Paro Civico

Evo Morales and Manfred Reyes are two politicians that have it in for each other. Evo is the president of Bolivia and Manfred is the prefect (like a governor) of the department (like a state) of Cochabamba. Because of this power struggle, tomorrow could yield a city wide strike. Here is a little background. The departments are required to formulate a budget for the year and submit it to the federal government to receive funds. Apparently, Manfred and his people didn't get their act together in time and submitted their request late. As a result of the tardiness and Evo's grudge in general, the funds allocated to Cochabamba were significantly less than what was requested. Evo won the presidency with 60% of the vote which, I believe, was the first time that a candidate won with the majority on the first try. So, he was/is quite popular but when you mess with people's money they tend to get upset. They have planned, in theory, a city-wide strike for Friday May 17th, with pretty much everybody taking the day off, from government workers to street vendors, anybody that supports Manfred.

The Bolivians are very politically active people but that usually takes the form of nonviolent protests and blockades. They love to block roads, it is the most popular form of resistance, and can happen without warning and with no idea what the topic of controversy happens to be. Friday will be a bit different though. Everyone seems to have a different opinion about the severity and extent of the strike. The latest I heard, as of yesterday, is that the transportation union wasn't supporting the strike. As a result, the strike will probably not be very dramatic or news worthy, because public transportation will be available as usual and life won't be interrupted too much. Some of the professors adamantly support Evo and have said that no matter what the conditions, they will be at work on Friday. We have been told to play it by ear and not to push our boundaries of comfort, for the most part these actions are safe and nonviolent but some people are more sensitive than others.

I'll submit an update after the strike, if there even is one.