I had to look twice at the headline on the BBC News website yesterday: “Bolivian leader on hunger strike”.  Surely they didn’t mean Evo Morales?

They did.  But then, there are not many other Bolivian leaders that get reported on the news here.  President Morales has gone on hunger strike until the Bolivian senate passes a new law.

It all sounds a bit crazy and certainly something that I would not expect to happen in Europe.  Can you imaging Gordon Brown or Angela Merkel going on hunger strike to get their respective parliaments to pass new legislation?  Or indeed any of their predecessors?

So what’s it all about?

Well, if I understand everything correctly, then the law should reform some of the electoral boundaries within Bolivia.  Now, when a country like the United Kingdom reforms their electoral boundaries an electoral commission takes into account social developments such as the number of people living within a given area.  It then makes recommendations to parliament as to the changes.  Ideally this happens in the middle of a Government’s term of office, so as not to affect the outcome of any elections.

In Bolivia’s case, the changes appear to be along ethnic lines and already the media is predicting that President Morales would stand to benefit in future elections from the changes.

The electoral boundaries should be drawn up to make elections as fair as possible, and the elected members of the senate have a responsibility to make that this is the case.  Trying to force the senate into approving those boundaries beyond their will surely has no place in modern democary?

If you we to ask me where the next casino capital of the world was going to be, the last place I’d think of would probably be Bolivia.

And yet, an item on the BBC News website paints a somewhat different light on the subject.

It turns out to be down to Russian investors in the country, looking for somewhere to put their money once casinos in their own country become more restricted later this year.

So where do you build a casino in Bolivia and who is likely to visit it?  Looking at the pictures on the news item, I could just about image such neon-lighted structures in Santa Cruz, but one casino operator is apparently due to open an outlet in El Alto!

Who is going to go to a casino in El Alto?  It’s the poorest part of La Paz, where the airport is located.  When I last visited we were even warned not go to there unaccompanied, especially on foot, because of the dangers of being attacked on the way to or from it!

So will there rich Bolivians from the around La Paz being taken in high-security limousines to well-guarded casinos on the outskirts of the city?

“Bolivia is being re-founded”.  That is what President Evo Morales told crowds in La Paz last week after the referendum on a new constitution for the country.  Indeed, having looked at what the new constitution will mean for Bolivia, it does seem to be a step forward in may areas, without being as radical as some though it may have turned out to be.

Two points in particular stand out as they appear to be a compromise of different viewpoints.

1. Whilst President Morales can re-stand for the presidential office at the next elections – scheduled for December 2009 – he will not be available for re-election after that in 2014.

2. Changes to laws on land-ownership will not be applied retrospectively, so should only affect new owners.  That may still not be welcome by some, but I am sure that previous governments – not just in Bolivia – would have been only too ready to take away land from the larger land-owners, only to give it out of principle to peoople who would not know what to do with it.

Another interesting part of the new constitution is the expansion of autonomy in the country, with a system that – at first glance, at least – sounds very much like the federal government structure in Germany.  And yet, first indications are that areas such as Santa Cruz and Tarija are against it.  This seems strange to me, as I though those areas wanted more independence?

Anyway, I guess it’s not all over yet.  The vote was obviously very close (with figures quoted just over 50% in favour).  I am sure we will hear much more about what really happens in Bolivia in the comings months.

Radio La Plata - 26th July 2000

I missed an anniversary at the end of last year, and only found out about it by reading the Correo del Sur website – the local newspaper in Sucre.

I didn’t realise that the station had been going so long!  The reason I am particulary interested is that this is the radio station that I gave an interview at when I was in Sucre many years ago.

At the time I had been learning Spanish for about 18 Months and the interviewer asked me about my trip with the Scouts to Bolivia.  I am pleased to say that I was able to understand most of what he was asking, but he professionalism showed through when he asked me something that I didn’t understand and was able to read in my eyes that was having trouble with the question.  Before I even had a chance to say anything, he rephrased it and hopefully the listeners did not even notice.  I was so proud to have given my first Spanish press interview!

So, even if it is a bit late: ¡Feliz cumpleaños, Radio La Plata!