El Alto gets ready for the "Day of the Sea"
- 22 Mar 06, 04:49 PM
I have just visited the HQ of the Federation of Neighbourhood Assemblies (FEJUVE) in El Alto. They are getting ready to join the official parade tomorrow, which happens every year, to claim back the territory lost to Chile 127 years ago, and thus get themselves a coastline - and somewhere for their navy to sail apart from Lake Titicaca. Tomorrow麓s march will be the first under Evo Morales...
... and it looks like Evo is milking it for all it is worth. As well as the usual pomp and circumstance of the armed forces demonstration, and a presidential speech, the march will be joined by a large contingent of shanty-dwellers from El Alto, by workers and by a peasants march that has come all the way from Oruro. Evo麓s strategy clearly is to demonstrate that he can speak for "the nation" as well as "the people". It will by a Dia del Mar like no other and Bolivia watchers will be keen to see how the military disports itself for its first big outing under Evo. They have been training to sing pro-Evo songs under the windows of our hotel for two nights running - but they can麓t seem to hold the tune.
The FEJUVE office itself is a mass of comings and goings, mostly people getting stamps or signatures on typewritten documents. More about this later.
PS Two bombs went off in La Paz last night, killing two people. It is not clear yet what the motive was, or the target - they seemed to have been left in poor residencial areas. We麓re expecting a statement from the government about this soon.
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"Residencial"? Are you turning native?
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I happened to run across your blog and didn't even know of its existence. It was only through a link from the Bolivian Indymedia site that I discovered it. I provided a link on my own bolivia blog.
Looking forward to other perspectives on the recent bombing. Please report back on the police press conference.
Eduardo
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Hi, maybe I've not read something properly, but when are your reports on Bolivia going to be broadcast? It's about time that the UK started to take an interest in the fascinating political (economic and cultural...) situation of South America. Do you have plans to cover the Peruvian elections?
Gaby.
P.S. If you go to Mongo's (bar), say "Hi" to Jill!
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