Hey folks!
I'm writing to you from La Paz! I thought I'd write and let you know about some of the political stuff going on in southern Bolivia right now.
Remember how there was a taxi trufi strike a couple of weeks ago and I explained that strikes are the most common practice for citizens in Bolivia who want something changed? Well, there is another strike happening. This one is in Potosi; the mining region of the country. Bolivia produces silver, zinc, tin, and lead. For the last 12 days mines have been minimizing
their output and it is looking like several mines have now shut down completely! Miners and other citizens in Potosi have shut down all road traffic in and out of the city and have disrupted air travel as well. Some news outlets are saying that rioters cut the railroad line to Chile early this morning. The mines are owned by Swiss, American, and Japanese companies. Several Bolivians have been on hunger strike since Saturday (the Governor just joined it too)! They are asking for Evo Morales, the current president now famous for giving more rights to certain indigenous groups, to come down and negotiate with them.
There are some tourists who have been able to get out but many are still stuck there. One of the demands is to deal with a border dispute with nearby Oruro. It's been over a month since I was in Oruro- but phew! I'm so glad I'm not down there for all of this. I doubt it's going to get too violent, the government wants to negotiate peacefully and I think I heard a woman on the radio say that negotiations were going to happen in Sucre (judicial capitol) sometime very soon. They are telling tourists to avoid the area as the region is in complete control of the rioters and tourists will receive little or no support from the government.
News:
No comments:
Post a Comment