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.

Three new developments highlight the importance of regions (departments) Bolivian politics.

There’s a big brouhaha over Chavez’s recent statement that he chews coca.

Today’s La Razón has a special on six “grupos de choque” that play important roles in current Bolivian politics.

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).

There’s a number of reasons why my dad’s my personal hero.

Our first meal out. Photo taken from my phone.

I’ve long noticed splits between the MAS rank-and-file & Evo Morales. While Evo has, at times, been conciliatory, the rank-and-file is much more radical. Last week, Evo met w/ the country’s prefects & suggested that their autonomy statutes could be “reconciled” w/ the new draft constitution. Yesterday, MAS constituent assembly delegates made it clear to Evo that they would not modify the draft constitution.

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.

For those of you seeking Javi updates, please check the new “Javi” category page: mcentellas.com/archives/javi/.

My mom posted some pictures of my cousin’s baby (his first, too). It’s actually a very funny story of sorts.