Impressions of La Paz

La Paz has made impressions on me in waves since my arrival. The first, from the air, was the dramatic geography of the city. Bolivia’s capital is tucked into a canyon at about 15,000 feet of altitude. La Paz is the third largest city in the country, with just under a million people. Santa Cruz, in the eastern province (where I will visit later), is the largest with over a million. Second largest, surprisingly, is the sprawling metropolis of El Alto, located on the rim of La Paz´s canyon and stretching off across the altiplano plateau. El Alto is home to the single-strip airport I landed on, and is known as the Aymara (an indigenous Andean group, to which Evo Morales belongs) capital of the world. Its million or so residents have grown from the campesinos that flood from the countryside into the city, which used to be no more than a slummy suburb but is now South America’s (and probable the Western Hemisphere’s) fastest growing metropolitan area.

On the way from el Alto into the centro of La Paz, several first impressions stuck in my mind. One was the amount of political graffiti, most of it anti-racist or pro-Morales (such as walls throughout the city reading “Sucre: Capital del Racismo.” Remember the constitutional riots and violence against campesinos?). I am staying in a hotel near the city center, on a busy street in a neighborhood full of a bustling indigenous population. While some live in La Paz proper, many make the journey down from El Alto to sell produce or an assortment of items that could satisfy any shopping needs. All of this is done in the street, with blankets or baskets spread on the sidewalk or in the street to display the goods, forcing pedestrians and vehicles alike to find a way around. The market atmosphere, in particular, strikes me as similar to India´s streets, while the traffic and buildings remind me of a poorer and more chaotic (believe it or not) Mexico.

At this altitude, the air is thin and cool, and each night the temperature dips toward freezing. Monday was the winter equinox, and it is the height of the dry season. Paceños travel bundled in coats and jackets, or in blankets and cloaks in the style of traditional indigenous dress. Indigenous people who live in the city and wear traditional dress are known as cholos or cholas, and are omnipresent around the La Paz, either selling things along the sidewalks or climbing the streets with blankets slung on their backs. 7 of 10 Bolivians work in the informal economy, a statistic that is abundantly obvious just from looking around. For this reason, issues of taxes and minimum wage hikes are more symbolic than practical to most Bolivians. The average citizen is more interested in health services (the other day I saw a graffiti´d wall reading “Before, health was for few; now, health is for all), education, and money to keep them out of poverty as they grow old. Many, once they are too old or weak to carry their bundles, are reduced to begging to pay for food.

As is true in most poor and socially segregated countries, Bolivians have developed an talent for ignoring the unpleasant. The streets are full of so many people asking for attention that passersby see right through the hawkers, beggars, and shoeshine boys. When they decide they want what is being offered, it is as if a switch is thrown and the shoe shiner or hawker is recognized as a person. Widespread poverty as pervasive as Bolivia’s is almost impossible to effectively address through politics or social action, because people here have trained and conditioned themselves not to see its everyday examples. So, while most Bolivians would agree that reducing poverty should be a goal, they often don’t connect the general idea with the practical application of policies to benefit the poor they pass by on the street or in the market everyday. That is just the way it is, they think, and their thoughts go elsewhere.

For many of the poorest Bolivians, politics are a luxury. Television reaches relatively few, newspaper reading is limited by illiteracy and cost, and radio programs are the only news medium to reach rural Bolivia. Apathy, disinterest, and isolation from any real impact of the rhetoric on the newspaper covers: these attitudes characterize the political positions of many Bolivians. In fact, most of the campesinos I have spoken too have professed ignorance or disinterest in political issues, even as a cultural and political battle is being waged on their behalf. The well-known Bolivian tendency for protest marches, one affluent student informed me, was more the product of savvy organization and mobilization strategy by social leaders than of personal interest on the part of the campesinos. This characterization of political action by indigenous groups may be partially accurate, but for citizens to whom democracy is a fairly new concept, the most obvious route to political expression is public demonstration.

The dividing lines between Evo´s supporters and detractors are not crystal clear, either. The other day, I followed a march by the national Union of Municipal Workers, based here in La Paz, as they protested a labor law that Evo has promised but not instituted. These marchers had a very clear goal, and were marching for a specific purpose in opposition to Evo, although the banners depicting images of Ché Guevara and posters railing against neoliberalism would suggest that they supported the President’s socialist stance. When I spoke to the Union Secretary, he had a very straightforward answer for why they were marching: the wanted the ley general de trabajo instituted. Vaguely democratic politician rhetoric and ideology-driven protest marches might dominate Bolivian politics, but people are also interested in effective, tangible change.

In other news, US-Bolivian relations have further deteriorated. After the angry march against the US embassy following the announcement of political asylum for the leaders of the October 2003 massacre, a diplomatic tit-for-tat has taken place. As the U.S. ambassador praised the police for protecting the embassy, Evo removed the chief who had ordered tear gas used against the protestors. The US then recalled its ambassador to Washington for consultations, and the State Department has declared that he will not return unless a dialogue with Morales´ government is opened. Morales then criticized American development agency USAID, which has been forced out of some parts of the country. In the meantime, newspaper headlines declared that the embassy has announced safety precautions for its personnel and is concerned for the safety of American citizens in Bolivia. This is news to me, as I haven’t felt any hostility from locals and we are a long way from a government expulsion of Americans.

Today I am off to see the opening rally for Evo´s campaign to win the recall referendum in August and continue his reforms. I will be posting again shortly, but until then know that I am well and that La Paz continues to take my breath away, literally, as I climb its streets and sidewalks.