Bolivia: on the razor’s edge – en el filo de la navaja

Ruddy Orellana writes in Los Tiempos: Bolivia, on the razor’s edge Like déjà vu, several publications from different international newspapers come to mind that in 2005, during the social revolts that ended with Carlos Mesa’s resignation from the presidency, echoed a fragmented country, broken in its social and political structure and going through one of…

Health first – Primero la Salud

Editorial from El Diario: People’s health before elections Undeniably, it would be in the interest of all Bolivians that democracy should not have any obstacle or difficulty for its validation; but there are circumstances in which the same democratic process forces to adopt certain foresight measures for the good of the people. This is the…

Tensions Rise in Bolivia’s Chapare as Government Escalates Anti-Drug Operations

Max Radwin reports for InSight Crime: Officials from Bolivia’s interim government have stepped up drug trafficking operations over the last six months, but a focus on coca-producing communities in Cochabamba is creating tension with law enforcement that threatens to intensify. On April 23, thirteen members of a drug trafficking ring in the city of Entre Ríos,…

Bolivia needs an election, but covid-19 makes that hard

The Economist reports: The opposition fears the interim president is using the pandemic to cement her power On april 21st, a month into Bolivia’s lockdown, police in riot gear swarmed the home of Patricia Arce, the mayor of Vinto, a city in the department of Cochabamba, and a senate candidate for the left-wing Movement to…