Below is some basic information on Bolivia and the City of Cochabamba. This is not intended as a general introduction, but rather relays a few key points while focusing on my own interests.
What/where/who Bolivia is:
Officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, the country is located in west-central South America, bordered by Peru, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. The population of 9 million is distributed across an area slightly larger than Texas with geographic features ranging from the Andean highlands in the west to the Amazon jungle in the east. After Haiti, it is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with poverty rates hovering at 60%. The population is approximately 65% Amerindian (indigenous) and 35% Mestizo or White (depending on who is talking, and to whom). For more info, see Wikipedia. For the more adventurous, the Library of Congress has excellent background information.
Cochabamba: Geography and Economy
Cochabamba is in the west-center of the country, where the Andean mountains start to taper to the lowlands. “Taper” is a relative word; the city stands nearly two miles above sea level. The high altitude and open valley mean the sun shines with great force all year round, maintaining a temperate climate. It’s the country’s third-largest city with a metropolitan population nearing 1 million. Despite its size, it has a small-town feel, with distinct neighborhoods and intimately connected, interlocking neighborhoods.
The city has both great wealth and intense poverty. While the upper class enjoys access to excellent restaurants, American-style supermarkets (think Whole Foods with even more foreign-looking vegetables) and large private country clubs, the lower-income residents live on the outskirts of the city, often occupying shanty homes built in to the mountainsides with limited access to basic sewage systems and electricity. Issues of class are further complicated by racial divisions between the “blancos” and the Amerindian populations, divisions which – not unlike in America – correlate highly if imperfectly with income. Quechua, an ancient Andean language that the Incan empire helped disseminate, is quite common, especially in the informal street economy which employs a significant percentage of the urban indigenous population.
Cochan Conflicts
Recently Cochabamba has seen its share of political and social conflicts. In 2000, under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Bolivian government moved to privatize its municipal water system. Fearing significant price hikes, the citizens revolted with mass demonstrations and widespread blockades of road systems. The struggle morphed into a show of solidarity against the influence of intuitions like the IMF in the daily lives of Bolivians. Sensing the scope of the threat being posed to the government, anti-riot military forces invaded the city, resulting in pitched battles on the streets and dozens of citizen casualties. Ultimately, the privatization contract was revoked, a major setback to Bechtel (an American owned company) and a symbolic victory for anti-globalization forces worldwide. The New Yorker featured a terrific piece on it in 2002, Leasing the Rain. The so-called “Water Wars” remain an active part of Cocha’s cultural identity, and one can still make out “La Aqua es La Vida” among the graffiti-covered walls throughout town.
Los Politícos Bolivianos
La Guerra del Aqua was both representative of and a catalysis for growing social movements in Bolivia that aimed to challenge the country’s traditional governing elite, and what is perceived as the closely-linked relationship between those elite and the global economic institutions that wield such economic and political influence. The roots of frustration with foreign involvement in the country run deep in to the ground; Bolivia has a long history of resource exploitation by foreign powers, beginning with the silver mines of Potosi that operated in the 16th century. It is said that the Spanish built two bridges between Iberia and Bolivia, “un puente de plata y un puente de huesos.” One of silver, and one of bone.
Evo Morales and Moviemiento a Socialismo (MAS)
In the last decade, the United States has become the major target of this historic anger. While the US may not build bridges of silver, it is responsible for a few bones. As part of the War on Drugs, the US launched a series coca-plant eradication programs. The implementation has caused serious, violent conflicts with coca farmers in Bolivia, where coca has a long history of use as an herbal remedy and tea leaf and is a major internal crop. A coca farmer named Evo Morales organized a union of these farmers to fight back against the government’s embrace of US programs, ultimately building a powerful national political party. His party, Movimiento al Socialismo swept the 2006 elections, making Morales the country’s first indigenous president.
Morales has pushed the country left, privatizing petroleum resources and enforcing land distribution policies. In the process, he has both empowered the majority-indigenous population and inflamed racial and class tensions. There is deep distrust and hatred among the upper class, some of which is focused on Evo’s personal relationship to Hugo Chavez, who is slowly but surely expanding his country influence in the region.
Regional Tensions
The picture is further complicated by regional and geographic tensions. Santa Cruz, the largest city in the country’s west, has been waging a long campaign to decentralize the government. Currently, municipal governments are virtually powerless; for example, the police force is completely national. The push for decentralization arises from a mixed set of motives, including a desire to control the revenue of local resources, especially petroleum, but also driven by negative perceptions the indigenous-controlled government in La Paz, which seek to redistribute wealth eastwards.
