Last Saturday, Javi & I went to the Baltimore Comicon. We hoped on Light Rail & rode down to Inner Harbor. It wasn’t nearly as large as I had imagined, but it was still a lot of fun. And Javi was a good sport.

In my American Foreign Policy class, I’ve been trying to impress on the students the impermanent (and historically recent) nature of US global hegemony. That’s why rather than starting the course w/ the postwar period (when the US emerged as a superpower), we started w/ the 1898 Spanish American War (arguably when the US emerged as one of the “great powers”). That starting point allows me to challenge the conventional wisdom many undergraduates have about the US & its role in world affairs.

Today’s Washington Post story about Sadato Ogata & the Japan International Cooperation Agency is particularly appropriate. As of today, JICA is the world’s largest bilateral aid organization. After acquiring a government bank, it is now 2½ larger that USAID.

The proposed bailout plan failed today. Good! Wall Street got angry about that, and stocks took a tumble. Not good, but I still don’t care. I have only one question for Washington: Where’s my $2,300!?

I also find it amusing that left wing Democrats & right wing Republicans were able to find common ground. And no amount of arm wrangling by the White House is going to do the trick, I don’t think. Join my Facebook petition and ask: Where’s my $2,300!?

Voters in Ecuador approved a new constitution (by almost two thirds), according to preliminary vote counts. This gives Correa an important victory.

Ecuador is holding a referendum on a new constitution today. The measure includes a number of “radical” social, economic, and political measures: a stronger role for the government over strategic industries (oil, telecoms), writing off some (but not all) international debts, an attack on large landholdings & land redistribution measures, allowing the president to have two consecutive terms (but not “indefinite” reelection), health care for senior citizens, and recognition of same-sex civil marriages.

Bolivian negotiations have broken down after the government refused to negotiate the language in the draft constitution (it had earlier agreed to open the draft up for revision). Now Evo announced that he’ll approve the draft constitution, peacefully or not (“De buenas o de malas”). The statement was made at a MAS gathering in Cochabamba; he also announced a march on La Paz to force the National Congress to pass a bill for a referendum on the draft constitution.

It was perhaps too predictable, but the Bush administration is rescinding Bolivia’s preferential trade access to the US. The move, based on the previous White House declaration that Bolivia failed to meet up to its drug war obligations, is clearly a further response to the recent expulsion of the US ambassador from Bolivia. For its part, Bolivian government has declared the move an “attack on democracy.”

Putin met w/ Chavez to announce that Russia will loan Venezuela $1 billion dollars to purchase arms (Venezuela has already spent $4bn on Russian arms recently).

I guess we’re on the verge of bailing out investment companies & essentially nationalizing the banking industry. The total cost is going to be $700 billion dollars (at least). I’m not an economist or an MBA, so I’m not sure how that’s supposed to solve the crisis. But I wonder whether that will make my life “better” in the short, medium, or long term.

It looks like things are calming down in Bolivia. The fear of pro-government & opposition forces clashing in Santa Cruz didn’t materialize after MAS supporters lifted their blockades & agreed to stand down. The issue is being thrown back into the legislature’s lap, which is where it belonged all along. And it’s good that the government is opening up the entire draft constitution for debate (though not in the legislature, but in round table discussions between Evo & the prefects).

From an email from my parents (who live in Santa Cruz):

Evo announced an alleged a coup plot between Goldberg (the US ambassador expelled a few days ago), Costas (the Santa Cruz prefect), and a number of high-ranking military officers. Meanwhile, reports from Pando suggest that five of the bodies were Venezuelan soldiers, who are being repatriated. Costas has also asked Evo to call of the MAS protests who are still marching towards the city of Santa Cruz; he’s also called for a suspension of labor & a public assembly in the main plaza for a cabildo (a “popular assembly”) to decide what to do. (FYI: The last Santa Cruz cabildo proclaimed Costas “governor” & demanded regional autonomy.) Also, as of now, the 24 de Septiembre celebrations are cancelled—the first time that has happened in more than 50 years. This doesn’t look good at all.

My good friend Dan Kastner was just featured in a Wired article (“High Gas Prices Pedal-Start Another Moped Revolution”). About eight years ago, I joined the small but growing Moped Army in Kalamazoo (the founding “Decepticon” branch). After getting married, moving, and having a son, I’ve had to let mopeds go—for the time being. But it’s inspiring to see Dan continue his dream. Now based in San Francisco, his 1977 Mopeds is designing a new 21st century design for production. I can’t wait to see it.

Because K8’s an anthropologist, I’m privy to some interesting disciplinary debates (yes, I often peek at Anthropology News). A Wired article posted today (“Army Anthropologist’s Controversial Culture Clash”) addresses one of those debates: Should anthropology (as a discipline) participate in studies that could be of use to the military?

On a lighter note, I’ll be attending my first Comic Con this weekend. One of the perks of living in Baltimore is that it hosts a number of interesting conventions. So Javi & I will be attending the Baltimore Comicon on Saturday. A special thanks to J. Edmund, who scored me an special pass.

Despite signs of progress, Bolivia is again becoming tense. The last two weeks, the blame fell squarely on the opposition. This week, most of the blame falls on the government. MAS supporters are marching on Santa Cruz; they have been for days. All this while the government seeks a compromise w/ the opposition, but making no effort to prevent tens of thousands of (many of whom are armed) from descending from rural Cochabamba towards Santa Cruz in two columns (one from the west, one from the north). The marchers are calling for the resignation of Rubén Costas (the Santa Cruz prefect) & Branko Marinkovic (president of the Comité Cívico de Santa Cruz). Essentially, the government is using the marchers to push the opposition back to the negotiation table to accept a deal.

Here’s a curious finding: If you go to techPresident & check on its tracking of candidate Facebook supporters you’ll see that McCain had a huge spike in supporters on September 18 (select McCain only, and the most recent week). I’ve no idea why. But it’s curious. But have no fear Obamanauts: Obama still out-friends McCain by 1,867,732 to 531,625.

The upcoming APSA Teaching & Learning conference is scheduled for Baltimore (February 6-9, 2009). The deadline for proposals is September 30. I don’t normally get to attend such a niche conference; but now that it’s being held in my town, I plan to attend. Just not sure if I want to write a proposal about “American Idol in the Classroom” or one of my in-class simulations.

It was a farily predictable outcome (at least I thought so). But Evo is offering regional autonomy in exchange for support for the draft constitution. The draft constitution includes regional autonomy, of course. And, as I pointed out before, the distance between that model & some of the “autonomic statutes” wasn’t great.

Next semester I’m teaching two sections of Latin American politics. I like to regularly switch up my readings, assigning 2-3 “country study” texts (and spend 2-3 weeks on each) in addition to a more general textbook. So far I’m leaning heavily towards the following cases: Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela. I also want each case to offer a different “theme.” Here are the books I’m currently considering (thoughts & suggestions welcome):

MABB suggests Evo’s government made significant compromises in agreeing to the framework for dialogue. I’m inclined to agree. The document—published in La Razón (which I linked to yesterday)—opens up for discussion the following items: the new constitution, regional autonomy, the IDH (direct taxes on oil & gas revenues, which the media luna prefects demand be returned to them), and the naming of vacant posts (electoral court, constitutional tribunal, etc).

It’s been a tense roller coaster ride (which isn’t yet 100% over of course), but it looks like there’s a compromise in place between Evo’s government & the opposition prefects. Hopefully, this means that things will start getting back to “normal” again soon enough.

There are signs that calm & order may be returning to Bolivia after several tumultuous days. In the aftermath of more than a dozen dead, 30+ injured, and as many as 100 missing in Pando, the government is seeking to reestablish control. There are still some blockades throughout parts of the media luna, as well as worrying signs of sporadic confrontations. But the volume of such confrontations has greatly diminished. These are optimistic signs.

Things are, it seems, returning to calm in Bolivia. Evo has made remarkable overtures for compromise—and so far it seems like the opposition prefects are willing to negotiate as well. A tentative agreement between Evo’s government & the opposition may be in place soon. There are still, of course, troubling signs. Both opposition & government supporters are an alert, preparing to face each other again. It may take time for the state security forces (police & military) to regain full control.

Just a quick update while visiting family in the DC area. An email from my mom states that the US embassy is now advising all Americans to leave the country; 100 have been evacuated already. My parents still haven't decided what they'll do. But things do seem to be calm in Santa Cruz; the center of this current crisis is Pando.

Chavez has again criticized the Bolivian military, and continues to speak of intervention in case Evo's government falls. The South American UNASUR countries will meet in Santiago, Chile, to discuss the situation. Brazil's Lula & Chile's Bachelet are leading calls for calm & calling all sides back to negotiate.

The Bolivian army is now mobilizing to Pando. They're tasked w/ restoring order & arresting the prefect. There are also reports that journalists are being prevented from covering the story as they're held by military personnel for their own safety. The death toll in Pando continues to rise (it's now at least 15 dead).

Also, various groups are mobilizing. One that should be noted are the Chiquitanos (an indigenous group from the Santa Cruz lowlands). But the Chiquitanos are backing the Comite Civico de Santa Cruz in "defense of the IDH" (the oil/gas rents collected by the government & returned to the departments, which has been recently cut). Regional alliances are quickly starting to dominate the agenda.

After deadly clashes between pro-MAS & opposition forces in the department, Evo has declared a state of siege in Pando. The order bars public meetings of any kind, the carrying of weapons, and imposes a curfew. Meanwhile military forces mobilized to restore order in the media luna departments. In addition, Bolivia’s military issued a statement condemning Chavez for suggesting that Venezuela might intervene militarily. In Santa Cruz, a women’s march in front of the Venezuelan consulate called for the removal of foreign presence (there have long been rumors of Venezuelan troops in Bolivia, including their involvement in the government raid on Viru Viru airport a year ago).

My mom (who lives in Santa Cruz) tipped me off to the news that Ponchos Rojos are mobilizing to recapture government installations in the media luna. Along w/ other pro-MAS social movement organizations, they’ve announced their defense of Evo’s government.

Bolivia’s crisis has spread, drawing high levels of concern from other Latin American states. In a repeat of September-October 2003, neighboring heads of state expressed support for Evo’s presidency. But note that Chavez has threatened to “intervene” in Bolivia. He’s also decided to follow suit & expelled the US ambassador to Caracas. But notice also that Brazil made clear that it “will not tolerate” a democratic break.

There’s continued confrontations between pro-MAS & opposition groups throughout the “media luna”—particularly in Santa Cruz & Tarija. La Razón has a series of stories on the developments: virtually all public institutions in Santa Cruz are taken over by pro-autonomy groups; Tarija & Villamontes civic groups seized the gas field at Vuelta Grande; civic & campesino groups clashed in Tarija; MAS groups cut of San Julián & threaten to march on Santa Cruz; El Alto residents demand arms to defend the government; there was an explosion at the Tarija prefect’s garage; campesinos from Chuquisaca & Potosí threaten to cut of Sucre again; American Airlines is no longer flying to Bolivia & the airports at Cobija (Pando), Trinidad (Beni), Guayaramerín (Beni), and Tarija are taken over by pro-autonomy civic groups.

It’s time to jump into in-class simulations. So I’m dusting off my hula hoop (after a summer in the trunk) to run my economic development simulation in my Third World Political Development class. Should be a fun afternoon.

There’s state of virtual civil war in Santa Cruz, and dangerously headed towards a more serious confrontation. It’s been brewing for a while. But things are spiraling out of control as UJC thugs attacked government (and pro-government) installations. Pro-government groups have announced reprisals to follow. There’s also reports of tensions between Evo & military leaders over why the military didn’t act quickly to restore order (the military demanded written authorization from the president, since such efforts would produce deaths).

Matt Shugart, Greg Weeks, and Boz have been commenting on the growing rift between Cristina & Cobos. Since casting a tie-breaking vote in the Senate against the Argentine president (Cristina Fernández de Kirchner), the vice president (Julio Cobos) has openly joined the opposition. Now, Cobos may rejoin the Radical Party (UCR) & is expected to run for president (against either Crisitina or her husband, Néstor Kirchner) in 2011. It raises a number of interesting questions about the institutional role of vps in presidential democracies.

I’m not sure if this will make it to NPR’s Science Friday (yes, I’m a nerd). But this is just too cool to pass up: Scientists at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine decided to see whether water bears (tardigrades), one of the world’s smallest & most common animals (at a millimeter these invertebrates have claws & teeth) could survive the vacuum of space. They did. Read about it in Wired (“Invertebrate Astronauts Make Space History”).

K8 is still not sure about the idea of Javi being on the first team of humans to set foot on Mars. I’m already thinking about what kind of condo to buy on the Moon. At least we agree that he should wear space-themed pajamas.

MABB has a good post on the crisis of the state in Bolivia (increasingly Bolivia fails to meet Max Weber’s classic definition of a “state”). In addition, he reflects on the use of polarizing discourse as the new modus operandi of Bolivian politics.

K8 recently discovered a great music webcast for parents who want “hip” music for their kids: HYP Radio (the HYP is for Hip Young Parent). Check it out. And now, video of Javi chasing his wooden alligator. Enjoy!

Blogging will be less frequent for a while. I’m slowly settling into my new job at Mount St. Mary’s University (which includes getting used to spending 6-8 hours per week commuting). But so far I’m settling in well enough after my first week.

In an interesting twist, MAS supporters issued a call for the resignation of José Luis Exeni (the president of the National Electoral Court), calling him a “traitor to the social movements” for his statement that the CNE couldn’t go forward w/ the elections Evo called for by executive decree because of legal obstacles. Last night, the CNE issued a statement making clear that elections must be convoked by parliament, not by executive decree. Earlier, Exeni (named to the post by Evo) was criticized by the opposition, who accused him of being too sympathetic to MAS.

Maria Bruno, archeologist & ex-Fulbright fellow, posted some sage advice on visa requirements for US visitors to Bolivia (including academic visas). As she notes, things have gotten much more expensive & complicated. I’m curious to see how this will effect the tourist industry (particularly in rural outlying areas frequented by more the backpacker crowd).