« Marzo 2006 | Main | Mayo 2006 »
Abril 24, 2006
Understatement of the Century
During a press conference, where President Morales was asked about the delay in announcing the Hydrocarbons policy and promised nationalization, he summarized,
"It (nationalization) is not simple, it is not easy"
Posted by eduardo at 08:24 PM | Comments (0)
Abril 22, 2006
Links for Saturday
*Website in support for ex-director of the National Roads Service Jose Maria Bakovic.
*Sneak preview of the nationalization decree at the website Energy Press.
*Alvaro Garcia Linera to visit Washington, DC in June.
*Latest Global Voices Online weekly Bolivian blog summary, which includes some interesting journalist blogs.
*Plus, according to P.A.T., ambassador-designate to the United States Sacha Llorenti will decline the nomination citing family issues. No link yet.
Posted by eduardo at 12:13 AM | Comments (0)
Abril 21, 2006
New Justice Minister
The Washington Post profiled the new Justice Minister, Casimira Rodriguez. As a former domestic servant or empleada, she holds a unique perspective on an entire group of Bolivians who have traditionally received little justice. She fought to gain some of the rights currently enjoyed by thousands of empleadas, such as the Sunday day off.
However, she doesn't fit the bill of your typical Justice Minister, responsible for overhauling the inefficient and corrupt judicial system. Many are pointing to her lack of a law degree as one huge strike against her and her views on communal justice leaves some urban folks a bit uneasy. However, her naming continues the pattern of many in the Morales administration that aims to link social consciousness and technical advisors to bring about change in the country. Whether or not she can acheive the neccessary changes in this flawed justic system is one thing, but it definitely has been a change in the status quo.
"This is recognizing a sector that has been passed over, disdained," Rodriguez said. "I think it was hard to name a traditional Indian woman, a domestic worker, and it's offended some, but many people have celebrated. Flowers are still arriving at my office."
Posted by eduardo at 04:08 PM | Comments (0)
China
Read Rebecca MacKinnon's op/ed piece in the Washinton Post about a jailed AIDS activist and a jailed documentary filmmaker and blogger Hao Wu, who was kidnapped by Chinese state agents. Hao Wu was a regional editor for the Global Voices Online project.
Posted by eduardo at 12:20 AM | Comments (0)
Abril 11, 2006
Immigration Rally in D.C.
Posted by eduardo at 11:32 PM | Comments (2)
Morales First Trip to the U.S.?
Last week, Bolivian football star Marco “el Diablo” Etcheverry held his tribute and farewell match in Santa Cruz. Traditionally these games finally mean retirement once and for all. Etcheverry held onto the hope to have one more go at it, but clearly, he no longer was the maestro that helped Bolivia qualify for its first and only World Cup in 1994.
On the guest list for that friendly and not-so-serious match were other aging South American stars, such as a pudgy Jose Luis Chilavert. Another surprising name that was invited was none other than the new Bolivian President, Evo Morales. A self-proclaimed soccer nut, Morales was looking forward to donning the #10 jersey. However, a tiny problem on the runways of Bolivian airports, caused a change in plans.
There might be another opportunity for Morales to play alongside Etcheverry. “El Diablo” also starred in the U.S. for four-time champs DC United. Much of his post-World Cup career took place in Washington, which coincidentally is home to approximately 300,000 Bolivians. It only makes sense to play a similar farewell tribute match here. Again, Etcheverry said he would be honored to have Morales play in this match in the United States. So, this may be Morales’ first visit to the United States and it may be for reasons other than relations with the U.S government.
It seems that Morales is just as big of a fan of the former player, as Etcheverry was recently given a portrait of himself made out of coca leaves, as good friend Hugo Chavez also received a similar portrait of Simon Bolivar.
“These things (coca portraits) are not given out so easily. I hope it serves as a reminder from me, a person who admired him during those beautiful days when the national team qualified for the World Cup in the United States,” said Morales.
No word on the date of this match.
Why this sudden buddy-buddy relationship between Morales and Etcheverry? It’s no secret that many of the ex-football players want to take control over the Bolivian Football Federation (FBF). Every qualifying cycle something always goes wrong. Money seems to be misspent, conflicts arise between National Team and league clubs and utter failure on the pitch seem to be the fault of everyone involved. However, the FBF holds the responsibility of administering the entire process and often is given much of the blame.
The ex-national team players think they have what it takes to run the show since they were players and know what is needed. Etcheverry clearly wants to be the eventual coach for the national team, as he is close friends with U.S. coach Bruce Arena, who is rumored to take him along this summer in Germany. Other ex-football stars like Erwin “Platini” Sanchez also have eyes set on helping Bolivian football advance past 9th and 10th place finishes. Julio Cesar Baldivieso, was a huge MAS campaign supporter, last December and was rumored to be the next Minister of Sports, if that position was created. The position remained as a Vice-Ministry.
Morales ran as the candidate of change. If there was a time to make these fundamental changes in the Bolivian Football Federation, now is the time to do it. With Morales on your side, these much-needed changes are much easier and it doesn’t hurt that the President wants to relive those beautiful days when the Bolivian National Team was a success.
Note: The 300,000 number is simply a guess. There currently is no reliable data regarding the number of legal and undocumented Bolivians in the Washington, DC area, which many include communities such as Woodbridge and Manassas and other cities in Maryland. I used the 250K figure provided by the El Deber article and bumped it up a bit. By no means, was this meant to be given as fact.
Posted by eduardo at 08:54 PM | Comments (3)
Abril 08, 2006
Ruben Costas Says "All Your Base are Belong to Us"
I present to you the cyborg prefect of Santa Cruz, Ruben Costas, and his scheme of national domination.
Link sent to me by Jonathan.
Okay, now that you've pondered those images and sounds, I can assure you that they were not created by Claudius Lestat de Orleans y Montevideo, although I must that was my first thought. Semi-explanation after the jump.
Apparently the phrase "All Your Base are Belong to Us" comes from a Japanese videogame and various internauts took it and ran:
"All your base are belong to us" (sometimes referred to as "All Your Base" and often abbreviated AYBABTU, AYBAB2U, or simply AYB) is a phrase that sparked an Internet phenomenon in 2001 and 2002. The text is taken from the opening cut-scene of the English version of the Japanese video game Zero Wing. The translation of this cut-scene was so poor many found it humorous. The game was originally produced by Toaplan in 1989. Groups of game enthusiasts began digitally altering various images to include the phrase.
Here's a GWB vs Osama "All Your Base" video.
Posted by eduardo at 11:09 PM | Comments (1)
Abril 06, 2006
BBC's Bolivia Piece
Hat tip to Alvaro (I didn't realize I didn't have him on my blogroll before), the BBC has a beautifully shot piece on Evo Morales and Bolivia (it comes on at approximately the 13th minute). I don't quite agree with Alvaro that Morales' rhetoric was hate-filled, but he makes an interesting point in that a lot of this new administration is symbolic. In the past, indigenous peoples were not even allowed in the central Plaza Murillo, and now cholitas with polleras are roaming the halls of the Palace. We've already seen as many had predicted, that Morales' main challenge will be with the social movements and other groups. Already, some indigenous groups feel slighted as they were left off the MAS candidate lists for the Constituent Assembly.
Posted by eduardo at 11:52 PM | Comments (0)
Abril 04, 2006
Names
Tonight was the deadline for the political parties and other groups to submit their list of candidates for the July elections for Constituents. Many of the political parties supposedly presented the best and brightest for candidates in the December elections, so who will be on the ballot come July. Will there be "big names"? Unidad Nacional chief Samuel Doria Medina will be on the ballot. PODEMOS will not submit the names of Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga or Maria Rene Duchen, that group's ballot in the Presidential elections. Proposals in Congress were presented to extend this deadline, however, no agreement was met.
Posted by eduardo at 12:20 AM | Comments (1)