Bolivia

It is a strange and unexpected sight in the middle of Bolivia, a country better known for alpaca sweaters and Marxist revolutionaries, but everyday from the curved towers of a mosque in the city of Santa Cruz goes out the call for Muslim prayer. One would not be embarrassed to have never imagined that the Bolivian Islamic Center ever existed in this country heavily dominated by Roman Catholicism and with a majority indigenous population. […]

El Alto-based hip-hop artist Abraham Bojorquez died early in the morning on Wednesday, May 20 in El Alto, Bolivia. He was killed when a bus hit him as he walking home. Abraham, 26 years old, was a member of the popular hip-hop group Ukamau y Ké. His music blended ancient Andean folk styles and new hip-hop beats with lyrics about revolution and social change.

[…]

While USAID has done some excellent work in developing Bolivia’s roads and other worthy projects, it clearly also promotes some lesser-known political agendas.  One of the more novel of these, according to the documents, is to "counter attacks on the USG (including USAID) from senior levels of the GOB (Government of Bolivia)."  This is hardly the work of a development agency. […]

Recently declassified documents obtained by investigators Jeremy Bigwood and Eva Golinger reveal that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has invested more than $97 million in “decentralization” and “regional autonomy” projects and opposition political parties in Bolivia since 2002. […]

In the bloody War of the Pacific in 1879, Chile took away Bolivia’s only access to the sea. Over a century later, demands from Bolivia for the recuperation of this land are louder than ever. The most recently proposed solution to this diplomatic crisis seems to be straight out of a science fiction novel: the construction of 150 kilometer tunnel from Bolivia to an artificial island in the Pacific Ocean. […]

After the nationalist confetti of the January 25th constitutional referendum blew away, and the busted water balloons and foam of Carnival washed down the streets with the rain, political scandals filled the Bolivian airwaves. Recent cases of corruption, shaky relations with Washington and political unrest show that the road to the December general elections is likely to be a rocky one. […]

Bolivia’s Vice Minister for Housing, Ramiro Rivera, had been on the job only two weeks last March when his office was occupied by 100 angry members of the Ponchos Rojos (Red Ponchos), a militant Aymara peasant group. Three weeks later, wheelbarrow porters from the Abastos market in Santa Cruz staged a similar protest. […]

Fog covered El Alto, Bolivia on Saturday morning as social movements from around the country marched into the city to mark the official passage of Bolivia’s new constitution. "This is the second independence, the true liberation of Bolivia," Bolivian President Evo Morales said as he signed the new constitution. […]

After Bolivia’s new constitution was passed in a national referendum on Sunday, thousands gathered in La Paz to celebrate. Standing on the balcony of the presidential palace, President Evo Morales addressed a raucous crowd: "Here begins a new Bolivia. Here we begin to reach true equality." […]

Today’s referendum on Bolivia‘s new constitution took place on a rare sunny day for this time of year in La Paz. Since traffic is prohibited on voting day, families taking advantage of the abnormally quiet streets walked their dogs, ate ice cream and strolled into the local schools to vote. What follows is a series of observations and interviews from various polling places in La Paz. […]