I HISTORY

The history of Bolivia reflects its pre-Columbian and its colonial heritage. The languages of the Aymara kingdoms and of their Quechua conquerors are still spoken in some regions; the population is predominantly Indian in rural areas,. Spain left its language and its influence in the political, economic, and social arenas. Spain, during its three hundred years of colonial rule, imposed its institutions and its religion on the colony and exploited its abundant mineral resources using forced Indian labor. The silver deposits at Potosí were the largest in the Western world.

Bolivia achieved independence from Spain in 1825. In the following years, political instability became endemic and the economic condition of the country was weakened as a result of numerous coups. In spite of the efforts of its first three presidents, Simon Bolivar, Antonio Jose de Sucre y Andres de Santa Cruz, the economy did not recover from the struggle caused by the wars of independence.

Bolivia lost its access to the sea to Chile (War of the Pacific 1879-1880), an event of ominous effects to the country.

The devastating defeat suffered by Bolivia at the hands of Paraguay in the Chaco War (1932-35) discredited the traditional leadership and brought the military back to politics. Between 1936 and 1939, military governments tried to reform the country with a program of "military socialism" that included social justice and the control of the country's natural resources. In 1937 they nationalized the Standard Oil holdings, the first such step taken in Latin America. However, they failed because they were inconsistent and unable to marshal popular support, these governments were important because they facilitated the formation of a number of new parties that, despite differences, agreed on the need to limit the power of the tin magnates.

Although members of the Conservative Party attempted to stop the growing trend toward reform in the 1940s, they could not contain the popular discontent. Unrest in the countryside increased, and the middle class resented the government's inability to deal with economic stagnation and increasing inflation. The unifying force in the opposition was the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement, a primarily middle-class party that became more radical as it integrated the militant ideology and demands of the workers.

Bolivia's 1952 Revolution, led by the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement, was a turning point in the country's history. The government decreed universal suffrage without literacy or property requirements, an action that increased the electorate from some 200,000 to 1 million voters. It nationalized the mines of the three great companies--Patiño, Hochschild, and Aramayo-- and distributed land to the campesinos under a far-reaching agrarian reform. The revolution remained incomplete and lost momentum when the government's policies produced a virtual bankruptcy of the economy. In exchange for massive assistance from the United States and the International Monetary Fund the government agreed to cut social spending. This action produced renewed labor unrest and eroded support for President Víctor Paz Estenssoro (1952-56, 1960-64, and 1985-89). The government then made the fateful decision to rebuild the Bolivian armed forces, which had been purged and decimated in 1952. During the early 1960s, the military became the arbiters in Bolivian politics as widespread anarchy convinced many that only the armed forces could restore order. As a result, a military coup in 1964 led by General René Barrientos Ortuño and General Alfredo Ovando Candia had widespread support.

The military governments in power after 1964 varied in their ideological outlook. The armed forces were divided by personal ambitions and regional interests. Barrientos's conservative rule, for example, encouraged foreign investment and suppression of the left, whereas the "Revolutionary Nationalist" governments of Ovando Candia and Juan José Torres nationalized United States holdings and courted the workers, peasants, and students. Another conservative, Colonel Hugo Banzer Suárez (1971- 78), was forced out because of growing opposition and pressure from the United States to reestablish democracy. The attempt at a transition to democracy after 1978 failed at first because no single party achieved a majority in three elections, and alliances of various groups could not break the deadlock. Military coups, including one led by the ruthless General Luis García Meza Tejada (1980-81), overthrew civilian interim presidents. Only in 1982 the country returned to democratic government. Since 1982 there have been no coups in Bolivia. However, economic problems continued. Economic reforms geared to control inflation and the privatization of national industries met with mixed results.

Coca farming exists in Bolivia since Inca Times. In the 1990s illegal drug production and trafficking became an important item in the economy of the country. Pressure from the United States and other countries to eradicate coca production led to some reduction, which in turn triggered increased poverty and protests.

In 2003, President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada resigned the presidency forced by civil unrest, rioting and workers' strikes in the capital resulting from his proposals to institute income tax and to export natural gas to the United States and Mexico. Upon Sanchez de Lozada's departure, Carlos Mesa, the Vice President, took over the presidency and in 2004 won the presidential election on a platform that Bolivia and not foreign corporations will receive maximum benefits from the exportation its resources, such as natural gas. However, in 2005 Mesa too resigned upon pressure from 80,000 protesters surrounding the national palace requesting the nationalization of natural gas. To avoid further escalation of unrest and violence, Congress agreed to request Eduardo Rodriguez, President of the Supreme Court, to become the Interim President. Rodriguez was sworn on June 10, 2005 and immediately called for a special election for the next president in December 2005.

Location: Bolivia is located in Central South America, surrounded by Brazil to the north and East and Argentina and Paraguay to the south and Peru and Chile to the west.

Size: 1,098,580 square kilometers. (x 0.39 to get the size in miles)

Topography: Landlocked. Land is 20 percent arid or desert, 40 percent rain forest, 25 percent pasture and meadow, 2 percent arable, 2 percent inland water, and 11 percent other, including negligible percentage irrigated. Divided by two parallel Andean ranges or cordilleras, on roughly north-south axis, into three distinct ecozones: vast arid Altiplano plateau between western range (Cordillera Occidental) and eastern range (Cordillera Occidental), with Lake Titicaca on northern end; semitropical Yungas and temperate valleys of Cordillera Oriental; and eastern lowlands (Oriente), including semiarid Chaco region.

Climate: Tropical with heavy rainfall in northern lowlands to temperate in highland valleys and harsh, chilly conditions on windswept Altiplano, where daily temperatures fluctuate sharply. Uninhabited areas over 5,500 meters high have arctic climate.

Sources: The Library of Congress
Lonely Planet - Bolivia.

IV. ALACITAS
Contribución de Barbara Simon - Febrero 2006

Alacitas se festeja el 24 de enero en La Paz y constituye la más importante feria artesanal de la ciudad. Se la realiza en honor de un lar* familiar aymara llamado Ekako o Ekeko, que simboliza la fecundidad, la alegría y la prosperidad. La palabra Alacitas, quiere decir "Cómprame" en aymara. (*lar = dios o deidad que protege el hogar en la Roma Antigua. Ed.)

Esta festividad, de acuerdo a crónicas históricas, se la festejaba en el mes de octubre con su doble acepción de prosperidad material y fecundidad humana, realizándose por tanto matrimonios simulados, costumbre que aún perdura en varias comunidades indígenas, donde también se realiza esta feria, así como en otras ciudades (como Cochabamba) donde esta festividad se conoce con el nombre de "Calvario" y se festeja todavía en octubre. Por orden del gobernador Segurota, después del triunfo de los criollos sobre el cerco indígena que duró dos años, esta festividad fue trasladada al 24 de Enero en homenaje a Nuestra Señora de La Paz. A partir de esta fecha adquirió el "Ekeko" la figura de un español rechoncho y sonriente.

Primitivamente, como aún sucede en el agro, los pequeños objetos se adquirían con pequeñas piedras blancas del lago Titicaca. Durante la Colonia, estas fueron substituidas con botones dorados llamados "tapabalazos", luego con billetes en miniatura. Hoy se compran con moneda boliviana corriente.