As of today, we are officially on EAP. Emergency Action Plan.
First stage, we stay in site and don’t go anywhere. When it gets worse, we progress to regional consolidations, departmental consolidations, then the whole country consolidates and we make way for Paraguay!
What exactly is happening that is putting us on EAP and giving us our very own chopper reservations? MAY 4th! May 4th, if you don’t follow Bolivian news, will be a turning point for this country. It is the date for the Autonomía referendum in which Bolivians will seek departmental autonomy (A department is loosely equivalent to a state in the U.S.).
A little background on the situation (I will try to be objective as possible. But remember, I do live in Kamba-land):
Bolivia is made up of nine departments. Each has its own municipal and departmental governments but these governments do not have control over their own money or their own resources. All money is sent to La Paz- the administrative capital of Bolivia, and from there it is distributed throughout the country. In other words, the money that the people of the department of Santa Cruz earns is not reinvested in their department but sent to help poorer areas, such as Oruro and Potosí. Santa Cruz is the richest department in all of Bolivia and is therefore the strongest advocator of Autonomía. They want control of their resources- (Santa Cruz is one of the largest suppliers of petroleum in South America)- they want control of the money they generate, and they want to be able to make decisions without checking in with La Paz every ten minutes.
Right now, supposedly seven of the nine departments of Bolivia support Autonomía. The two holding out are Potosí and Oruro. These are the areas where there was a lot of mining going on until the mines dried up. Now they are the poorest areas of Bolivia with the largest indigenous populations. The residents of these areas claim that without the money Bolivia had made through mining, Santa Cruz would not be what it is today. It could only have developed through the money earned by mining and invested into this city. What the people of Potosí and Oruro are saying is that they are afraid that now that they’ve run out of natural resources, Santa Cruz is going to leave them high and dry as well. It is only right that after all the money they sent to Santa Cruz, that Santa Cruz would now take care of them.
As far as governmental matters, President Evo Morales came into power in 2005. He was the first-ever indigenous president and won the election with overwhelming support of the people. He is the leader of the Cocaleros (an organization of coca producers- coca is the raw material to make cocaine.) He represents the indigenous majority of the country. Estimates are that 60-80 percent of Bolivia’s population is indigenous. Because of the US war on drugs, Evo and the US have never gotten along. He wants to legalize coca production while the US feels that coca production leads to increased cocaine production. The coca leaf has many medicinal properties and has been used traditionally here for ages. It is like Red Bull in a leaf. You would be hard pressed to enter into any farming community and not see huge wads of coca leaves stuffed into the workers cheeks.
Anyhow, the war on coca is a whole other story. Back to Evo. Evo’s political party is known as the Movimiento al Socialismo, or Movement towards Socialism (MAS). His supporters are known as Masistas. Evo and his Masistas are not supporters of Autonomía. They do not want the departments to be in control of anything. Evo’s major political allies are Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and the Castros of Cuba. To keep from getting too political I will not quote some of the things that he has said about the US gov, but they are not pretty.
Originally Evo had the support of the indigenous in the country. Then though his policies, his intentions of turning the nation socialist, and the claim that he has now started a war on the middle-class, among many other things, he has lost a lot of support in the country. He does not want Autonomía. He says that the vote to take place is unconstitutional. That Autonomía is illegal. That the military and police will not enforce the results since the vote is illegal to begin with. That many international organizations, such as the European Union, the United Nations, the Organizations of the American States, and so forth will reject the decision for Autonomía.
It’s hard to say what will happen. I live in Autonomía-ville. We have green and white hats, flags, t-shirts, stickers, graffiti, banners, rallies, and meetings, all saying vote “SÍ AUTONOMÍA.” There is a truck with speakers bigger than me circling the plaza blasting “Sí, sí, sí, yo soy autonomista. Sí, sí, sí, Autonomía sí.” They have remixed the jingle to reggaeton, to salsa, to meringue, to kumbia beats. The words invade my mind and I find myself whistling Autonomía songs as I walk down the street.
The autonomistas say that the vote is already in the bag. There is nothing the government can do. Evo says he will not step down as president. He must be removed from office dead. There will certainly be blockades in the roads, protests, and strikes. It will overall get craZy! Autonomistas claim that if the government won’t recognize their vote and their choice to be independent, they will split off and become their own nation. There is threat of civil war. The US Ambassador has already left the country- apparently he doesn’t like to stick around for the fireworks.
Peace Corps has got plans in place for us, and if need be we will evacuate to Paraguay. We are on the brink of a momentous occasion. We are about to write history. And I can’t believe I’m here to see it!!
The situation sounds pretty serious as told here, or anywhere else you may find news of Bolivia. But if you ask me, Tammy Truong- Peace Corps Volunteer in Santa Cruz Bolivia, with an ear to the ground and an eye on the news, I will promise you that I do not feel like I am in danger; I do not feel scared or worried. What I do think is that I will finish my two year service and I will be doing it in Bolivia, whether I like it or not.
If you have questions, comments, and/or concerns, please direct them to my Comments page. Or email.
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7 comments:
Hello Tammy, nice blog.
I have a few things to say about what you last posted. Since you aer writing to a USAmerican public which does not know much about Bolivia I take the liberty of clarifying a few things. I hope it's all right with you, anyhow.
First.It's "Camba" not Kamba (by the way I am from Cochabamba so I take no offense for the misspelling, just a small correction.)
Next. The money that comes for the natural resources and taxes all over the country goes to La Paz, but it is not "to help" the poorer departments. It simply is managed from La Paz and what usually happens is that it STAYS in La Paz, specifically, lining the pockets of the politicians in office (this tiem it's MAS' turn).
Santa Cruz is not the strongest advocator of autonomy BECAUSE it is richer than the other departments. It is because, before it became so "rich", it was the last territory in the minds of politicians since the independence of this country.
The mines did not dry out in the western departments, they simply stopped producing due to lack of investment.
Santa Cruz is what it is today because many people from the west came and invested in farming. This department was small, with dirt roads even around the Plaza and ox driven carts until about 20 years ago, more or less.
"Indigenous Majority" that's an artificial concept. Let me track back a little... we had a census a few years ago where they asked everyone about their racial/cultural origin (actually the question was more of a "how do you consider yourself?" kind of question); the choices were:
* white
* black
* indigenous
* none
You have walked around the streets in Santa Cruz, you've probably gone to Cochabamba, as well... ¿did you notice anyone that could fit into the "none" category? I, for one, checked that box when the census came to my house.
The truth is that the majority in Bolivia is "mestizo" or mixed; not only racially, but more so, culturally. If the census would have given the choice "mestizo" we would be talking about different statistics today.
I live in Autonomía-ville too. And I'm all for it, even though I am not "camba", I consider myself a cruceño just for living here.
No one wants to split up this country and make Santa Cruz independent. That would be crazy.
Our main market for just about ALL the products that are made in Santa Cruz are the western departments. Who in his right mind would prefer to export in stead of working the market as locals.
And for our exporting goods, our main buyers are Perú, Chile and Ecuador, not Brazil or Argentina. Who in his right mind would want to go over two borders (rather than one) to export?
There is no threat of civil war. That's jus Evo Morales' paranoid rethoric echoed by all the people who are his instruments in propaganda and miss information.
"...I will promise you that I do not feel like I am in danger; I do not feel scared or worried."
Nor is there any reason for you to be worried. You will be part of the biggest Democratic Celebration in Bolivia's history since the return to Democracy in 1985 after decades of (US funded) military dictatorships.
Thanks for your time and space.
Have a great Campaign closing day at the Cristo Redentor today at 4 PM, a great Labor Day tomorrow, and a wonderful autonomic weekend.
Sunday (may-day) night, we PARTY
Like I said, things are about to get crazy. So my commentaries may or may not be true. What Pablo says may or may not be true, which is why I use words like ¨claim xxx¨. It all depends on where you live and who you talk to. That´s the beauty of Bolivia!
The only other comment I have to make is that Kamba or Camba is correct, as is Kolla or Colla. I read it in ¨Whispering in the Giant´s Ear¨ by William Powers.
Sorry, but Mr. Powers is not an authority on spelling bolivian words. Kolla and Colla are the same, both derive from andean vocabulary.
Camba, on the other hand, has a different ethimology.
But that is not the important part of my comment, it was just an observation on form, not depth.
I rather expected something else from your part, after all.
it's "etymology" not "ethimology" and i AM the authority on spelling of english words. ;) spelling or politics, there are always two (or twenty) sides to every story which is why comments pages are great ways to share those sides. but please do not claim universal truth...we are all full of 100% propaganda. some are just better at conveying it as truth vs bullshit.
i for one support MAS because i choose to look at the scenario as a result of structural violence going back to colonialism. first, there isn't a single census that has full credibility. not even the US. (i threw mine away even though they said i could be arrested.) agreed that race/ethnicity is very ambiguous. but i highly doubt that many pure indigenous were even reached cuz they live at this street address: calle....que calle? i live on a fuckin mountain! but that's just my take...also there is no reliable external quality assessment on how well censuses are done, b/c it's a waste of time in my opinion. second, the indigenous are the original inhabitants of bolivia. judging by your lovely photo (which admitedly could be a random dude) you clearly are not indigenous. you are bolivian for sure, but in my opinion, it is the indigenous of much of south america who were collectively oppressed and were raped of their way of life by blatant social injustice spearheaded by the spanish conquistadors. now, it is very convenient for those in power (thanks to hefty portions of spanish blood resulting in white phenotype) to say "that was so long ago...stop living in the past! i didn't kill/rape/baptize anyone!" so for me, evo is THE example which i hope spreads to all of latin america...the power returning to the rightful ORIGINAL inhabitants of the land. now i'm not saying that indigenous leaders are inherently superior to those of spanish decent, but i will almost always support the indigenous leader to be the starting point (it's like hitting the reset button). i knew his attempt to rectify past injustices would be met with massive criticism but i respect him for trying to do what's just.
Thanks for the correction, Paul, I was confused about the spelling of that word from the beginning.
Thank you also for your thoughts about my picture, I'm flattered. And thank you VERY much for saying that "I'm bolivian for sure". That was exactly the point I was trying to make.
I hope the day will come when people stop trying to divide us into indigenous and non-indigenous, white or non-white or whatever: we're all bolivians and we should try to build our nationality upon our shared assets rather than race, ethnicity or human colors.
Yes, the indigenous were abused (to use a weak word) in the past. The indigenous from North America got the shorter end of the stick with their anglo conquistadors; but this should not lead us to having the former victims as the present abusers. All that 'eye for an eye' rethoric must stop.
Another thing, Evo Morales is not indigenous; don't be mislead by the phenotype.
Coming from the country with arguably the most diversity (and being a contributor to one of the minorities), i would have to disagree with your desire for a colorblind society. acknowledging the divisions is the first step towards acceptance and appreciation of our differences (yes, it can also be the first step towards ethnic conflict). if we don't acknowledge differences and accept them, then we start trying to assimilate the "weaker" groups (which has a false appearance of peace) and it becomes a survival of the fittest scenario (assimilate or be pushed into reservations and/or the mountainside), much like N. America as you described. it's an absolute atrocity what happened to the indigenous of N. America. the indigenous of bolivia have been steadily declining in their position in society since imperialism but fortunately, they are still putting up a fight to not be completely oppressed as a second rate citizen where their unique culture is not seen as a significant part of Bolivian identity. for ex., if all races/ethnicities are bolivian, then all the unique cultures, histories, and religions should have been taught in every public school since their independence.
i find it shocking that you would compare MAS's current political agenda as an "eye for an eye" approach. if that were true, then evo would be organizing massacres against non-supporters. then he would promote organized raping and forced converting of religions. unless evo is organizing some secret mass killings (much like the spanish-blooded, US-backed presidential predecessors), i'd say he isn't coming close to returning the favor. it's about rectifying the past through social justice, not social vengeance.
i think we should arrange for a molecular dna test to see if he's indigenous. but even if he's not, he clearly had an upbringing (culturally, morals/values, lifestyle,etc.) that was heavily indigenous which enabled him to politically mobilize amongst the indigenous...he has lived in the shoes of much of the indigenous of bolivia, and is a legitimate leader of the indigenous movement regardless of the results of his dna test.
Hey Pablo, my Pablo, Kenya Pablo, if I get close enough to get a blood sample from Evo are you well versed in running the ¨molecular DNA test?¨
Lol, what a nerd!!!!! And I say that with all the cariño in the world. ;)
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