Diciembre 08, 2005
Elections at Close Range
A funny thing happened along the road to the December 18 elections. On my part, there was a bit of excitement to be around the hoopla and intensity of one of the most historic elections in Bolivian history. Hearing the word on the street and just talking politics would have been satisfying enough. However, things took an unexpected turn earlier this week. A family friend decided to run for deputy (uninominal) in a zone on the outskirts of Cochabamba. He invited me to come along during the campaign trail.
Little did I know that I would have full access to the inner workings of a modest, yet intense campaign. For the past two days, I have accompanied the team during campaign stops in poor urbanizaciones and in rural villages high up in the mountains over the course of 12 hour days.
In between visits, we would return to campaign headquarters to discuss strategy and the latest news. I have been fortunate to have a seat at that table, but have yet to add my two cents. Television sets are set up in one of the rooms to document the number of times campaign ads run and any mention of the candidate on the news.
At times, the experiences seem so surreal. During two of the stops on Tuesday, entire speeches were given in quechua, as many of the voters in that area are rural farmers whose first tongue is the native language. The other day, we entered Cochabamba because the candidate still must campaign for the Prefect and Presidential candidate during his stops. I managed to meet the Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates briefly as both were in town for campaign stops. We went to pick up the Presidential candidate in order to take him to a scheduled media interview that night.
I have been very careful to only support the congressional race, as I am still unsure of who I might support for President. I do not sport any colors of the political party and try to remain in the background as much as possible. However, I must admit that seeing campaigning at such a close range is an experience that few get to have.
Now the tricky part, I do not know how much I should reveal, since I value the confidence and access given to me. It would be foolish to run off to the computer and report on everything that I saw and heard. I must say that I am a little less cynical about politics after the two short days on the campaign. Perhaps after all of this done, I can write in fuller detail about my experiences and use more specifics. As soon as I am finished writing this post, I will take the trufi for the 15 km ride to the campaign headquarters.
Posted by eduardo at Diciembre 8, 2005 10:13 AM
Comments
Thank you for your blog, man. It's refreshing to read about you and find out that you care about the future of Bolivia in a different way than many others seem to. I've been following Jim's blogs via the Democracy Center, but somehow I feel Jim has an agenda in all this. He's wanting justice for what has happened in the past, refusing to look for the positive in the people and the country and attempt to help them as a people to work together and succeed.
I'm Canadian and currently live in Canada, although I have served with a voluntary organization in Santa Cruz from 1990-94 and again in 2000-2003 (same as your stint). I love the politics, and it felt like everybody had some interest in politics and as long as I was able to keep up on the latest with the local mayor, the leaders, the issues, and all the corruuption scandals, I always had lots to talk about with the taxi drivers, micro drivers, people on the street and in the plazas, etc.
Bolivia will be great when they as a people will want to work together for the common good of each other. As long as they mistrust each other, greatness will always elude them. In my opinion, no leader will lead the people out of their "desert", until they will find a leader they can trust.
Need I say more? Gracias and all the best as you follow the election campaign trail.
Posted by: Carlosula at Diciembre 8, 2005 11:13 AM
I'd like to know the name of the political party, but I respect your need for confidentiality.
I remember my own campaigning experience in the Valle Alto duringthe last election, helping my father set up shop with his colleages for the "Cruz Rosada" program and the countless lines of poor campesinos who'd see a doctor free of charge for the first time in who-knows how long (I'm not afraid of saying the name of the program since I think it was the most decent thing a candidate has ever come up with as a means to earn votes).
I was particularly touched by an old veteran of the Chaco War, who proudly wore his "Kilometro-7" medal and his original 1952 registration card to the MNR.
No need to say that many of the folks we helped those days went on to vote for MAS or others, but the experience and the service for a cause I believe in will always stay with me.
Posted by: Jonathan at Diciembre 8, 2005 11:35 AM
I appreciate that you didn't name the candidate and/or party. Good call. Yes, right now I'd focus on just observing (not participating), and then later you could write a really interesting article. I'd certainly be very interested in reading it.
Posted by: miguel (ciao!) at Diciembre 8, 2005 01:23 PM
Sitting all the way overhere in the UK and only being able to follow the ever-increasing momentum and excitement of the up-coming elections via the Internet is frustrating to say the least. How I wish I could just transport myself to Bolivia and just soak up the atmosphere both before, during and after these historic and crucially important elections. The experiences you seem to be enjoying are unique as they get. I hope more come you way and that you able to report on them. Thoroughly enjoy your blog and the added insight it has given me into Bolivian politics.
Posted by: Thomas at Diciembre 8, 2005 07:26 PM
Un abrazo desde el Mundo Al Revés :)
Posted by: Sebastian at Diciembre 9, 2005 06:16 PM
Estimado Eduardo:
If you ask me, I think you have a unique opportunity to witness at close range how a political campaign in Bolivia works.
For that, I don't think you need to reveal the secrets, but instead could concentrate on simple description of your experiences.
You are opening for us (your readers) a window, which I would imagine is very interesting for those of us who are interested.
Keep up the good work and enjoy your campaign.
Posted by: Miguel (MABB) at Diciembre 10, 2005 08:07 AM