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Placard wars

After Goni's overthrow, a general anti-MNR and anti-MIR (the two main parties member to Goni's governing coalition) feeling swept through much of Bolivia (esp. around La Paz, where is some areas it was a virtual McCarthy-esque witchhunt). It's not a good time to be a movimientista or a mirista these days. The Universidad Mayor de San Andres (UMSA), which like most public universities is a hotbed of political activity, was no exception.

Towards the end of last week, a group of students began protests (which, thankfully, didn't spill onto the Prado) to expell anyone associated w/ MNR and MIR from the university. Never mind issues of free speech, academic freedom, or other liberal democratic niceties. As part of the their protest, a few students "crucified" themselves on the main UMSA roof hoping to draw attention to themselves. Unfortunately, most passersby didn't seem to care.

Nevertheless, a counter-protest soon started against the troskomafiosos who launched the first attack. If you didn't know, Bolivia's a powerful Trotskyite center since the 1930s and radical Trotskyites have a major presence in the UMSA. Monday, a series of placards calling for the removal of the Troskyites from the university were plastered all over the UMSA walls.

That night, as I walked back from Sopocachi towards my apartment, a group of students were blocking out the anti-Trotskyite placards and replacing them w/ anti-MIR slogans. It seems the groups attacking the Trotskyite is led by several miristas (the MNR seems to be sitting this battle out). Over the last two days, placards go up and down, attacking one group, then the other in a tit-for-tat battle of slogans. My favorite is a mirista attack on a Troskyite leader, who's apparently been enrolled for 17 years but hasn't reached sophmore status yet.

Posted by Miguel at 06:14 PM

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