The charm of streetcars in La Paz … trams should be back!

Isabel Velasco writes and remembers beautifully in El Diario. Tram pictures were dowloaded from the internet: The charm of streetcars in La Paz To protect us from the evil of the “micro”, “minibus” and “radio taxis” that suffer the paceños, we evoke nostalgically to the friendly and cheerful trams, silent witnesses of a thousand and…

Bolivian History 101 – 137 years of unjust confinement

El Diario reports: February 14: an ominous date for Bolivia 137 years of unjust confinement • Bolivians remember, wihth eagereness to vindication, that on a February 14, 1879 Chilean troops invaded our coastlines and we were held landlocked eversince. • More than a century of unfulfilled promises deepen the desire for justice. Today [02/14/2016] it…

The odyssey of children that brought smallpox vaccine in their bodies

Ivone Juarez reports for Pagina Siete: The odyssey of children that brought smallpox vaccine in their bodies The Spanish doctor Jose Salvany was part of the crusade that brought the cure to the country. He died in Cochabamba, in misery. In 1779, the military doctor Francisco Xavier de Balmis witnessed the havoc that smallpox had…

Bolivian Independence 101: The Battle of Santa Barbara

From Jimmy Ortiz webpage, excerpts follow: The Battle of Santa Barbara … A bit of history: The Battle of Santa Barbara was the second battle for Santa Cruz independence, during the Republiqueta (1813-1816). In that period we fought together with the military and intellectual Manuel Belgrano and his Libertarian Second Army, which put the Colonel….

Bolivian Independence 101: Heroines of the Coronilla

Jose Alberto Diez de Medina writes in El Diario: Heroines of the Coronilla After the September 14, 1810, when the people of Cochabamba rose up against the Spanish yoke, demanded for a Town Meeting, constituting a War Council, chaired by the patriot Francisco de Rivero and Esteban Arze, among others, on October 17, same year,…

Independence 101: Jose Vicente Camargo, a patriot guerrilla from Cinti

Jose A. Diez de Medina writes in El Diario: Jose Vicente Camargo, a patriot guerrilla from Cinti It would seem that the Upper Peruvian guerrillas, known for their wins against the disciplined and brave Spanish armies, had been located strategically in their hubs, The priest Ildefonso de Las Muñecas, from his stronghold [republiqueta is a…