Some exciting (non-baby) changes: I am (as of yesterday morning) Latin American Studies program coordinator at Dickinson College.

It now seems clear why David Sánchez resigned. This news report in La Patria (an Oruro newspaper) explains: Sánchez tried, in vain, to win an audience w/ Evo to ask him not to go forward w/ a planned mobilization of as many as 10,000 cocaleros (from La Paz & other areas) will march to Sucre on September 10. Sánchez feared that this might lead to violence. In the 1960s, René Barrientos (ironically, rabidly anti-communist) & other military dictators often used such tactics to subdue regime critics. These were the days of the so-called “military-campesino” pact.

Chuquisaca’s prefect, David Sánchez, has resigned. The MAS candidate was elected in December 2005, during the country’s first prefectural (gubernatorial) elections. Since, technically, prefects are appointed by the president (according to the current constitution), it’s unclear whether there will be a new election. Meanwhile, rumors are flying about a possible military intervention (a “militarization”? a declaration of martial law?) in the city of Sucre (the capital of Chuquisaca department).

A day after a regionalist opposition-led strike, Bolivia’s government shot back. It has frequently attacked the opposition for its ties to the US & other international NGOs (such ties do exist, of course), specifically singling out the US for its “political” aid. Of course, isn’t all aid “political”? Or does Venezuela’s millions in military & other aid not serve a “political” purpose? But today’s attacks resembled a witch hunt.

Álvaro García Linera, Bolivia’s vice president, is giving a lecture on “Marxism and Indianism” at Cornell University on September 3. The event is co-sponsored by the university’s Latin American Studies Program.

Florida International University’s prestigious Latin America and Caribbean Center (LACC) is hosting a mini-conference on Bolivia in on September 17: “Bolivia Hoy: Miradas Constructivas.” Speakers include Manuel de la Fuente, Maria Eugenia Choque, Javier Hurtado, and Pablo Mamani. The discussant will be Eduardo Gamarra.

I saw this yesterday on Attack of the Show (after stumbling on the infamous viral YouTube video) & couldn’t resist. So even if you like maps just because you like maps, check out mapsforus.org. There’s even some great West Wing footage.

After some tense confrontations in Santa Cruz & Cochabamba, things are heating up in Bolivia. I was even shocked to read that Percy Fernández, the alcalde (mayor) of the city of Santa Cruz publicly stated at a press conference that the only solution is two “form two nations”—w/ Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando, and parts of Chuquisaca and Cochabamba on one side, and the rest of Bolivia on another. I think this might be the first time an elected official has publicly endorsed secession (or at least something very, very close to it).

While it’s not truly the “first” Bolivian blogging conference (there have been smaller ones, both in Santa Cruz & La Paz), the first truly large Encuentro Bloguiviano is scheduled for this Saturday. I wish I could be there, but I’ll sure it’ll be blogged. Drop by if you get a chance.

I thought I’d take a moment to highlight an interesting post by a Bolivian blogger (I’m going to make a more concerted effort to do that, at least on a weekly basis). La Vero Vero noted an editorial by José Luís Exeni (a prolific Bolivian social scientist). La Vero Vero is the penname for the author of the blog Kamchatka; Exeni has his own blog, FadoCracia.

But the brief editorial, titled “Una gran omisión” [a great omission], is quite thought-provoking. In it, Exeni wonders why so much of the Constituent Assembly’s attention has been given to issues such as where the capital should be located, what kind of regional autonomy to introduce, etc.—while completely ignoring the issue of the right to information (and especially tolerance & “inter-cultural discourse”) in a democratic society.

The original editorial was posted here in La Prensa.

According to La Razón, coca has replaced fruit crops as the main agricultural product in Yungas (the cloud forest region of northern La Paz). While fruits are still produced in some parts of the Yungas, it seems that some areas must now import fruit. It used to be that Yungas was Bolivia’s fruitbasket. It seems this is no longer the case.

Our friend, Eduardo Avila, is heading back to Bolivia to help launch the Voces Bolivianas (one of the Rising Voices micro-grants).

Eddie Avila is the author of Barrio Flores, but he’s mostly been busy as a regional editor for Global Voices & the Bolivian-American Project. I look forward to reading his posts. I’ve missed reading the posts of one of the blogfathers of the Bolivian blogosphere. Voces Bolivianas should be great, since it will focus on building a strong El Alto-based blogosphere.

This should be an interesting week in Bolivia, w/ a number of anti-government protests gearing up. Perhaps it’s ironic that a government formed through popular mobilizations that destabilized two earlier governments is being similarly assailed for the better part of a year. But the harsh reality is that once “the street” becomes a legitimate mode of political discourse, it can be used in any direction & for any motive. The tragedy of Bolivian politics is that it has become almost completely de-institutionalized.

Just because it’s hilarious, YouTube video of the 2007 “Hipster Olympics” (below).

It seems some people are offended by recent beer ads by Annheiser-Busch (a swill I detest, for the record) because it uses Spanglish

Tan bueno como encontrar un parking en frente al building

in its ad campaign. The objections seem to be pedantic & based on not realizing that A) not all people speak the same Spanish, B) Spanglish is spoken by millions of people, and D) languages evolve in multicultural environments. I myself have used parquing and bilding when speaking Spanish (not Spanglish!). The simple rule of Spanglish is this: use the word w/ the fewest syllables (so “parking” beats “estacionamiento” hands down).