« Septiembre 2005 | Main | Noviembre 2005 »
Octubre 31, 2005
Bolivian Halloween
"¡Trato o truco!" That is what some kiddies say in La Paz when trick or treating. La Razon published a story today about the growth of this unofficial holiday in Bolivia.
A 10-year old kid interviewed for the story said:
“There are some people that get mad when we ring their doorbell, but we tell them that it's Halloween and we should have fun."
Halloween certainly hasn't caught on in all parts of the city or throughout the country. On the most part, this night is most celebrated throughout middle class neighborhoods and in the discos and locales.
Some in Bolivia may voice displeasure to see such a generic holiday like Halloween invading their country. After all, many Latin American countries have a much more interesting and meaningful holiday, in All Souls and All Saints Day. I tend to agree, but I wouldn't go as far as Hugo Chavez calling it a "game of terror."
Posted by eduardo at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)
Tough Crowd
My hometown football teams were trounced yesterday. If these were the late 1980s, I would be greatly depressed over the defeat of the Washington Redskins, who lost 36-0 to the NY Giants. John Riggins, Art Monk and Darrell Green no longer play for this American football team and my interest in that sport has diminished to practically zero.
The Cochabamba team Wilstermann also lost to Oruro’s San Jose placing in jeopardy their chances to move onto the next round in the tournament. It’s been a year since I’ve seen them play in the Felix Capriles stadium and I don’t recognize half of the names on the roster. I miss those days when my cousin and I wouldn’t miss a Sunday afternoon game and the chance to chomp on piping hot cheese empanadas.
Finally, my last team, DC United, which plays in Major League Soccer will not have the opportunity to defend its championship. At the hands of the Chicago Fire, DCU was embarrassed at home 4-0 in front of a crowd of nearly 20,000. It’s far better to lose convincingly than to lose in the remaining seconds or as a result of a fluke call. Bolivian flags could be seen throughout the stadium in honor of #99 Jaime Moreno, who is a finalist for league Most Valuable Player. Fans around me were frustrated and some booed the team as they entered their lockerroom at halftime, many just left before the game completed. That was the extent of the visible displeasure.
In Madrid, I saw a game between the local Atletico Madrid vs. Atletico Bilbao. The homeside played rather horribly and after the visitors took a one goal lead, the fans became increasingly impatient. When Bilbao scored its second goal, one fan in the next section cheered, as if he were turning on his own team for their poor play. At that, with about 30 minutes to go in the game, he grabbed his son and exited the stadium in disgust.
By far, Cochabamba fans are the most demanding that I’ve seen with their own team. Some say Wilstermann plays better on the road, than in front their own fans. Why? Because it seems that the local fans expect a goleada every match. Whistles, the South American version of booing, are heard at any hint of missed goal opportunities, even if Wilstermann was leading. I have also seen fans throw items, with an aim on the players, onto the pitch, such as full 2-liter bottles of Pepsi, water balloons, oranges, and bottle rockets. This is when they are losing at a crucial time in the season. At times, the police in full riot gear needed to protect players (even the local team) with their riot shields when taking corner kicks. With fans like that, who needs enemies?
Posted by eduardo at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)
Octubre 30, 2005
The Reaction
The Electoral Court says that there is not enough time to prepare the necessary materials for a December 4th election. Two other Sundays in December are still available and still remain as acceptable dates, although postponing the election an additional 7-14 days could negatively affect the frontrunner. In this case, the favorite is Evo Morales, as most polls have placed Morales in first place ahead of the other two major candidates Tuto Quiroga and Samuel Doria Medina.
However, the entire country will wait and see how Evo reacts to the news of this near-certain postponement. He is already spouting off about neoliberal-this and oligarchy-that. If Congress does not decide soon or President Eduardo Rodriguez does not issue his decree, Evo and the self-described “destabilizing forces” in his campaign could take to the streets, causing serious inconveniences for the general public.
Surely that would have a negative effect on those middle class and urban voters, who have conveniently forgotten about his propensity to alternate between democracy and street mobilizations. The fact of the matter is that there are many middle class and urban voters who are strongly leaning towards supporting MAS. Bolivians have a short memory (after all, they allowed a former dictator to run for President and win – Hugo Banzer in 1997), but protests weeks before an election will surely chip away at Evo’s lead in the polls. Maybe that’s what some of the Congressmen are hoping for.
Posted by eduardo at 02:39 AM | Comments (0)
Octubre 28, 2005
Bolivia in "La Cebolla"
My brother sent me this article from The Onion newspaper.
Bolivia Joins DOPEC
LA PAZ, BOLIVIA—The South American nation of Bolivia was inducted into the Development Organization of Powder-Exporting Countries Monday. "As the world's third-largest producer of coca, we are pleased to join Colombia, Peru, Mexico, and other proud nations in economic partnership," said Sonia Atala, Bolivia's minister of opiates. "Only by working together can we assure ourselves of continued expansion into foreign markets." The move was opposed by the U.S., DOPEC's largest customer, on the grounds that further price increases and supply restriction would create long lines at dealerships.
Posted by eduardo at 06:22 PM | Comments (0)
Octubre 26, 2005
Jumping to Conclusions
MAS’ new website is designed well and easy to navigate. Turns out the site was designed by Komunicate, a company located in Medellin, Colombia. Miguel from MABB wonders why the site was designed in that relatively distant South American country, “Aren't there companies able to design and host websites in Bolivia?” A.M. Mora y Leon from Publius Pundit insinuates that there must be some dark relationship between Evo Morales and this company in Colombia,a country which has the “mala fama” of being heavily associated with narcotrafficking.
So why was it designed in Colombia, of all places? Well, not claiming to be a journalist, I decided to employ some journalistic practices. I simply wrote to the company Komunicate to ask them how they ended up collaborating with MAS from so far away.
Mr. Natalio Pinto Alvarado, the site’s webmaster, kindly responded to my inquiry via email. His similar responses are also up at the two aforementioned websites.
It turns out Mr. Pinto is Peruvian by birth, but studied at the Universidad Catolica Boliviana in La Paz for five years. After that, he worked as an operations assistant at various Bolivian television channels. During that time, he met his wife, who is from Colombia. Subsequently they decided to return to her home country to begin a life together. He writes:
“One additional point, I haven’t received a single peso for the work I have done with MAS, I did it to contribute my small piece for change in Bolivia. Yes, I am Peruvian, but I feel just like a Bolivian. The four years I spent in Bolivia made me care for that country, I am proud of its culture, its people and its history. Like many other Bolivians, I am tired of the continuation of poverty, hunger, inequality and discrimination that is deteriorating the country..”
Other Bolivian websites that the company has worked on include the Instituto de Desarrollo BIBOSI (Santa Cruz, Bo), Interacción y Desarrollo (La Paz, Bo), Vejez Digna (La Paz, Bo). None of the three are believed to have ties with narcotrafficking.
To see the new MAS website, click here.
Posted by eduardo at 09:39 AM | Comments (12)
Octubre 24, 2005
Destabilizing Forces
Alvaro Garcia Linera, Vice-Presidential candidate for MAS said in a recent debate:
"The five largest movements that can mobilize in a destabilizing way are now with MAS,"
And this is a good thing?
Well, Garcia Linera seems to hint that a MAS presidency will halt (temporarily) the threat of blockades and marches, which Bolivians have grown weary of. But, Maria Rene Duchen, PODEMOS VP candidate wonders whether Garica Linera's statement is thinly veiled as a "threat". She countered that PODEMOS will not allow for destabilizing forces to even exist within the country.
Posted by eduardo at 11:19 PM | Comments (0)
A Look Back: Plaza Murillo
October 2000: This is the first in a series of photo + descriptions of photos taken during my time in South America between 2000-2003.
Overnight buses from Cochabamba always dump you at the La Paz bus station no later than 6:30 a.m. The urge to linger as long as possible catching as much sleep as possible, usually is interrupted by an employee announcing that it was time to disembark. At that time of morning, if the drowsiness doesn’t overwhelm you, the cold surely will. The four of us had arrived in La Paz as part of our anthropology coursework and a visit to an Afro-Bolivian community in the Yungas. It was much too early to give the university professor a ring, as he was supposed to make the arrangements with the homestay family. To pass the time, we took a trufi-taxi to the Plaza Murillo, where this shot was taken.
Huddling on a couple of benches, the morning fog still enveloped many of the government buildings. As it began to lift, the scene around us would slowly develop. Schoolchildren scurried off to class, as a couple of soldiers solemnly raised the Bolivian flag. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a keenly familiar face. At the time, I knew I recognized him as someone of notoriety, but couldn’t place my finger on his name. He was an obvious tourist, but appeared to be on some sort of mission. It wasn’t until I saw a PBS documentary about Michael Palin (ex-Monty Python) and his travels around the world that I was reminded about the mystery man. I perhaps would have spoken with him, if I remembered him at the time, but it’s not polite to ask someone “who are you?”
Posted by eduardo at 08:04 PM | Comments (0)
Octubre 20, 2005
A Tragic Lesson for Bolivia
There's a new Comment and Analysis Piece posted at the Financial Times website entitled "Bolivia provides a tragic lesson for Latin America." The piece was written by Lord Norman Lamont, British chancellor of the exchequer, who recently visited Bolivia. The whole time reading, I tried figuring out what the tragic lesson was (bold print-my emphasis).
The rising figure is the charismatic Evo Morales, who supports free cultivation of the cocoa leaf, the raw material for the production of cocaine, and the nationalisation of hydrocarbons.
Apparently the tragic lesson is: Don't let your kids drink Nestle's Quik.
Posted by eduardo at 01:45 PM | Comments (5)
Bolivia - Global Voices
The second weekly Bolivia blog summary is up at Global Voices Online. There are a couple of new featured blogs.
Posted by eduardo at 01:37 PM | Comments (0)
Finally Bolivia Wins One!
They took away all of the silver from Potosi. They can keep our access to the sea. We'll even let them have all of our gas reserves. But I wont stand for them taking our monkey fossils.
Eight rare fossils of an extinct monkey considered the oldest ever found in South America, have been returned to Bolivia by Japan.
The fossils, borrowed by a Japanese researcher 10 years ago, have been in storage at Kyoto University.
The monkey was a small tree-borne primate, Branisella Boliviana, which lived in South America roughly 26.5 million years ago, and grew to just 14 centimetres.
Finally, there's justice in this world.
Posted by eduardo at 09:47 AM | Comments (1)
Octubre 15, 2005
Blue vs. Red
Better get used to them over the next six weeks. No, I'm not talking about the Presidential candidates, but we'll be seeing a lot of these blue and red jackets. Over the last couple of weeks, in many public appearances, these accessories have been spotted. Evo has been sporting his blue MAS jacket with his squeaky clean white sneakers for some time. Now Tuto Quiroga has broken out the red PODEMOS windbreaker. Maybe it's an attempt to create a kinder and gentler Tuto (PS - This is the first picture where I've seen him smiling). Gives new meaning to the whole Red State vs. Blue State.
Photos after the jump
Photos: Reuters
Category: Bolivia
Posted by eduardo at 12:31 AM | Comments (1)
Octubre 12, 2005
Bolivia at Global Voices
My first Bolivian blog weekly roundup is up at Global Voices Online. This will likely be a weekly or bi-weekly occurrence. If there are any other Bolivian blogs that I should know about, which contains content usually featured on Global Voices, please let me know.
Posted by eduardo at 02:49 PM | Comments (0)
Octubre 11, 2005
Yet Another Poll
Evo continues to lead in the latest poll released by Equipos MORI and Unitel.
If these candidates ran for president, which one would you support?
Evo Morales (MAS)-33%
Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga (PODEMOS)-27%
Samuel Doria Medina (UN)-14%
Michiaki Nagatani (MNR)-4%
Felipe Quispe (MIP)-1%Methodology: Interviews to 2,700 adult Bolivians in urban and rural areas, conducted from Sept. 29 to Oct. 3, 2005. Margin of error is 1.8 per cent.
Posted by eduardo at 12:06 AM | Comments (0)
Octubre 10, 2005
Quinua Soup
Last night I was out of food. Not wanting to drive to the supermarket, I searched high and low in my cupboards for something to eat. All that was left was some parmesan cheese. However, I had forgotten about an envelope that was tucked behind the salt and pepper.
An instant mix for quinua soup was all that was left to prevent me from starving (Industria Boliviana). I remember I had saved the soup for a rainy night like that. The instructions were simple enough: 1. Add water and bring to boil. Not even I could mess that up. The simple meal hit the spot on a cool Fall night.
Posted by eduardo at 08:49 PM | Comments (2)
Tie and the Final Spot
Facing a bored and lifeless Brazil team, Bolivia played a superb second half which featured an equalizing goal and numerous near misses. At halftime, coach Ovidio Messa inserted Jose Alfredo Castillo and Daner Pachi which energized the team. A brilliant cross into the box by Pachi found the head of Joaquin Botero who crossed it to a charging Castillo who knocked it home tying the game 1-1. After that, Bolivia continued to attack, but couldn't find the go-ahead goal. Bolivia plays its final match against Peru in Lima on Wednesday. Once again, defender Ronald Raldes of Rosario Central stood head and shoulders over anyone else on the pitch rendering goalscorer Adriano (Inter Milan) ineffective.
The four teams that I have qualified for the World Cup from the South America region are: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Ecuador. The fifth place team faces Australia in a home and away playoff for the right to enter the World Cup competition. Three teams have the possibility of sliding into the final spot. Uruguay is the only team that holds its own destiny. A win gives them enough points to earn that fifth place spot. A tie leaves them open to the possibility of one of the other teams to overtake them. Chile and Colombia must win and hope for a Uruguay loss or tie and a loss by the other team for any shot.
Uruguay - 22 points (home against Argentina)
Colombia - 21 points (away against Paraguay)
Chile - 21 points (home against Ecuador)
Already there are speculations that Argentina may take it easy on Uruguay. In 2001 facing the same scenario, except Uruguay only needed a tie to advance, the two teams tied. Newspaper reports quoted the then-coach of Uruguay of saying that the tie was "set up", which angered the other teams with similar possibilities of advancing. Both Argentina and Uruguay have denied that any such plan is in place for Wednesday's match.
Posted by eduardo at 03:41 PM | Comments (0)
Octubre 08, 2005
Bolivia - Brazil
The Bolivian National Team is mathematically eliminated from any chance of qualifying for next summer’s World Cup in Germany. The squad was in a similar position four years ago during the run-up to the World Cup in Japan/South Korea 2002 when it last faced Brazil in La Paz in November 2001.
The result that night was a 3-1 victory for the home side over the South American powerhouse, which happened to end up winning the World Cup that next summer. Two goals by “El Emperador” Julio Cesar Baldivieso (pictured - photo BBC) and his subsequent “Condor Soaring” celebration would seal the victory. The win would only be a moral victory in front of the packed house and would save an otherwise disappointing campaign. Bolivia will face Brazil on Sunday for the second to last date in the two year World Cup qualifying cycle.
Sunday’s game will not count for much, as Brazil has already qualified for Germany 2006 and Bolivia is jut hoping to stay out of the cellar. However, any time you face Brazil in your home stadium, it is a special occasion.
The good news for Bolivian fans in the U.S. is that the game won’t be limited to Closed Circuit television as it has been all throughout the qualifying process. The game will be on live on Telemundo at 4 p.m. EST. More good news for Bolivian fans is that Baldivieso has been called into the team after a lengthy absence. This has the makings of déjà vu.
Posted by eduardo at 09:15 PM | Comments (0)
Octubre 07, 2005
The Bolivian "Krosty"
Maybe you didn't hear about the huge jail escape of 27 prisoners from the Palmasola prison in Santa Cruz on September 22. Obviously having an additional two dozen criminals on the loose would make Cruceños a little uneasy.
The police have been hard at work trying to capture these fugitives, although many have speculated that the police may have been in on the escape. Prison officials are kindly asking that the prisoners come back and additional prison time won't be tacked on to their original sentence. I doubt that any prisoners will take them up on their offer.
El Deber reports that one less fugitive is off the streets. The police captured the prisoner, better known as "Krosty" and one must wonder whether these two were separated at birth.
If you are unfamiliar with Bolivian crime trivia, it seems that every criminal has a moniker that he/she is better known by. "El Chino", "El Chato", "El Choco" are all very popular aliases. However, I think "Krosty" must be the first of its kind. Sleep easier tonight, Santa Cruz, "Krosty" is back in the slammer.
Posted by eduardo at 07:25 PM | Comments (0)
Octubre 04, 2005
Bolivian Child in New York
Four year-old Valery Belén Saavedra Lozada, a Bolivian child from Cochabamba, was found wandering the lonely streets of Queens, New York at one in the morning last Sunday. The neighbor who found little Valery wondered how in the world a parent could allow her child to be left alone in a city like New York.
A retired firefighter found the little girl when he heard her cries outside of his apartment. Other neighbors pitched in to make sure she was safe and warm. Immediately, the firefighter called 9-1-1 and had said he was hoping for "an innocent explanation," but feared the worst. Over the course of several days, when no one came to claim the little girl, she became well known to the people of New York City.
She is 4 years old, has a cat named Gary and knows to brush her teeth in the morning. She speaks English and Spanish, loves pizza, hates pickles and says she does not know why the man she calls her father woke her up one night, drove her to a dark street and left her there, alone and barefoot (New York Times).
After an extensive public media campaign to find the mother or anyone who knew anything, a boyfriend stepped forward with information. Cesar Ascarrunz admitted to killing the mother, Monica Rivadinerra Lozada, a Bolivian immigrant from Cochabamba who moved to the United States three years ago. Ascarrunz is currently in custody without bail and has been charged with 2nd-degree murder, evidence tampering and child abandonment.
A law enforcement official said Mr. Ascarrunz told investigators that he and Ms. Lozada-Rivaineira, 26, had gotten into a dispute on Sept. 24. (Earlier in the week the police had identified the woman as Monica Rivadinerra Lozada.) He said he had objected to her staying out all night and to the manner in which she was raising her daughter, Valery Belén Saavedra Lozada.
Mr. Ascarrunz, said the law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing, claimed that the woman had tried to attack him with a knife and that he had tried to defend himself with a pillow. The official said the suspect told investigators that he put her into a chokehold and that she went limp. After that, the official quoted him as saying, she was not breathing (New York Times).
Little Valery’s plight attracted a lot of attention in New York and was published in a series of articles in the New York Times. Over 100 individuals offered to adopt the little girl, who is now in custody of a foster family. Officials say that a counselor, who is an expert on trauma, will break the news to the little girl that her mother is dead.
Companion Killed Mother of Queens Girl, Police Say
In Her Great-Uncle's Arms, a Time of Tears and a Bear
Posted by eduardo at 05:56 PM | Comments (1)