Bolivia and the Bolivians

Maybe the city of Potosi, which I just visited, sums up best my view of Bolivia and its people. The city is situated in an impossible spot: dry and barren, burnt by the sun all day and freezing cold at night. At 4100m it is the highest city in the world. And it is the lowest lowpoint of exploitation of the local people in Spanish America.

The city is there because of Cerro Rico (rich hill), which was by far the richest silver mine in the world for 150 years. All Spanish wars from the 16th to 18th centuries were financed from here and during that time this strange, high altitude place was the motor of the European economy. Because of this, the city grew to 160.000 people, as big as contemporary London.

An estimated 9 million people lost their lives in the mines of Potosi over the centuries ...

Bolivia is a wonderful country, the landscapes are magnificent, from the Altiplano, the mountains and the Titicaca lake to the subtropical and tropical lands lower down. But it also a country that has been hit over and over. From the mid-1500s there was "The Mine" and no lives were spared during the colonial age to get as much silver out of it as possible (at the moment, the silver is mostly gone from Cerro Rico, but it is still mined for numerous other minerals). Since independence in 1825, the country has been plagued by politicians who spared nothing to get as much as possible for themselves from the people and the lands of Bolivia. The number of (early deposed) presidents is staggering. Three wars have been fought and lost, resulting in the loss of land every time.
And even in the recent "democratic" era, since the 80s, the exclusively "white" politicians have been falling over each other to sell anything they can to foreign multinationals in order to secure their personal pensions.

I think it shows in the people. Their lives are hard. Bolivia is the poorest country in South America. They are less friendly than in Peru and in many cases it seems like they don't care anymore. But if you hit people hard enough and often enough, they start hitting back. The last 5 years, the people have started hitting back. "Water Wars" and "Gas Wars" have been fought against the government for the right for basic necessities and the proper investment of earnings from natural resources (sold off cheap to western companies). The mostly indigenous people were successful and went a step further two weeks ago by electing Bolivia's first indigenous president, Evo Morales. I hope with them he can turn things around.

On the lighter side then, what is Bolivia like ?

• The food is as uninteresting as in Peru, although the little meat pastries (Saltenas) are a treat and the chocolates of Sucre even more so. The best though are the "Pollos al Spiedo". Many a night Senor Hans has been seen speeding to his hotel room with a steaming plastic bag of delicious poultry. The licking of fingers and lips could be hard from far away ...
• The jugos de naranja are still here, oh yes. They don't have Inca Kola, but Tampico, bottled mandarin juice, is almost as good. And the coca leaves tea is even better here.
• On the whole it is not as touristy as southern Peru, but still less rustic than Peru del Norte. In the south of Bolivia you can walk on the heads of Argentinian youngsters, spending their holiday time cheap in their northern neighbour.
• Everything is sold from the street. The markets are great fun to walk around in and the market people are very helpful in making the wandering gringo a few bolivianos lighter in return for their wares.

But for Senor Hans, those wares were almost exclusively of the edible variety ... could it be true then, will he finally become ... fat ?

;-D