Bolivia’s new president, Carlos Mesa, is scrambling to assemble a Cabinet following his rise to power; the mood is festive in La Paz.
Reuters says: “Bolivia’s new president was forming his Cabinet on Sunday as support grew from key power brokers, including some Indian groups that led a bloody popular revolt that toppled his predecessor.”
Another […]
For an in-depth and well-researched (and delightfully snarky) examination of the political implications of Mesa’s transition to power, go to The Lincoln Plawg Weblog. John Smith describes the situation in La Paz:
At first glance, it’s a cartoon with characters from Central Casting: a class/racial struggle between the white, upper-class, gringo-fied president and the charismatic Indian […]
Bolivia has a new president this morning. Carlos Mesa, the former VP, was inaugurated yesterday after Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada resigned. (The BBC has posted English translations of Goni’s resignation letter and Mesa’s acceptance speech.)
My brother Mechum reports from Santa Cruz that he’s headed back to La Paz (in style) this afternoon:
Well how about a […]
Al Giordano, CNN Espanol, AP, and Reuters are reporting that Bolivian president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada will resign this afternoon. Giordano says Vice President Carlos Mesa will assume power. Developing…
My brother reports from Sucre that he’s safe and, happily enough, enjoying himself. But things in La Paz remain tense, with “tear gas…being dispensed in the streets like mayonaisse from a fritte stand.” He says:
Well after the 3-day trip to Sucre got a bit extended due to the airport being shut down in our […]
Opposition leaders continue to press for for president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada’s resignation; the army continues to battle protesters.
Bolivia Blogger Miguel Centallas, who believes the president should not bow to the pressure, reports from La Paz:
This point must not be ignored: Much (though not all) of the Bolivian protests are not democratic social movements; […]
Bloody protests continue in and around La Paz, and pressure is mounting on president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada to step down. Today’s notable stories:
–New York Times: “Despite moves by the military to tighten its control of the capital, President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada’s hold on power grew more tenuous on Tuesday, as demonstrations demanding […]
Reuters reports that “dozens of tanks” are shielding the Bolivian presidental palace from protesters, and that 52 people have now died in clashes with the military.
As the poorest nation in South America lurches toward complete upheaval, my brother Mechum, who lives in La Paz, provides some insight. He’s been stranded in Sucre for the […]
Vintage David Brooks in today’s New York Times:
If a Martian came down and landed in the stands of a Yankees-Red Sox game, he would get the impression that human beings are 90 percent men and 10 percent women in tight T-shirts, and that we reproduce by loathing in groups.
News is spreading fast that 1) battles between police and protesters killed 20 yesterday, and 2) Bolivian president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada announced today that plans for a natural gas pipeline have been temporarily cancelled.
The BBC has published a concise piece of analysis that says the protests aren’t just about gas, but about globalization. And […]
Vaclav Havel says Aung San Suu Kyi’s plight in Burma serves as a “stark reminder of our struggles against totalitarian regimes in Central and Eastern Europe”:
The regime in Burma is, as a matter of fact, the disgrace of Asia, just as Alexander Lukashenko’s regime in Belarus is the disgrace of Europe and Fidel Castro’s regime […]
Does the rest of the world care about what’s happening in Bolivia? Or, more to the point, does the media? Most of the major US daily papers are talking about everything except the escalating unrest in and around La Paz.
The landlocked Andean nation may be on the verge of being overthrown, but you wouldn’t […]
Feel like doin’ some writing? And lots of it in a short amount of time? You can now sign up for this year’s NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. Participants must write 50,000 words (about 175 pages) between November 1st and 30th. As the organizers say on their site:
Make no mistake: You will be […]
Kevin Sites, a freelance journalist, is again blogging from Iraq. (After relating his experiences there when the war began, his employer, CNN, asked him to stop. But now he’s switched networks and is writing again.)
His reportage is unique and essential: it’s personal, accurate, and updated frequently. Exactly what you don’t get from the US […]
My brother sends word that things’re getting worse in Bolivia. But in the La Paz neighborhood where he lives and works, things’re still fine.
The Age says the destitute Andean nation could be headed toward complete upheaval:
Sixty-four people have been killed in a series of protests in Bolivia this year. Many fear that the scattered violence […]