271218: I predict a riot
After a very good night's sleep, catching up on the blog and eating our own breakfast (!!) we decide to just have a bit of a saunter around the Socopachi district. As we have said before, we're not so good at museums, old houses etc. People and world watching is our thing.
We have already become fascinated by the two houses below our window. They have heavily secured windows, a covered walking area between the garage and the rear doors and there are often two security guards who open the gates to let cars and pedestrians in and out. Each entrance and exit is recorded in a book.
Upon inspection we discovered this was the Japanese Embassy which would also explain why there are sushi bars nearby, in a land that has no access to the sea and therefore seafood.
Socopachi is mainly high rise and there are some very fine skyscrapers. The one above is opposite ours.
There are new ones being built too.
As we have mentioned before, when Bolivia loss the Battle of the Pacific in the 1800s, it lost access to the coast and this has been a moot point ever since. Outside this army building was a poster campaigning for sea access again.
In a nearby park there was a monument to Eduardo Avaroa or Abaroa - one of the Bolivian heroes from that war who died fighting the Chileans. Interestingly at the foot of his statue is an anchor.
You see lots of military uniforms in La Paz and we spotted some with sharp navy blazers and white caps. Joan remarked that maybe they were from the Bolivian navy and then had one of those "Durr!" moments as it is a land locked country. However, upon arriving back at the flat we discovered there is, in fact, an Armada Boliviana and it employs around 5,000 staff.
In the same park, there was a small protest camp. We gingerly took a quick photo as there were police officers nearby. As we walked back, more turned up in a lorry complete with riot shields. A couple of quick snaps were taken. We thought one of the officers had spotted us so we legged it before he could confiscate our camera.
We retreated to a café - Go Green - opposite our apartment block. It was a fast food vegetarian and vegan place and predictably did not have the first thing we asked for. However it did not sell pizza. We had chickpea nuggets with chips and artesan beer.
Next door to the café is one of many shops that sells furniture in this district. Perhaps reflecting the wealth here, the furniture is all faux French with gold and ornate decoration. Some of the Hello! pictures of Trump and Melania in Trump Towers comes to mind. Tasteful....not.
After lunch, we continued our stroll and headed uphill towards the centre. The predicted riot hadn't happened - or if it did, we missed it.
In Chile, every town has a statue of liberator General Bernardo O'Higgins, here it is Simon Bolivar.
We walked to Plaza Sucre which is bounded on one side by the infamous San Pedro Prison where many of the Bolivian narco-barons and the odd corrupt politician end up as well as other unfortunates. The prison is very small for its 1,500 residents and there is a very hierarchical system where the richest residents live quite a comfortable life, whilst the poorest sleep on the floor and struggle to survive on their meagre rations. There were families queueing to get in with parcels of food and loo paper. There were watchtowers on every corner. Stepping back, we could see the corrugated roof with plastic barrels for water tanks. One could imagine that life in there was very harsh.
At one time, the organisation of the prison was so anarchic that you could go on a tour there and allegedly get access to some of the world's finest cocaine which was made in house. However, the tours could be very dangerous especially if one of the frequent riots broke out or, if surprisingly, you were mugged and burgled.
After this video was posted on YouTube, tours of the jail were stopped.
Then we moved on towards El Prado, which is the main street which runs along the bottom of the ravine. A culverted river runs thankfully covered and underneath carries the city's waste etc out to the Amazon. Yuck!
There are some very old and groovy buses on the street. When we first went to Chile in 2002, there were loads of battered old buses jostling for position and passengers. We spent a whole afternoon watching them. Since then they have been regulated. Here is like Chile was but on cocaine! We get the feeling, private car ownership is pretty low here and, what vehicles there are, are mainly for hire. There are some right wrecks on the road, held together with masking tape and good fortune.
Taxis looking for business pip at you to tout for business.
Walking up El Prado there are gleaming new government buildings along the way as well as sad old colonial buildings in decline. The juxtaposition of these edifices of glass and steel with beggars sitting on their steps was not lost on us. President Evo Morales has come under attack for his new residence:
Joan has been always dubious about physical regeneration. Roads and physical infrastructure such as water, electricity and broadband are useful and can be an incentive for inward investment. But here in Bolivia we have seen too many villages with brand new parks, sports halls and fountains whilst the people do not have access to decent living standards and the children are begging on the street or working, rather than getting an education. It's the same in England were vanity projects like HS2 are proposed whilst our public services - the NHS, schools, libraries, street cleaning - are cut to shreds. There is something wrong with a economic model that favours capital investment over investing in people.
The street are very vibrant but at the same time harsh here as people work hard to make a living- some selling a few sweets, or bread or drinks. It's hard to walk on the narrow pavements as there are so may sellers. Little girls in pretty dresses dance for a few pence, whilst old people just hold out their hands begging. You wish you had a magic wand to sort this out.
Frankly we felt a little embarrassed about photographing folk just trying to get by.
Finally we reached the Church of Saint Francis - a focal point for the city. One of the most common sights are shoe shine boys. A lot of them cover their faces with masks. The guide books say this is to hide their identity as they are ashamed they have to do such a lowely job. Some work as gangs in matching liveries.
The square was full off people apparently not doing much. We wondered if something was about to happen. A lady sold sugar cane juice, pushing sugar canes through a press and coming out with a plastic cup of semi-transparent juice.
We headed home. On the way we saw a ramshackle structure in the middle of the road. We went to take some pictures, and as we passed by a man handed us a leaflet and invited us inside.
His name was Nando Guzman Betancourt from the Victimas de Violencia Poliica Bolivia. His cabin was full of pictures of the military dictators who once ruled Bolivia as well as photographs of those who disappeared. Nando explained that he had been working in a University and was arrested four times for his left-wing views. Luckily he survived as many people in Bolivia "disappeared" as they did too in Chile and Argentina. A few years ago we had the opportunity to meet the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, who campaign to find the truth out about their "disappeared" sons and daughters.
Nando and his partner have lived in this cabin for six years. It is located right opposite the Ministry of justice.
Those who suffered under the dictators were promised truth, justice and reparation by the government but this has never been delivered. He protests here to highlight their plight. As he said, 18 years of dictatorship and 35 years of democracy have still not delivered him and his colleagues justice. He was also not so complimentary about Evo Morales who he thinks has sold out.
Nando was a lovely man and clearly focussed. We spoke about the growing inequalities in Britain and the rise of populist leaders like Trump. We were happy to support his campaign and he invited us to stop by anytime and take mate and talk with him. He also told Kevin off for not using his Spanish more!
Next on to one of the cities big infrastructure projects - the telefericos. As we have said La Paz is in a deep ravine and its adjoining city El Alto is 500 metres higher. The streets are clogged with taxis, micros, minibuses and buses. In this vertically challenged city, Evo Morales has developed a series of cable cars that act like the Tube does in London or the funicular railways in hilly Valparaiso.
The one we saw had only been opened since July 2018 and was brand spanking new. A ride from the city centre to one of the high hills costs about 22p - that is 2 Boliviano,s about the same cost as a micro or minibus. Noticeably every car had a picture of Evo Morales on it.
It was getting dark so we went to the supermarket which was super busy and bought food for dinner.
Joan made a salad of vegetables including asparagus, artichoke hearts and palmitos which went with her own version of tucamanas (Bolivian pasties) filled with goat's cheese and carne de membrillo. OK, she burnt one.
One curious thing. Whilst sight seeing, Joan spotted a hole in her dress and was annoyed as it is relatively new and has maybe been worn a handful of times. Whilst preparing dinner, Kevin spotted several other holes. On inspection there were lots of holes, all in the green leaf areas of the dress. We have been using local lavanderias for our washing and it seems whatever detergent they use has dissolved bits of the dress. This article of clothing won't be coming home!
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