Democratic Voice: August 16, 2010
The importance of the word: In the past, contracts were not required to be written and signed by the parties, much less did a notary have to bear witness to what they had agreed, publicly, to avoid either violating the terms of the agreement. Those were the days when one's word was worth something, whoever broke the agreement verbally received social condemnation and stained the honor of his name, and with it his family.
Democratic Voice: August 17, 2010
The logic of price increases: With the approved Law 1008 against free trade (the Customs Act), the government continues with its insistent talk that the law will only affect large scale smugglers, and not traders and consumers. The truth is that the pursuit of government money affects the entire market chain, mainly consumers.
Democratic Voice: August 18, 2010
Ayo Ayo Shown Justice: Although sometimes we seem to see too many dark clouds on the horizon, never miss news that seems to help us catch a glimpse of a small light at the end of the tunnel through which we pass as a country, and allow us to face the day to day with more hope.
Democratic Voice: August 20, 2010
All conspire against Morales: The naturalness with which the coca growers' leader Evo Morales has defended the demonstrations and social protests, has disappeared, leaving instead a frantic obsession to believe that everything that moves in the opposite direction of now President Morales and his government, is nothing but a simple and vulgar conspiracy to topple him from power.
Democratic Voice: August 27, 2010
The Death of Democracy: The adoption of the Rules of Ethics for the Plurinational Legislative Assembly is underway, which turns citizens who were elected to represent the people into second class citizens, with fewer freedoms than those of the common Bolivian.
Democratic Voice: August 31, 2010
Iranian Terror: President Morales is wrong to defend a totalitarian regime such as Iran but, worse, he threatens to bring Bolivia so closely to a world of slavery, atrocities and terror that we have left behind long ago.
Democratic Voice: September 7, 2010
What people are still waiting for: The millions (including Bolivians) do not cease in their attempts to migrate to countries with better opportunities, while Bolivia does not consolidate markets for export and sale of goods, increase productivity or accelerate the movement of capital.
Democratic Voice: September 16, 2010
Strategy, Pettiness and Political Laziness: In times of Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz the left could not count even a dozen lawmakers, much less with millions of dollars for the construction of political movements, and yet always managed to achieve ends to make a difference, using the ideas of moral and intellectual superiority, and ideological and programmatic strength, supplemented with determination and courage.
Democratic Voice: September 24, 2010
Accusations of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: The tyrant of Iran intends to show, symbolically and discursively, that terror and bondage are more powerful than freedom. He aims to kneel before his deranged fanaticism, to all who believe that respect for freedom, the rights of others, equality before the law, to life and justice are the main and most precious values of humanity.
The Truth Behind Morales' Gas Price Hike
Bolivia Democratica, December 29, 2010 -- Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera's explaination for the reason the government cut subsidies on domestically sold gasoline and diesel was to counter the illicit gas smuggling into Bolivia's neighboring countries. Although it is true that Brazilians and Argentines look at extremely cheap Bolivian fuel avariciously, this could hardly be an explanation for such a huge and erratic move by the Morales Administration a 73% increase in the price of gasoline. Recently released studies show the trouble YPFB (Bolivia's nationalized oil industry) faces and the truth behind this precipitous decision.
Overview of U.S.-Bolivian Relations
Democratic Voice, January 10, 2011 -- As the coca plant's roots run deep in Bolivian culture, they also run deep in conflict between the U.S. and Bolivia. The plant is innocuous when chewed, drunk in teas, or used in soaps, shampoos, and pharmaceuticals; but it can be refined into cocaine that has been feeding the U.S. addiction. Since the 1980s the U.S. has backed an effort to eradicate the sacred plant from Bolivian mountainsides by sending helicopters, training troops, and spraying fields. In 1988 a law was passed, setting a limit for Bolivian coca cultivation to only 30,000 acres. President George H. W. Bush started the Andean Trade Preference and Drug Enforcement Act (ATPDEA) which eliminated tariffs on a number of products to encourage other Andean markets besides the coca leaf. The ATPDEA has provided thousands of jobs for Bolivian textile and jewelry industries.
Morales' Environment Presentation in Cancun Polluted with Hypocrisy
Bolivia Democratica, January, 17, 2011 -- Evo Morales and his UN Ambassador, Pablo Solon, marched into Cancun’s Conference on Climate Change ready to proselytize with the war-cry, “Planeta o muerte!” to the world. Many environmental activists who were present applauded both their quixotic message and their impudent boldness towards the developed world, big-time emitters, and “the empire.” However, Morales and Solon’s slogan was not as welcome as when they chanted it on their home turf—Cochabamba at Bolivia’s Conference on Climate Change in April. The international panel of diplomats were unimpressed with President Morales’ theatrics, as Bolivia alone left Cancun without signing the negotiations made in the conference. Once again, Morales put on a childish rabble-rousing performance littered with hypocrisy.
Dispersing Power: Social Movements as Anti-State Forces, By Raúl Zibechi
Editorial Comments, 29-June-2011: Dispersing Power is an intriguing book worth looking into in greater depth. On a first impression, the book is interesting but definitely locked into the standard Uruguayan and Latin American neo-socialist mental framework.
