Continued negotiations between government and unions

As of 20:40 Bolivian time, newspaper El Deber (Santa Cruz) reports in its web page that negotiations are still under way. As ministers and leaders were negotiating in La Paz, today Morales was in Cochabamba and emphasized that there can not be a salary increase over the 10% offered. He was quoted mentioning that those who earn less…

Opinions about this week’s social unrest in Bolivia

The following articles’ links are from today’s newspapers. They are in Spanish, a short paragraph summarizes content. Sorry for not being able to translate them all. 1. Susana Seleme Antelo (El Deber, Santa Cruz) writes about the way the “terrorism” allegations have been handled judicially. There is mention that the judicial and executive powers are overlapped. Brazil’s lawyers…

Will strikes continue in Bolivia?

Government officials and COB union leaders met today and discussed mainly on how to handle the dismissal of Supreme Decree 21060. Which was the one implemented to stop hyperinflation in the mid 80s, after UDP populist government had to cut short its term. This decree sets out the ground rules for open market economy, which this…

Food for thought

I have received the following opinion and for us, Bolivians is a pretty accurate one: “It’s heartbreaking reading about the unrest through your blog. Heartbreaking… and filled with potential, too. I wonder which way the wind will blow and which trees will fall. Much of this, of course, isn’t being noticed in the United States,…

Weather in Santa Cruz and update on Bolivia

I drove to Viru Viru airport this morning (5:30) with heavy rain fall until I got back home. There was  south wind blowing, on my way back the water canal on the side of second ring was filling rapidly, less than a meter to reach the street. That heavy tropical rain is something I like to watch, not so…

Hunger strikes…

As of today at 19:58 Bolivian time, tv news report that unions (COB) have decided to escalate their pressure. They will implement hunger strikes and more road blockades. In an earlier post, about Apacheta, a new video was just released on PAT channel, a upseting one: blockaders were filmed shouting “civil war, civil war.” This crazy chant is not…