Back in La Paz

02.17.2004

I arrived in La Paz before dawn, following a long overnight bus trip. After a much-needed nap, I took a much-needed shower, and headed out for some Wi-Fi & coffee. It was a nice surprise to see that the 72-hour transit strike scheduled to start today didn't happen. Perhaps it's true, La Paz & El Alto citizens are fed up w/ the metropolitan area being used as a marchódromo.

The Cochabamba trip was more tiring than I'd have thought. I spent most of Monday afternoon trying to relax and recharge my batteries. But I picked up the 1993 & 2002 materials I'd asked for; the CEDIB staff will work on the 1985 & 1989 materials during the week, mailing them to my PO Box in La Paz. Not bad.

Total cost of the five-day trip: $72.44. Of that, I spent $15.31 on three nights at Hostal Central, $8.35 on round-trip busfare (and trips to Quillacollo & Sipe Sipe), and $31.06 on food. Of course, I ate more than I should've (about five times a day). But when in Cocha, you eat. But it's good to be back in La Paz. Even if I leave in a two days for Tarija — and Carnaval!

BTW. If you didn't get the joke I posted here, let me explain:

Goni's MNR list won the 1989 election, Banzer's ADN list came in second, and Paz Zamora's MIR list a distant third. Since no list won a simple majority, parliament elected the president. Memories of Banzer's dictatorship were sharp among center & center-left parties, and the MNR wanted to win. Before the 1994 constitutional reforms (drafted by the MNR specifically to prevent this), parliament could vote from among the top three candidates (now the top two). Banzer ordered ADN legislators to vote for Paz Zamora, making him president. In exchange, Paz Zamora agreed to a joint ADN-MIR committee — the Committee of the Patriotic Accord (AP) — w/ Banzer as chariman. Since virtually no decision could be made w/o first consulting the AP, the joke holds true: Goni won the election, Paz Zamora became president, and Banzer ruled Bolivia.

Posted by Miguel at 03:01 PM

Comments

We'll all be in Tarija too (leaving late Friday night, returning even later Tuesday night). If you want to meet us for dinner one night, call me on my cell, I should have it more or less with me.

Posted by: Leslie at February 17, 2004 05:45 PM