I’m Miguel Centellas. As a political science professor, academic interests are a significant part of my personal life. I post on Bolivian politics, interesting books, pop culture, and daily life in a Baltimore.
This page contains an archive of all entries posted to Pronto* in January 2008. They are listed from newest to oldest. For a list of other monthly archives, see the right sidebar; you may also look through the archives or search by keywords.
It’s hard to believe how quickly time passes. Javi is almost a month old now (and fussier by the day). The lack of sleep is starting to slowly wear me down. I still have two major projects (book manuscript, article rewrite) to finish—because in two weeks grading papers will take over my life.
Yesterday evening, Óscar Ortiz (PODEMOS) was elected the new Senate President. The position also makes him third in line of succession; he would become interim president if Evo & Alvaro García Linera were both absent from the country (they both frequently travel).
There’s an interesting conflict brewing w/in Bolivia’s National Electoral Court (CNE). The newly appointed CNE president (José Luis Exeni) is asking the Santa Cruz regional electoral court to stop verifying the signatures for a referendum initiative. The initiative would establish a department-wide referendum on the “autonomic” statute (read text of the Santa Cruz autonomic statute).
A few weeks ago, a pro-government majority (the opposition was absent) of the Constituent Assembly (CA) approved a new draft constitution (after a last-minute change of venue). It was barely debated, and voted upon in only a few hours. This followed weeks of unrest, including four deaths in Sucre. Not surprisingly, the opposition recoiled. In response, several lowland departments announced their own “autonomy statutes” & prepared to take them to department-wide referendums.
After a tense month (which followed several other tense months), Bolivia’s political situation shows signs of hope. Both the government & the opposition prefects (regional governors) have been meeting, w/ aims of coming to a solution that could integrate the new constitution w/ demands for regional autonomy. One standout is Pepelucho (José Luis Paredes), the opposition La Paz prefect, who’s begun challenging the government for its alleged neglect of the La Paz regional government.
A big “thank you” to everyone who called, emailed, or posted a comment of good wishes on the birth of little Javi (Javier Enrique). We’re all three of us now back home, recovering, but tired.
After 36+ hrs of labor, followed by a C-section, little Javier Enrique Centellas was finally born at 9:20pm. Weighing in at 9 lbs, 6 oz (and nearly 22 inches long!). There’s a few (of the many, many) pictures up on my Flickr. Unfortunately, the hospital doesn’t have WiFi—so some of you will have to wait for updates & new pictures. And w/ that, I’m back out to the hospital. Ciao!