Sergio Molina Monasterios posted commentary on the recent media coverage of the Ponchos Rojos decapitating two dogs to demonstrate their “fury” & threatening to do the same to leaders of the media luna (the anti-MAS civic movements in Bolivia’s eastern lowlands).
I warn that the link is not for the squeamish, since it includes YouTube video of the actual execution of the dogs, as shown on Telpaís (Santa Cruz television news). But the video also includes commentary by members of the Ponchos Rojos, the Santa Cruz prefect, and others. It also shows images of Ponchos Rojos training. Here’s the link.
Certainly, these are a minority & we shouldn’t think the Ponchos Rojos represent all indigenous peoples or movements. But if anyone maintains a romanticized view of such movements, this is bitter medicine. And, yes, these are the guys that are marching a thousand strong towards Sucre.
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PS. For those who don’t thing there’s a link between viciously killing dogs & killing people (despite the psychological evidence to the contrary): FYI, about three years ago, while I was in Bolivia during my dissertation fieldwork, the mayor of Ayo Ayo (a town in the altiplano) was lynched & burned. According to unconfirmed reports, he was burned alive while hanged. Such lynchings have become increasingly common in Bolivia, often explained as “communitarian” justice. Daniel Goldstein's ethnographical The Spectacular City discusses just that very phenomenon (the idea of ritualized violence) in Bolivia.
