Upheaval and Survival

Round One is over. No more blockades. No more marches. No more ‘paros’. No more violence – at least not for the near future.

Up to this point we have avoided the political situation as much as possible. However, two things happened this last time that brought everything close to home. First, we were expecting visitors from Canada who were to arrive while the blockade was happening. Second, our own neigbours were active in the blockade and march. Our friends decided to postpone their trip since it was a two month stay. We are still hoping to rearrange it.

The community involvement is more complicated. During other minor blockades the neighbours may or may not have been involved. A fine of 20 bolivianos was levied but it was no big deal if one did not attend. Many times the guys would come to the blockade at roll call and then go back into town or back into the chaco; nothing was said. But this was different. All the indigenous communities were involved and all were united in their cause. They were very upset with the deaths that occurred in the Pando and with the violence and destruction that occurred in Santa Cruz. They were frustrated that the government with an initial 50% approval rating, and then a 67% approval rating, was not able to govern. The fine rose to 150 bolivianos and the men were to be there for a full 48 hours. There were three groups from our community taking turns at the blockade. We are not sure how many people were there but reports were up to 5000 people in Yapacani.

The march consisted on mainly farmers from the Santa Cruz area. We talked to our neighbours and they perceived it as a peaceful march and said that the marchers tried their best not to react to provocation. There were no injuries and no destruction of property. Reports stated that they were heavily armed – with machetes and 22s.

We did not get involved in this blockade because we were a bit scared and didn’t think that it would be safe. In retrospect, both of us are embarrassed by that excuse.

I spent many nights on the computer researching the situation. Sad to say, there was very little mentioned about the campesino march and their frustrations. Although the gas tax was mentioned, there was never any factual information on the division of taxes. Although land reform was mentioned, there was no factual information of this situation either. I became curious. What caused this dissension? Although both problems have long histories, it was difficult to find web sites that spoke without bias. Most tended to be slanted very much to one side of the other, with very little fact. Finally I was able to find a couple of websites that seemed to have more fact than bias. I encourage you to read these if you want to know why the situation is now volatile.

http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/bolivia_land_2008_07.pdf

http://www.coha.org/2007/11/agrarian-revolution/

For the perspective of an American living in Santa Cruz check out http://www.santacruzperspective.blogspot.com/. It will give you good reason to wonder about what is really going on!

What will we do next time? We are not sure but we will not be hiding out in the jungle. W We cannot sit still if we seriously mean that we believe in justice for the oppressed.

We survived -- until the next time

Last night our neighbour, Andrea, came over to use the phone and she told us the blockades and the march was over -- for now. The campesinos have abandoned their march on Santa Cruz, pending the signing of an agreement by the two parties. The men will return home and life will be normal once again.

BUT, and there is always the but, nothing was signed today. According to the Santa Cruz paper, the government ordered the campesinos to abandon the march and they obeyed. However, if nothing materializes the march and the blockades will go up again on October 15. In reading the papers today, it does not seem like there is much movement towards an accord. The five eastern provinces are determined that they will retain the oil royalties and their 'right to autonomia' while the campesinos are equally determined that they should have a share of the royalties and that the new constitution should be passed. What will happen is anyone's guess. We hope and pray that the violence shown in the Pando and in Santa Cruz City will not be repeated.

So we will life as usual in the campo and will ensure that we have enough suppplies for the long haul in case there are more blockades in October. We survived just fine this time but we remember to buy the toilet paper and the toothpaste. These were not items that we had on the 'needed supply' list. Hopefully, we will have the solar energy problem solved by then and we will be 'tranquilos'.

The Big Bad World

Today we were forced to enter into the Big Bad World out there after living in the safe cocoon of our little farm. Filipe came early this morning to tell us that Erselia was in labor; that meant a trip to either La Pista or Yapacani. Since there was no doctor in La Pista we headed to Yapacani.

To our surprise things appeared very normal except that there was no 'heavy traffic'. Most of the stores are open but the restaurants are closed. However, the small portable cafes were still in business. We were able to purchase the few things we needed -- the most important being toilet paper. Funny how that was not on the list of staples needed. There were some vegetables available but expensive. Thank goodness we have our own

We also picked up some construction supplies but were not able to purchase diesel, gasoline or propane. One of our friends took a couple of our propane bottles and will try to exchange them when the truck comes from Cochabamba. It is there at 10 in the morning and leaves when the bottles are sold. Diesel and gasoline might be available during the night but we were not staying that long.

On our way home we picked up someone in a town about 15 km. from our place. He told us that there were two barrels of diesel for our neighbour. We have given up trying to figure out how he purchased two barrels but we know that they need the fuel for their tractor. We are sure that we will be able to get some from them if we really need it.

We are praying that an accord will be signed on Thursday. The alternative is not something we want to think about.

Life in the Chaco

Returning to life in the chaco takes some adjustment. Life is back to 'normal' and routines have been established once again. Some things have changed.

We have been trying to get the solar electrical system working but have been having difficulty with it. There is sufficient energy during about 5 hours of the day to use the internet and the computer but for some reason the batteries are not storing the energy for use during the evening. Since there is a shortage of gasoline, I am thankful for the time I can use the computer without using the generator.

We also have a new well and that has supplied us with clean water. There has been a little rain so there is also water in the tank. All I have to do is turn the tap and I can fill the buckets to water the plants. It sure beats the hand pump, especially since it was not working well.

But everything is not so normal. The political situation is rather volatile and we choose not leave our little haven at the end of the world. We have veggies in the garden, fish in the river, enough supplies in the cupboard for a few weeks. There is enough gasoline to run the generator for a couple of weeks, enough propane for the stove and fridge for about that long, and diesel in the truck to get into town. The neighbours have offered to purchase the necessary groceries that we need so the first thing I needed was toilet paper! We hope that the situation is resolved swiftly and that we can return to normal activities.