No digas que conces el mundo si no conoces Moro Moro

Happy...Chicken Day?

Well, ok it doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as Turkey day, but it was still a pretty tasty member of the fowl family over which to give our thanks to God for the abundance of the year. Thanksgiving for this rag-tag batch of MCCers from all over the place (ok, just Canada the US and Zimbabwe), came on Saturday, but the preparations began on Friday. So we cooked and baked and prepared for 2 days, the shopping the bread and pie baking, peeling potatoes and snapping beans.




Usually I just make the mashed potatoes (a duty which my brother Bob has taken over in my absence) so this was my first true experience in being responsible for all of Thanksgiving…a rather daunting task indeed. We started out the day with apple dumplings and icecream and argentine sweet bread, but the full Thanksgiving meal boasted roasted chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy (a mysterious miracle), sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, jello salad, pumpkin pie (yes, it was delicious perfection), and peanutbutter pie, complete with homemade bread. Thankfully it was truly tasty and worthy of the gut-wrenching state of filled-ness that follows eating more than you should because you just can’t stop yourself from gorging yourself on the once a year wonder that is Thanksgiving - an event made possible by teamwork, good company and good food :)

The right combination...

It's hard to understand why things happen the way they do. Life is such a complex combination of conditional circumstances that change in unexpected ways depending on what we bring and how we react to them. And when those circumstances overwhelm what we bring, our own reactions prove disappointing. I don't know what the "right" combination of circumstances is for me, even if I know what I bring. I don't know how or what will work well with my jumbled up coctail of personality traits, flaws and talents. Sometimes that not knowing leads to unhealthy combinations and I don't do so well and neither do the circumstances. So I guess it means waiting them out for a better day and hoping next time I choose better. But for now I just wish I was as invisible as these circumstances make me feel....

Learning Tour adventures

This past week has been quite the adventure. Sunday morning arrived the learning tour, greeted by a bright sunny Santa Cruz day. After a 26 hour journey and despite a 4 hour time difference, the 11 weary travelers were in good spirits. These fine folks from the West Coast came to see the fruit of their labor – they are folks who work to organize MCC relief sales in their regions and were coming to see the MCC work their hard work helps make possible.

After getting settled in and resting we were off to the Sunday afternoon market. By this point the sky warned of rain, but we were not to be deterred. The rains came down and the wind kicked up, we got wet, but still spirits were not dampened. After the market we were off to Alexander’s Café for dinner and a good cup of coffee. Folks then headed to a baptismal service at the local Mennonite church, arriving home to rest at 10 pm after a long, but good day.

Monday morning came bright and early. A quick jaunt off to the airport to pickup the one lost piece of luggage and then it was off the Guardería Samuelito to eat lunch with the staff and kids. Since it had rained quite heavily the day before, getting to our next stop was a bit of a challenge. We were headed to the Plan…and I wasn’t sure I had memorized every twist and turn of the micro route to get to where I needed to go and the micro driver head never been to where we were going. My faithful learning tour Laurie and I were a bit concerned, but once we got our bearings there was no stopping us! We arrived safely at San Silvestre just in time to learn about MCC’s Urban Program and then off to visit Centro Menno, the resource center for Bolivia’s more than 50,000 colony Mennonites. Dinner rolled around and time for the always helpful and interesting chat with veteran MCCer Phil Bender and then a bed time snack of coffee and cookies to end the day.

On the way to Moro Moro...

The following day, Tuesday, we were off bright and early in our little rented micro, headed to Moro Moro. The heavens smiled down on us with a gorgeous day to highlight the natural beauty of the already ostentatious scenery of mountainous green and brown earth tones and the occasional donkey, of course. A quick picnic in a small town plaza and back on the road we went. We were making excellent time with our fantastic driver at the helm…until we hit a 2 hour roadblock for construction. It gave us a chance to stretch our legs and get out of the micro after 6 hours in the micro. A couple of hours later, and numerous twisty-turns in the road, Moro Moro appeared through the misty fog. We arrived in Moro Moro just in time to get settled in and have a chili and baked potato dinner with the folks of MCC’s Rural Program.

A herd of goats joins us on the hike!

We awoke Wednesday to a rainy, cold day. The once dusty streets had converted into mud, but there was no stopping us from going further up the mountain to visit an MCC water project in the small village of La Senda. Our faithful little micro finally reached an impasse and we had no choice but to go the rest of the way on foot, a 40 minute hike through the mud and the rain. We arrived at La Senda and ducked out of the rain into the mud brick house to dry off and enjoy some home made wheat bread with a steaming hot cup of api (a purple corn drink with sugar and cinnamon). After a few hours we made our way back to La Abra where we had left our micro and after a first hand trial of MCC’s dry latrines we were off to Moro Moro once more for a quick lunch and then on to Samaipata.

A view from the driver's seat...

The road back to Samaipata, now quite muddy, was quite an adventure to navigate for our micro driver. The micro slipped around quite a bit on that precarious road, but gracias a Dios, with our heart rates a bit elevated, we made it safe and sound to Samaipata about 4 hours later.

Samaipata is an adorable little mountain town that has become home to many folks from other places, in large part because of its breath taking scenery and its paradise-like climate. We had the pleasure of staying at an organic farm with guest housing, called La Vispera.

The Gorgeous Gardens of La Vispera

La Vispera is a charming, idyllic place with gorgeous herb and vegetable gardens after my mother’s own heart. The owner, a very friendly Dutch gentleman named Pieter, was most gracious to us and the view was as good as the organic breakfast we were served the next morning. After coffee, a trek around the plaza and lunch, we headed up to the pre-incan ruins known as “El Fuerte” and then back on the road for the 3 hour drive to Santa Cruz. We arrived back safely last evening just in time to go eat some argentine steak at Los Lomitos (I had grilled vegetables and cheesy rice :).

El Fuerte

The view from El Fuerte

The adventure continued for the group today as they visited a Mennonite Colony and tomorrow they will be off to La Paz to visit a Ten Thousand Villages partner. My part of the adventure ended on Thursday evening, but it has been a real pleasure to share part of my week with such fine folks!

Ponderings on theodicy

Two weeks have past since my visit home and I am now feeling once again acclimated to life in Santa Cruz, but this time it is different. My soul feels more at rest these days, not just because the political tension has eased, but because my own tension of being in an unhealthy space for me is coming to a close. The proverbial "light at the end of the tunnel" is in sight and I have hope, even though my future is anything but certain, that something meaningful lies ahead.
Change is stressful, even good change, but I am looking forward to starting new again.

This past week has brought to mind theodicy - one of those big words for one of life's big questions: how do we understand God as good in a world where so many bad things happen? This was the question we were pondering this past week at Friday morning Bible study. The answer most often suggested was that we need to be faithful - that God is testing us.... But....if God is the one doing these things to us, then what is the point of satan?

I find it rather disturbing that we would rather attribute the bad things that happen to us in the world to God, who is good, than to the forces of evil... It seems we only relegate spiritual attacks to satan and God is responsible for the evil that happens to us in the physical realm....

This makes no sense to me. God did not test Job - God allowed Job to be tested...by satan. God did not kill Job's family or cause Job to be afflicted by disease - satan did. God restored Job's health and Job's family...

I struggle to wrap my brain around the idea that God kills people with disease and natural disasters and wars. I have even heard people say that Katrina was God's judgment - a thought I find both repulsive and offensive. If God punishes people for being sinful, then what atonement is there? What grace have we received?

God as the author of evil and harm in the world is nonsensical to me. I do not think "God does things to us" when bad things happen. We can't control so much of what does happen to us, because the choices others make will affect us and the choices we each make affect others and we live in a world that is not perfect...

I believe God sustains us and loves us and uses the hard times to make us stronger. I'm not convinced that everything that happens happens for a reason. I say this because sometimes people just do really stupid things - I think God in God's goodness can use our stupidities for good, but I don't think that means they were intended to occur by some pre-mapped out "plan" or "will" God has for us, because if that is the case then wouldn't we be little more than puppets in God's puppet show?

I think God's all powerfulness is perhaps best demonstrated in God's restraint and vulnerability... I know it sounds perhaps heretical to describe God as vulnerable, but I believe that when we hurt ourselves and others that causes God pain and God chooses to be vulnerable, to feel that pain by loving us enough to give us free will.

I posit the suffering in the world that we experience, the bad things that happen to good folks, is not the will of an all-powerful, judgmental God, but the very opposite - exactly what God never wanted to happen, but that God helps us through. So maybe we should give God the credit for getting us through the bad stuff and even re-creating the bad stuff into good, instead of blaming God for the evil and violence that often results from a collective human choice to love self more than the common good (at the root of violence is the self...), to love self more than God (satan did this...). Maybe it's time to blame evil for evil and to recognize that sometimes we contribute to our own suffering and the suffering of others by making less than stellar choices...

Bad things happen to good people...but why blame God for that?

An Update on Bolivian Politics...

Hi folks, so I promised a long overdue update on the situation here in Bolivia, and since Jim Shultz does a much better job then I - here is his article for you from a couple of weeks ago. Happy reading!
http://www.democracyctr.org/blog/

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Morales and Opposition Agree to a January 25 Vote on New Constitution

Just before 1pm – before a crowd 100,000 strong, that packed Plaza Murillo so tightly that even elbow room was scarce – President Evo Morales signed into law a measure setting a January vote on his party's embattled proposal for a new constitution.Approval of the law caps a process that began more than two years ago with election of delegates to a constitution-writing Constituent Assembly. That process ran through a national battle over how many votes should be required to approve it; violence over demands by Sucre that it be named the country's capital; a political showdown in a voter referendum last August; and finally a week of violence in September in Pando and Santa Cruz that left more than 30 people dead.The vote by Congress today was supported by more than 2/3 of its members and by Morales' MAS party along with the three major parties of the opposition, PODEMOS, UN, and MNR. The vote on the constitution is set for January 25, 2009.
[Here is a link to The Democracy Center's November 2007 briefing paper: Re-Founding Bolivia: A Nation's Struggle Over Constitutional Reform and other articles we've published on the constitutional reform process.]How did Bolivia Get Here?How did Bolivia – a nation so polarized that serious analysts spoke of 'civil war' – arrive at a place of such startling agreement (at least on the decision to hold a vote)? Three events were key.The first was the August 10 elections. Before then the political duel between Morales and his opponents, most notably the renegade governors, seemed roughly balanced. It was an election launched by one of Morales' fiercest opponents among the governors, Cochabamba's Manfred Reyes Villa. But when the votes were counted, 67% of Bolivia's electorate sided with the President and both Reyes Villa and the governor of La Paz, another Morales adversary, were trounced out of office.After months of the opposition talking tough it turned out that all their bluster had only solidified Morales' base more broadly behind him.The second event that led to today's agreement was Bolivia's own version of 9/11, the massacre on that date in Pando that left more than 30 campesino backers of Morales dead. Coming on the heels of opposition mobs in Santa Cruz torching and looting public buildings there, the opposition combined its loss at the polls with a loss of whatever moral authority it might have had up until then. The balance of political clout tilted quickly and heavily toward Morales.Finally, there is the intervention just after the Pando massacre of the other South American Presidents. Led by the two women, Cristina Fernandez of Argentina and Michelle Bachalet of Chile, the continent's leaders wasted no time in weighing in diplomatically. At a summit held in Chile with Morales at the center the Presidents made clear that he had their support, told opposition leaders to forget any dreams they might have had about independent deals to sell gas and oil from their departments, and called on all sides to negotiate.Those negotiations began in Cochabamba nearly a month ago and stretched into La Paz this week, given added urgency by a 200 kilometer march to the capital of tens of thousands of Morales supporters demanding a national vote on the constitution. Opponents had criticized the march as it headed toward La Paz, deeming it a violent mob.But as the multitudes camped overnight in the historic plaza at the steps of Congress, the sounds were not of smashing windows, but of music and song. A starker contrast could not be found between that scene and the one hosted by Morales opponents just over a year ago in Sucre, when they used violence to shut down the Constituent Assembly.What Did Evo Give Away?It will take a while to get the details on exactly what was negotiated in the last days in La Paz. At first glance it seems like plenty.Of the 411 articles in the proposed constitution, more than 100 were modified in some way according to Bolivian news reports. Opposition leader Jorge Quiroga of PODEMOS, Morales' chief opponent in the 2005 election, was boasting on CNN mid-afternoon that his party had secured more than 200 different changes. Among them are significant concessions from MAS on provisions dealing with the media and establishment of mechanisms for "social control" of public agencies, something that had been a key demand from Morales backers.Bolivian news reports also say that Morales has agreed to recognize and support the autonomy statutes approved in four departments. One newspaper, Los Tiempos, also reported that the key issue of land reform had been delegated to "future action." What that means precisely is more than unclear. The devil is in the details and the details have yet to be fully analyzed.The issue, however, that leapt to the forefront in the final negotiations was one simple to understand and close to the heart of the politicians on both sides – presidential re-election. Under Bolivia's current constitution presidents may not serve consecutive terms. It is five years than out, though they can seek to return to office five years later, as Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada did in 2002.Originally Morales and MAS wanted unlimited opportunities for re-election. That eventually got negotiated, in the document approved by the Constituent Assembly, down to letting the President seek just one additional term. But since it was not to include the five-year span Morales is currently serving, the chance at two additional terms translated out to the possibility of a Morales presidency through 2019, a poison scenario for the opposition.The compromise worked out this week, and the basis for Congress' approval, is a concession by Morales that the term Morales would seek would count. If approved in January, the new constitution would allow Morales to campaign for just one more consecutive term, in elections that would be held in December 2009. That limits Morales' potential presidential horizon to 2014, a substantial concession.Two Long RoadsBolivia's constitutional story is one of two long roads.The first is the one that led to today. The demand for a constituent assembly, which goes back decades in many indigenous communities in Bolivia, was envisioned originally as a process that excluded politicians and political parties. The idea was to create, at a national level, a process akin to community decision making at the local level. The people would be sovereign and the politicians and parties would have to sit on the sidelines and watch.That vision of things went out the window fast and early when, shortly after taking office in 2006, Morales and MAS had to negotiate with their opponents in Congress to win approval of a law convening the vote for delegates to that Assembly. In a deal mutually beneficial to politicians of all parties, they were not only let back into the process but put in charge of it. Candidates had to be affiliated with a political party to run, and the Assembly ended up looking pretty much like Congress, but with another name and a less-decorated meeting venue.The scrambled negotiations this month between Morales and the Congress put the political icing on a political cake. In the end it was not an Assembly of the people or a process of long deliberation that did the final sculpting of Bolivia's likely new Magna Carta. It was politicians acting in haste to cut a deal.The other long road is the one that comes next. In any nation, but in Bolivia especially, the distance between words on paper and actual changes in people's day-to-day lives is measured not in weeks or months but in years and decades. What difference a new constitution will make in terms of broader economic opportunity, deeper accountability of government, or greater social justice is unclear.Nevertheless, for those who have invested great hope and emotion in the fight for a constitution they want to call their own, today is a historic day in Bolivia. Given Morales' strong backing in August, it seems unlikely that he and his supporters will have trouble securing the simple majority support they will need in January. So the constitution approved by the Congress seems clearly headed for enactment.It is also a historic day for those who favor peace over conflict. Once again, after having looked over into the abyss, the nation has inched itself back onto the ledge. In Bolivia the "most dangerous road in the world" is not the one that foreigners dare on mountain bikes that stretches from La Paz to Coroico. The most dangerous road in Bolivia is the one that marks the route for political change. Today that road looks both a little more hopeful, and a little safer as well.

Crossroad Rest Stop

“…[S]tand at the crossroads, and look and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls…” Jeremiah 6:16b (NRSV)

The words of the prophet Jeremiah seem most fitting for the place in life in which I currently find myself. Standing, looking, and asking are three actions that often imply waiting – an activity I do not particularly enjoy, perhaps because it feels like I am not doing anything when I should be doing something, which converts stillness from a restful state to one of agitation.

However, my agitation with stillness was eased by the following quote from renowned peace scholar John Paul Lederach who, in his most recent book, The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace, states “Stillness is not inactivity. It is the presence of disciplined activity without movement…” But activity without movement is an elusive concept to grasp, especially when I find myself in a location where I do not understand my place.

But Lederach echoes Jeremiah’s words saying: “Slow down, Stop. Watch what moves around you. Feel what moves in you.” So I “stand at the crossroads” and wait for direction, for movement, for understanding.

Lederach identifies this urgency to discover our place as “the soul of place” that calls us “…to understand the nature of the place where we find ourselves and the nature of our place in that location,” something that has escaped me in the past months, leaving me with a greater sense of restlessness than stillness.

Despite feeling as though my “soul of place” continues to call without rest, I am not without hope. Lederach states: “Those who have struggled and continue to wrestle with ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Where am I?’ nurture a sense of awe and connection. They build the soul of place. They come to see themselves as part of something, not as in control of something.”

And so I am trying to come to terms with not being in control, and to see myself as part of something bigger and to be still in the waiting for “the ancient paths, where the good way lies” to become clear. I don’t know what those paths will look like for me on the map of life or where they will lead me, but I trust the words of the prophet that, if I walk “where the good way lies,” my soul will find rest.





.

Images from home

An escape to nature: Santiago de Chiquitos

Friday afternoon we (my SALTers, my friend Delicia and I) finally managed to escape the city of Santa Cruz for more tranquil tierra in Santiago de Chiquitos - a mere 12 hour train ride away. Unfortunately half the group wasn't feeling so good before setting out and so one stayed behind, but those who went were able to enjoy a relaxing weekend away from the noise and pollution of the city.


This is the gorgeous view out to the "Escuelita" - a remodeled school house that now serves as the little hotel where we stayed for the weekend.


For a country girl, Santiago has twice been my oasis from the static of the city. Oh, yes cows and chickens. Home, home on the range! Nothing like the smell of fresh country air and the feel of red dirt under foot!

The life cycle, from adorable little chick to fried chicken for lunch....but they sure are cute!

Saturday we carried our tired, train weary bodies up the "Cerro" - a good 2 hour hike up a rocky terrain, overlooking the valley.

With each passing day I become more convinced that human beings were not intended to be isolated from nature. The work of God's genius is life giving, enriching our existence and our experience of the world itself. (From left to right: Caleb Detweiler, Sithabile Ndlovu, Peter Wigginton, Heidi Banman, Kathleen Vitt, and Toni Hiebert).

The weekend ended on a good, but sad note; we left behind Peter - our SALTer who is working with the Youth Orchestra in Santiago. The rest of us made it safely back to the city without incident - except me getting stung by a "peto" (a vicious little bee) and my hand then swelling up like a pumpkin - but nothing a little red mud can't heal!

A Prayer for the peace of Bolivia

Holy Father, Lord of life and history,
we make ours the words of your son Jesus:
"My peace I leave with you, my peace I give you."

With an open and grateful heart
we invoke you today in this Bolivian land
blessed with every kind of material and spiritual good

Disposses our spirit of hate, of violence,
of resentment and of division between brothers.

Help us to surpass fear and mistrust,
to cure the wounds of our past,
to surpass our differences and unkindnesses,
to overcome the errors and injustices against
the most poor and marginalized.

Concede to us the grace of your forgiveness
with the end that we too
will be able to forgive one another
and together construct a better Bolivia
via roads of reconciliation, of truth,
of justice, of fraternity and of peace.

...We place in your hands our patria
so that in her a lasting peace might reign.

This prayer was taken from the Catholic "Conferencia Episcopal de Bolivia"

Conflict and a call to Peace

After a week of violent protests, tensions continue to rise here in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The press is reporting the deployment of military troops from La Paz and Cochabamba to the eastern departments of Pando and Santa Cruz.

Until this point, President Evo Morales has publicly prohibited the armed forces from using arms against the Bolivian people, which has helped to temper the loss of life, but not prevent it completely.

In the spirit of the call to peace and dialogue issued by Bolivian Cardinal Julio Terrazas, there is encouraging news of dialogue between the president and the governors of the eastern states of Bolivia.

Please pray for peace in Bolivia, for an end to the conflict, and a mutual effort to construct peace, a wholistic peace that promotes the dignity and well-being of humankind.

For more news reports see the following links:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7614784.stm
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/09/12/bolivia.stateofseige/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

More good links to check out...

Here are two good articles fromt the Democracy Center - an NGO working out of Cochabamba...
http://www.democracyctr.org/blog/

Friday, September 12, 2008

Violence in Bolivia
This week violent confrontations in Bolivia have leapt from one eastern department to another, like sparks in a wild fire, or a demonic plan.On Tuesday it was Santa Cruz, where the Unión Juvenil Cruceñista converted itself into a mob, buring and looting government offices and the offices of the phone company Entel. Wednesday the violence spread to Tarija, when a mob of so-called "civicos" invaded the Mercado Campesino to destroy the offices of a local indiginous organization (CIDOB), leaving at least 80 people wounded.Today the sparks of Bolivan-on-Bolivian violence blew up into fire once more in the department of Pando. A concentration of campesinos were headed to the city of Cobija to debate how they should respond to violent events in the country's east. They were met about 20 miles out of town by functionaries of the Governor who used heavy equipment to dig a hole in the road and block their entry. Soon after the standoff turned into a flurry of bullets leaving 7 campesinos and one of the Governor's people dead.Where all this is headed next is guesswork.Booted AmbassadorsFollowing the violence in Santa Cruz Tuesday, President Morales put in a call to Bolivia's Foreign Minister who was in a meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia, Phillip Goldberg. He called, according to press reports, to pass along the message that Bolivia was invoking its right to send Goldberg back to the U.S., an announcement he made on televsion shortly afterwards. Morales blamed Goldberg and the U.S. for inciting the Santa Cruz violence, citing the Ambassador's recent visit to two of the opposition governors.This afternoon the U.S. moved into "an eye for an eye" mode and dismissed Bolivia's U.S. Ambassador, Gustavo Guzman from Washington as well. "In response to the unwarranted action and in accordance with the Vienna Convention, we have officially informed the government of Bolivia of our decision to declare Ambassador Gustavo Guzman persona non grata,'' Bloomberg News quotes a State Department Spokeswoman.Hours later Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez jumped into the send-the-diplomats- packing competition, calling on the U.S. Ambassador in Caracas to leave as well. "Go to hell, shit yankees, we are a dignified people, go to hell 100 times," Chavez shouted at a political rally, according to a Reuters report. He also invited the Bush Administration to do the same to Venezuela's ambassador in Washington.So far that means four ambassadors packing suitcases tonight, a flurry of last minute tickets going north and south on American Airlines, and that much less diplomacy at a time when diplomacy would be a useful thing.The Case for Foreign Diplomatic InterventionAmidst all the trilateral ousting of diplomats, the more sobering question still remains: Who will mediate in a Bolivian conflict that is bad and getting worse?There are some essential facts we can agree on, I think:First, it is quite unclear how this new round of violence will come to a peaceful end. The mobs of the eastern provinces are escalating their handiwork in blood and fire, not curtailing it. Key leaders in the burning departments are inciting more of the same, not calling for cooler heads. President Morales is not backing down on his resistance to the eastern leaders' demands nor can he send in the army to force his adversaries to back down. Television images of one set of Bolivian youths (the "civico" mobs) beating the crap out of other Bolivian youths (the Army's young conscripts) is a pale preview if Evo militarizes. Absent some form of mediation between the warring factions, Bolivia is headed toward an abyss.Second, there is no one, no one, in Bolivia who can mediate. The Catholic Church lost that broad trust long ago. The Defensor del Pueblo isn't viewed as neutral and doesn't have the weight. There is no actor in politics, academia, or any other sector in Bolivia who has the clout.Mediation is critical right now and it can only come from outside the country. And as a practical matter that mediation needs to come in a diplomatic form and it needs to come from the two Bolivian neighbors most affected most directly affected by the crisis – Brazil and Argentina. Each depends heavily on Bolivian gas exports and it is how the revenue from those exports is shared that is the center (at the moment) of the violence.The two governments ought to act now to do the following. First, they should jointly call on all sides in Bolivia to cease the violence and honor a month-long cooling off period. They should then anoint a creative bilateral team of people that can garner wide respect in Bolivia – from human rights leaders to business people – to come and consult with both sides and suggest potential compromises.There are some who will call this proposal naïve, noting that Bolivia's conflicts are not so easily solved. There are others who won't be able to get past loyalties to one side or the other – "Evo and the people should not back down to racist pressures," or, "The people of the east are trying to block the advent of Evo-authoritarianism."But if you are walking down the street and stumble upon two people fighting each other with knives, you can sit around and debate who started it, or put that debate off until after you have separated them and stopped them from killing each other.With nearly a dozen people dead, socres wounded, and more violence on the way, the most important task at the moment is to break up the fight. And diplomatic intervention from Bolivia's calmer neighbors is just about the last shot Bolivia has.
posted by The Democracy Center at 12:19 AM 11 comments links to this post

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

The Face of Autonomy
Well, now we know what Santa Cruz leaders had in mind when they demanded to govern their region of Bolivia without national interference.Today, as part of a regional temper tantrum over their demand for a bigger slice of the nation's gas and oil revenue, champions of Santa Cruz autonomy have:Sacked and torched the local headquarters of Entel, the phone company. [The theft of all those Entel pre-pay phone cards was a particular contribution to democracy.]Invaded and taken over the local offices of the national authorities dealing with taxes and land issues.Engaged in a six-hour battle with soldiers.Stole some guns.This is just a part of today's fine handiwork by the Unión Juvenil Cruceñista, which is looking more and more like the Civic Committee's Brown Shirts every day.So much for the ever-shrinking opposition's argument that Morales' backers are the thugs and they are the honest law-abiding defenders of democracy. Lacking even a third of the national popular vote, Santa Cruz leaders have now apparently decided that it isn’t worth even pretending to have moral authority either.Their goal, we can assume, is either free cell calls using the stolen Entel cards, or more likely, to goad Evo into declaring a "State of Siege" and a sending in of the troops.We can hope that Evo and the people around him are not so foolish. Sending in troops to Santa Cruz won't quell violence; it will amplify it up to a level not seen since Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada played the send-in-troops card in October 2003. That planted more than sixty people in their graves and landed the President in suburban Maryland exile.A better message might be:"Well my fellow Bolivians in Santa Cruz, if you are dedicated to burning down your own city there isn't much I can do to stop you, but it is pretty lame thing to do."And then I'd get on the phone to someone who can mediate – the Church, the OAS, Lula, anyone – and suggest that they suggest a compromise of giving back to the regions half the gas revenues Evo is using for his new pensions program for the elderly. Bolivia is banking hundreds of millions in reserves, so it won’t be hard. And then I'd magnanimously accept the deal and see if the Civic Committee, Mayor and Governor might like to stop destroying their city for a while.But of course, I have a personal bias toward rational behavior to confess. I'd like the Santa Cruz airport to be open next week when I head home.Updates on Wednesday EveningHere's a few updates:Santa Cruz Governor Ruben Costas justified Tuesday's violence as the legitimate reaction of a "a tired people" and blamed "government terrorism" as the root cause behind yesterday's events. Well, and sometimes when I was 12 I told the teacher that the dog ate my homework. He also called the actions of Santa Cruz's rioting youth, "heroic." What do they get if they burn down a hotel? Sainthood?Santa Civic Commitee President Branco Marinkovic weighed in as well, declaring that the Unión Juvenil Cruceñista was merely attempting a "peaceful takeover" of the government installations yesterday. It was just those misguided police who got in the way of things that created the problem. The clubs and molotov cocktails and fires were apparently imaginary. After making his press statement Marinkovic put on wings and flew off to complete his rounds putting coins under the pillows of children who lost teeth around the world yesterday.The Morales government meanwhile resisted efforts to goad it into sending in the military and declaring a "state of emergency" in Santa Cruz, declaring instead that it would use all powers "legal and constitutional" at its disposal to bring and end to the conflict. Yeah, that'll work. At the same time supporters of the government in rural arras in the embattled region announced that they would begin to blockade roads in and out of the city to bring pressure on anti-Morales forces to end their attacks on the government. So do keep an eye out for truckloads of "peace-seeking" Santa Cruz youth headed out to the blockades.And now this...Evo has now publicly called for U.S. Ambassador Goldberg to leave Bolivia, charging the diplomat with having his hand in the uprisings in the cities in the east. "I ask the foreign minister to find the legal and diplomatic framework to return him urgently to his country. We do not want separatists, divisionists, people who conspire against the unity. We do not want people who work against democracy." On the one hand, Evo frequently overstates the role of the U.S. in Bolivia's political battles. Mr. Goldberg has always seemed more incompetent than conspiratorial. On the other hand, he has become like a party guest who is still looking for food to eat in the kitchen long after everyone normal has left and the hosts have announced they are going to bed. He should have left long ago.Stay tuned.

Link for more information

Here is a link to a BBC article on the protests in Santa Cruz - the article is pasted below. The link shows a video as well.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7607158.stm


Anti-Morales protests hit Bolivia

The opposition stronghold of Santa Cruz saw violent protests
Anti-government protesters have stormed public buildings in eastern Bolivia amid a deepening row between President Evo Morales and his opponents.
The biggest protest was in Santa Cruz, where demonstrators raided several offices and clashed with riot police.
Bolivia's energy-rich eastern provinces oppose Mr Morales's attempts to redirect gas revenues to poorer areas.
Troops have meanwhile been deployed to guard gas pipelines to guarantee exports to Brazil and Argentina.
Since last week, anti-government demonstrators have been blocking roads and occupying buildings in eastern regions, which are home to Bolivia's important natural gas reserves.
But Tuesday saw an escalation of their action and some of the worst violence in the country for several months.

The government condemned the unrest as a "civil coup"
Hundreds of people raided the state-run telecommunications company, the tax agency, the local state TV network and the land reform institute in the city of Santa Cruz.
Clashes broke out between the protesters and riot police, who were forced to take cover.
Trouble also flared in the provinces of Beni, Pando, and Tarija as opposition activists raided public buildings.
"Fascist, violent and racist people attacked institutions...that belong to all Bolivians," said Interior Minister Alfredo Rada.
In the Chaco area, protesters stormed a station controlling a natural gas pipeline and tried unsuccessfully to cut exports to Brazil, officials quoted by Reuters news agency said.
Reform
Bolivia has the second largest natural gas reserves in South America but they are situated in the east of the country, where Mr Morales faces his fiercest opponents.
Brazil, and to a lesser extent Argentina, are Bolivia's major gas customers and any interruption to supply would have a serious effect on both economies as well as damaging Bolivia's reputation as a reliable supplier, says the BBC's Daniel Schweimler in Buenos Aires.
On Monday, the government announced that soldiers were being sent to guard natural gas fields and pipelines.

Mr Morales came to power in 2006 promising reform
"The government will not allow the interruption of natural gas exports," said Energy Secretary Carlos Villegas.
Shortly afterwards Mr Villegas was moved to the development planning ministry while Saul Avalos took over at the energy ministry.
The changes were part of a cabinet reshuffle seen as an attempt by President Morales to tackle the growing opposition to his plans to radically reform the way Bolivia is governed.
The president wants to give more power to the country's indigenous and poor communities, by carrying out land reform and redistributing gas revenues.
Mr Morales's attempts to change the constitution are fiercely opposed by opposition governors who run five of Bolivia's nine regions.
They and their supporters want greater autonomy as well as more control over revenues of natural gas in their areas.
Mr Morales is seeking approval in Congress to hold a referendum on 7 December on his proposed constitutional changes.

Uncertainty in Santa Cruz

The pop, pop, pop of explosions is a haunting, telling sound. It has been going on for a couple of days now...the latest noise in an ongoing controversy.

I would be lying if I claimed to understand well what the conflict is about, but I know enough to say that it is about revenue from gas taxes and a new constitution for Bolivia, both of which Bolivia's President, Evo Morales, supports and therefore finds himself as the primary target of this recent disturbance.

However, Mr. Morales, even if feeling the political aftershocks of the Santa Cruz riots in his home in La Paz, is far removed from the destruction being done here, primarily by the Cruceñista youth movement who have organized the taking of several government buildings, including the nationalized phone company Entel and the local bus and train station in addition to others, even the national airport, which was quickly re-taken by the military.

Fortunately, the loss of life has not been large in number - 1 is the current death count, but every human life is precious and no amount of money from gas revenues can return that person to his or her family. There have been numerous persons injured and the excitement of the mob before destruction is contagious...

No one knows when the ransacking and rioting will end, but hopefully soon. Hopefully soon the roar of micros and taxis will not be echoed by exploding flares and tear gas... Hopefully soon we will all be able to travel back and forth freely as we did before.

It is a concerning thing to witness...the destruction of a mob. The city is a different place. It is as if the people involved allow the spirit of violence, the spirit of destruction to compromise their better judgment, their better self who respects human life and public property.

I am no expert, and don't quite know what to think, but I do know Jesus' example shows me, tells me, that violence is never justifiable...that human life is God-created and holy and that life is to be given, not taken. It makes me sad to see humans harm each other...it makes me sad that politics and manipulation have made a mob out of good people.

mayado mayado....

So, after 2 days of being sick I'm alive and well for the most part. Stomache ache gone, headache gone, fever gone! Yay! Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. I was pretty miserable, but thankfully my friend Juana dropped off some ibuprofen for me and three pills later I was feeling fine and dandy. Apparently just a mild case of "mayado," some kind of flu transmitted by mosquitos...such unpleasant little plagues. But yes, I am doing well again so no worries =)

One sly cat

This is Wilbur. Wilbur is a long-time MCCer. He loves long naps in the hammock, eating, torturing birds, and lots of attention.

Wilbur loves people - especially me =) (Actually, that's just because he know's I'll feed him and hold him when ever he wants - yes he is a bit spoiled).

This is Wilbur's sly, smug, "yes I am a handsome devil" face.

Orientation ago!

So after several months of anticipation, my SALTers and YAMEN! have safely arrived and spent their first week in Bolivia. It has been a joy getting to know them and learn their names (some faster than others), likes, and dislikes, and all the special gifts they bring to their respective assignments.

The group has been a true blessing for me. Goodness knows this could have ended up a bit of a mess, considering my inexperience in my job and the size of the group (7 in all).

Gracias a Dios, all has gone well so far. I'm sure there will be bumps and challenges along the way, but we will learn and grow together. They have been a blessing - a very chill, relaxed group who have been willing to go with the flow.

I have great hope for what they will experience in the next year and the potential for what they can learn and contribute. I hope I can help facilitate their experience and be a support for them the way others have been for me.

You can't say you've seen the world if you haven't been to Moro Moro

Friday afternoon we (myself and several of my MCC co-workers - Anita, Sául and Sandra) headed out to Moro Moro for a workshop and some pre-arrival preparations for the new influx of volunteers who will be arriving in the next month.

As usual, I was quite excited to be going to my favorite spot in Bolivia and was looking forward to the long, scenic bus ride. However, it so happens that it rained all day Friday, which wasn't a problem until we hit the part of the road that isn't paved. So about 7 hours into our 10 hour trip, the bus got stuck and couldn't go any further (at one point the whole back end was nearly sliding off the road toward the abyss). So we slept on the bus and finally 8 hours later the mud had dried enough and it was light enough that we could continue. We finally rolled into Moro Moro 17 hours after we had left Santa Cruz.

Fortunately, the trip back was much better and we had a great weekend! The workshop was able to be post-poned until the afternoon, and I was able to meet with the people I needed to see. So after a re-engerizing hike we loaded up the truck to head back to Santa Cruz with Patro - the director of rural programs and an excellent driver who got us home safe and sound :)

Headed out for a hike!

A beautiful day in Moro Moro!

A dream come true - isn't he adorable?!?

Loaded up and ready for the long trip back to Sta. Cruz!

My new casita =)

My new living space!

A little bit of the kitchenette =)

A small stove for my little kitchen!

Don Pedro! The ever-handy MCC handyman fixing my shower! (The first night I used it I about got electricuted! Showers like this one are called "widow-makers" - I now know why)

My new backyard - an oasis of green.

"I was hungry and you...built me a huge Jesus??"

This is believed to be the largest statue of Christ in the world - it's located in Cochabamba, Bolivia - the poorest country in South America... The statue looks out over the city of Cochabamba and serves as an excellent land mark - all you have to do is "keep you eyes on Jesus" and you won't lose your way in this city of more than a million people...But I wonder if eyes were on Jesus when this statue of him was constructed...Even the rocks cry out right? I wonder what this monstrosity would say if it could speak? What would Jesus say of this creation made in his "honor"? Personally, I think he would say "Feed my sheep" "Care for the widows and orphans" "Love your neighbor and your enemy" - But I don't think he would say to invest your resources in a larger than life statue...

Goodbyes and New Beginnings

The past couple of weeks I've had the chance to do some serious traveling! My friends Tasha and Jess have been here to visit and we were able to go to see the Garden City - Cochabamba! - where we saw gorgeous parks, flowers, museums and went for a nice hike outside of the city.
It's been great having friends visiting, but now it is also time for me to say goodbye to a lot of wonderful people. This weekend my SALTers leave for life in the States again...so lots of depedidas. It has been a joy getting to know them. We've shared a lot together in the last 5 months.
I will be making the transition from endings to be beginings, as I prepare for the incoming group of SALTers who will be arriving in August. Life has taken on a rather hectic pace, but busy is good.
I will also be moving to a barrio in the next week or so, which will hopefully be a positive change from living across the street from the office. Pictures coming soon :)

An Un-ordinary Oasis

Aubrey, Ramona and I set out for a hiketo Los Posos!

What a lovely oasis in the middle of the rocky plateaus of Santiago de Chiquitos!

Ramona enjoying the transparent water from the falls.

The beautiful earthtones of water on leaves.