, where nowadays one doesn’t know to what lengths the other will go to (i.e. weapons) to win that round.
At the end of the day, it seemed to boil down to cultural differences. Standing up for your “honor”, fueled by machismo is almost expected in Bolivian society. He had not made the connection that, while it does exist in the States, maybe not all people buy into that code here. We never did end up seeing the movie, as I had lost any entertaining mood that I may have had. It wasn’t so much from the ridiculousness of the parking issue, but more from the argument that followed amongst cousins and his disbelief that we were unwilling to stand up to those dudes.
Last night, I made a connection to why any of that attitude is just not worth it. I was informed that one of my friends was murdered in Cochabamba. Even though it happened three months ago, as everyone assumed that other had told me, the fresh news still struck home for me. I have a feeling that he chose not to walk away in a similar predicament and chose to follow it through to the ultimate consequences.
Details are still sketchy because none of our other friends were still present at that party. Undoubtedly, alcohol was a strong factor in his death, but also was this machismo that pushes people to do stupid things. Apparently he became tangled in an argument with another partygoer that chose to continue into the street. As my friend was leaving the party, the other was unbeknownst to him, waiting with his friends. This group jumped my friend, stabbed and beat him to death.
One can only piece together hypothetical situations, but probably it started as a simple misunderstanding or something minor that snowballed out of control. As a result, a good friend won’t be in Bolivia the next time I visit.
Things seem to be much more gloomy back in Bolivia following news like this. Three years ago, another friend of mine was assaulted. Working an overnight security guard hoping to earn some extra money, he was on his way home in the early morning hours when some thugs stole his bike, pushing him, he hit his head on the concrete leaving him in a coma. Thankfully, he recovered, but as crime has increased especially in the outlying areas of the city, things aren’t the same.
It used to be that Cochabamba was an incredibly safe place. I remember walking blocks and blocks home at night at 3 or 4 in the morning, never feeling at all threatened. Even though most of this route was through the middle of the city, I probably wouldn’t take those chances again. Now it seems that nothing is worth staying out late for, where the unexpected can happen. You could always find something open at 5 in the morning, whether it is trancapechos on the bridge to Quillacollo or my favorite tacos at las Islas. But, I guess as one gets older, one realizes that it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
Posted by eduardo at Julio 7, 2005 09:44 PM
Comments
I am sorry for your loss.
Posted by: miguel (ciao!) at Julio 7, 2005 10:29 PM
This is an interesting story and shows the big gap between Bolivians born in the states and Bolivians born in Bolivia.
If you spent some significant time in the states, you know very well not to get into a fight. You know what are you risking and the main idea is that it could be your life you are fighting for. The metro area in DC can be a very dangerous place.
In Bolivia, things are very different. One can still solve a problem with a good old fist fight. Although, young people are becoming as dangerous as their US counterparts, the senseless death by "you looked me the wrong way, so therefore I have to shoot you" is still rare.
Sorry, too about your loss.
Posted by: Miguel (MABB) at Julio 8, 2005 04:03 PM
Hey Eduardo, sorry for your loss as well. It is so sad that such violence is not the rarity here. Three students during the 5 months I was studying Spanish at the Maryknoll Language Institute were robbed. One violently, as he was pushed from his bike as he rode along the bike trail that circles the city by a young man who had a knife. He lost his bike, luckily that was the worst of it. The teachers at the school concur with your observation that things are in a downward spiral. A younger female teacher related of a time when whe saw an older street kid molesting a younger boy, but for fear her and the friend she was with remained silent, and a nun friend of another teacher was recently mugged and robbed - a nun who is here working with orphans! Hard stuff. That said, there are a good number of people, the majority (though silent), that are disturbed by this trend. The hope is that the anger at this insecurity breaks the silence and the people take the city back, especially for the kids... but for now, and unfortunately, fear seems to be on top.
Posted by: Tyson at Julio 11, 2005 04:29 PM
Eduardo, I just now read this. Terribly sad...about your friend...about the country. I hope there's a break in the clouds soon.
Posted by: Don Ball at Julio 14, 2005 07:27 PM