July 2008 Archives
With 10 days before the recall referendum, Evo might be heading into a tight spot. A strike by the COB (the Bolivian workers’ federation) has gained steam, and yesterday miners shut down much of the government in La Paz. The COB objects to Evo’s new pension plan, which doesn’t go as far as they would like (they insist that Evo’s government adopt the COB proposal w/o modifications).
MABB has a pretty good rundown of the current US presidential candidates’ positions on Latin America. Basically, it’s unclear what (if any) position McCain has beyond free trade. Obama, on the other hand, has a lengthy position paper on the subject.
We won’t get to go this year, but Baltimore’s Virgin Fest is next weekend.
A recent poll suggests that Evo would survive a recall referendum in Bolivia, w/ 49% in favor of keeping him in office, 18% opposed, and 33% undecided.
I’ve just uploaded the paper I’ll be presenting at the APSA meeting at the end of August: “Bolivia’s Party System after October 2003: Where Did all the Politicians Go?”
While doing some much-needed updates of my blogroll, I added a little appendage (•••) to blogs that post primarily (if not exclusively) about Bolivia. This way they’re easier to spot.
A year ago, friend & fellow Bolivian blogger Eddie Evila (of Barrio Flores) launched a project to help encourage more blogs from Bolivia—specifically in less affluent areas (his project started in El Alto).
There’s a running debate on the constitutionality of Bolivia’s recall referendums scheduled (tentatively) for August 10 over at MABB. I’ve weighed in w/ some thoughts on the legal backing of some recent related constitutional matters. But I’ve included the lengthier comment here:
K8 & I are big fans of Project Runway & Top Chef (both on Bravo TV). Unlike most “reality” shows (which are garbage), these revolve around actual abilities—highlighting contestants skills & creativity, rather than backroom drama. While neither of us sews (though K8 insists she’ll someday use our still-unwrapped brand new sewing machine), both of us have found inspiration watching the Top Chef contestants. These are truly talented individuals. (And I keep encouraging some of my friends to audition for both shows.)
But the current season of Project Runway is starting as a bit of a let down. So far, in the first two challenges, the overall quality of many contestants’ designs were subpar—at least by the standards of previous season contestants. Or is it just me?
This is a shameless plug, I know. But I recently started a Facebook petition for The Daily Show to hire a Latino/Hispanic correspondent. They still don’t have one.
You’ve gotta at least admire Quispe’s chutzpah. After allegations surfaced recently about ties between FARC, Venezuela, and Quispe’s EGTK guerrilla group, the famous Mallku (“prince”) of the Aymara katarista movement came forward w/ a press statement openly stating that he has FARC sympathies—though pointing out that he also has programmatic differences w/ the Colombian guerrillas.
Fallout from the capture of a FARC leader’s laptop in Ecuador a few months ago is starting to have some (predictable) fallout in Bolivia. Today’s La Razón has a series of articles on relationships between FARC & Bolivian groups.
K8 & I are quickly realizing that moving to a new city w/ an infant is not the same as moving to a new city w/o one.
Yesterday, Javi learned how to pull himself up to his feet—by himself—from a sitting position in his crib. He didn’t know how to do that on Wednesday. Oh, the days of putting him on the floor to entertain himself are gone, gone, gone. I’m excited, of course, for him to become more independent. But now every sharp corner or hard edge seems like a booby trap. Also, the cats have learned to sleep w/ one eye open.