«What is happening to Bolivian diplomacy today did not happen even in the worst dictatorships,» said Viscarra.
The diplomat made observations about the country’s foreign service and proposed ways in which the national diplomatic service can be redirected. He recommends that we leave our ostracism and open ourselves up to the world. Javier Viscarra, Diplomat. 24 December 2022 Javier Viscarra, a diplomat and former official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, states that the national...
Gary Prado is more than just the capture of Che
Arch. Fernando Prado Salmon 8 May 2023 Gary Prado is more than just the capture of Che I apologize to my kind readers if today I comment on something that touches me closely but that I think is of interest to the whole country: General Gary Prado Salmon has left us, a remarkable and multifaceted character, outstanding in many activities beyond his military career. Gary Prado is...
BOLIVIA, AN INVISIBLE DICTATORSHIP
Ronald MacLean Abaroa Former Mayor, Minister of State, and Chancellor of the Republic of Bolivia 10 May 2022 BOLIVIA, AN INVISIBLE DICTATORSHIP For decades it was said that Mexico lived under a “perfect dictatorship.” After the revolutionary process, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) was established in 1929 and ruled with an iron fist for more than 70 continuous years....
THEIR TIME IS UP
Humberto Vacaflor Ganam Journalist 20 February 2022 Their time is up It took a long time, but the time has come when the “empire” identified drug trafficking as an ally of the axis of autocracies and has decided to fight it throughout the world. For Bolivia, this means the end of an era, marked by the political dominance of figures and organizations linked to drug trafficking,...
A PARALLEL WORLD OF LIES
Amalia Pando – Journalist 14 February 2022 A PARALLEL WORLD OF LIES President-dictator Luis Arce announced from Oruro the discovery of new gas reserves and it is a complete lie. He said: “last year we started an exploration in the Margarita-Huacaya well, they are giving us good results, brothers, we are finding gas reserves in this well that we explored during our...
JUSTICE IN BOLIVIA: FROM CRISIS TO CATASTROPHE
Maggy TalaveraJournalist 6 February 2022 Justice in Bolivia: from crisis to catastrophe Definitely: what justice is facing today in Bolivia has ceased to be just a crisis (as if it were not enough that it is in a “serious and decisive situation” that “endangers” the very survival of the country), to transform into a true and frightening catastrophe. That is, in an “unfortunate...
UKRAINE AND ITS IMPORTANCE FOR BOLIVIA
José María Cabrera DalenceFormer Attorney General 2 February 2022 Ukraine and its importance for Bolivia Vassily Nebenzia, Russian Ambassador to the UN and an exponent of old school Russian diplomacy, had to leave the unfinished session of the United Nations Security Council itself, notably upset, where the United States had unexpectedly managed, by ten votes in favor, three...
HYPOCRISY, BAD IDEAS AND HALF-TRUTHS
Antonio SaraviaPhD in Economics 31 January 2022 Hypocrisy, bad ideas and half-truths The speech delivered by President Arce on January 22, during the celebrations for the anniversary of the Plurinational State, was a true display of hypocrisy, bad ideas, and half-truths. Probably the only redeeming feature was that it lasted only 40 minutes instead of the usual two hours of...
CHANCELLOR BY FORCE
Alfonso Gumucio DagrónWriter and Filmmaker 22 January 2022 Chancellor by force What can be said of a chancellor whose most important visible act has been to fall ill with Covid? For everything else he has been invisible: the shadowy operator of a repressive apparatus motivated by animosity and political revenge. In the first scene of Molière’s farce “The Doctor in Spite of...
SEA OF MISTAKES
Ronald MacLean AbaroaFormer Chancellor 19 January 2022 Sea of mistakes “Don’t look up.” As in a recent movie, a new mega meteorite is fast approaching that will have a devastating impact on the heart of our relationship -or lack of it- with Chile; all because of an erratic national foreign policy ignorant of the consequences of irresponsibility. The trajectory of a course of...
IT IS GETTING MORE DIFFICULT TO OVERTHROW A DICTATOR
Amalia Pando – Journalist 16 January 2022 IT IS GETTING MORE DIFFICULT TO OVERTHROW A DICTATOR A shadow of hopelessness covers the country. Luis Arce, being a small-time leader, heads a dictatorship tougher than that of Evo Morales, and despite the struggles within the Government and the MAS for power quotas in the cabinet and in state-owned companies, the democratic feat of...
RELEASE JEANINE AÑEZ, NOW!
Susana Seleme AnteloJournalist and Political Analyst 12 January 2022 Release Jeanine Añez, now! “From her vulnerable position, Jeanine Añez speaks her truth. Fear does not silence her.”Roberto Laserna on twitter. One day before the tenth month of her abusive preventive detention* Jeanine Añez Chávez affirmed: “I know that there is an order to kill me and day by day they...
A CERTAIN EVO…
Carlos Valverde BravoJournalist, political analyst, and writer 9 January 2022 A certain Evo… He did not wake up one day with a conscience smeared with “morality” and realized that corruption is the worst scourge in the country; in his government, he had exercised it at whim and will, using State assets to distribute them among his followers of the Indigenous Fund with...
HAPPY FLIGHT 2022!
Andrés Gómez VelaJournalist and University Professor 2 January 2022 HAPPY FLIGHT 2022! Many times I imagined life as a finite journey on a ship called planet Earth. A journey of 365 continuous days; in leap years, 366. The flight includes a round-trip around the Sun star. According to statistics, about 60 million, of the more than seven billion on board, will not finish the...
THE ABSURDITY OF THE SPOKESMAN
Manfredo Kempff SuárezBolivian writer, diplomat, and politician. 27 December 2021 The Absurdity of the Spokesman That the spokesman Richter affirms that the Santa Cruz model is “exhausted” is nameless nonsense. The fact that some crooks in the Santa Cruz Mayor’s Office have stolen many millions has nothing to do with the fact that our development model could be affected by this...
OBITUARY OF A DEATH FORETOLD
Ronald MacLean Abaroa Former Mayor, Minister of State, and Chancellor of the Republic of Bolivia 9 December 2021 Obituary of a death foretold The time is coming. The obituary of the MAS of Evo Morales has already been written by none other than one of the theoretical fathers of the “process of change”: Raúl Prada. A man of the left, a respected intellectual, he now reveals to...
MARCHES AND HANGOVERS
Hernán Terrazas E.Journalist 6 December 2021 Marches and Hangovers And the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) march reached La Paz, there were a few effusive speeches, the usual adjectives, the occasional threat of the usual against companies and businessmen, and even a few presidential tears to thank such a demonstration of support, but that’s it. Not to mention the numbers. In...
THE BUDGET OF HORROR
Antonio SaraviaPh.D. in Economics 5 December 2021 The budget of horror The General State Budget (GSB) for 2022 is a horror movie. The horror it produces comes not only from the numbers that, as always, do not add up, but, above all, from the intentions of the Government that they represent. This budget leaves no room for doubt. The Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) wants to...
RIBERA TAKES THE AÑEZ CASE TO THE WORLD CONGRESS OF LAW ON DEMOCRACY IN COLOMBIA
Carolina Ribera at the world forum of lawyers in Colombia. Photo: Página Siete . 2 December 2021 Ribera takes the Añez case to the World Congress of Law on democracy in Colombia The daughter of former President Jeanine Añez will speak at the meeting about the “political persecution” in Bolivia and the situation of her mother as a “political prisoner.” Carolina Ribera, daughter...
A MULTIFACETED MAN, A NEW MAN
Guadalupe Peres-Cajías 2 December 2021 A multifaceted man, a new man He was the founder and director of Presencia, an emblematic newspaper. He studied Philosophy and Law and inspired hundreds to teach in these areas. His book on Criminology is a fundamental guide on this subject. He presided over a distinguished Electoral Court, recognized for defending institutionalism. Catholic,...
FROM FRAUD TO FRAUD?
Manfredo Kempff SuárezWriter 25 November 2021 From fraud to fraud? In addition to the electoral fraud that Evo Morales carried out in October last year, apparently, another fraud occurred against the people in October 2020; it means that national democracy is not worth a damn, because not even the vote, of which we all brag about, has value. Morales provoked a fraud that the OAS...
FORMER TRIBUNAL MEMBER BAPTISTA REVEALS THAT THE SUPREME ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL (TSE) DID NOT RESOLVE TWO CAUSES OF ACTION THAT COULD HAVE LED TO THE LOSS OF THE MAS LEGAL STATUS
Rosario Baptista Canedo Former Supreme Electoral Tribunal Member 22 November 2021 Former Tribunal member Baptista reveals that the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) did not resolve two causes of action that could have led to the loss of the MAS legal status The former electoral authority re-wrote a letter explaining the reasons for her resignation. Among several denunciations, she...
ROSARIO BAPTISTA: A CALL FOR THE RESCUE OF THE PLURINATIONAL ELECTORAL BODY (OEP)
Juan del Granado CosíoLawyer, former Parlamentarian and Mayor of La Paz “The total control of all State Bodies by the ruling party (…) has left the vote as the only surviving element, but under technical, institutional, and legal conditions that make it nominal, since the citizen’s will and sovereignty are manipulated; (…) in the 2020 electoral process the true results were ignored (…)...
MUCH MORE THAN JUST OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS
Maggy Talavera Journalist 21 November 2021 Much more than just occupational hazards It is already known that each profession has its own barriers or difficulties to be overcome by those who exercise it. They are barriers and difficulties, we could say, specific to each one of them, according to their nature. These barriers and difficulties are faced by park rangers in the middle...
THE ELECTORAL REGISTER THAT WE HAVE
Humberto Vacaflor GanamJournalist 20 November 2021 The electoral register that we have Memories of the present “Thanks to this spectacular growth in the electoral register, the goal of President Morales of September 7th was finally reached. From 2,616,846 registered voters on September 9th, it went to 5,088,924 on October 22nd: 2,472,078 additional registered voters. 94%...
A LIE HAS NO LEGS, BUT…
Juan Cristóbal Soruco Q.Journalist 19 November 2021 A lie has no legs, but… When the lie becomes a resource of State management, there are moments, in which the lie is constantly reproduced, that it seems to be true. The issue is relevant when observing the behavior of the MAS leadership in the face of pressure to abrogate Law 1386. If even the leader of the MAS and...
HOW ARE WE AND WHERE ARE WE HEADING?
Agustín Zambrana Arze Journalist, Lawyer, and a patriotic activist. 15 November 2021 How are we and where are we heading? In the political sphere, the Bolivian population finds itself on opposite positions, between an ethnocentric socialist approach, which seeks to reach radicalism to sustain a political instrument arguing the sovereignty of the peoples as if they were subjugated...
LICENSE TO KILL
Susana Seleme Antelo Journalist and Political Analyst 12 November 2021 License to kill “It is not just a law… it is a much more serious problem that points to an authoritarian government, determined to impose its will over the national interest and without any predisposition to dialogue. The Government of Luis Arce intends to control society, the economy, and law enforcement...
Tik Tok DIPLOMACY
9 November 2021 Tik Tok Diplomacy By: Iván Camarlinghi – Diplomat and Journalist A few days ago, the former Ambassador to Paraguay Mario Cronenbold was dismissed from his duties for the mockery he made of one of the traditions of the Guaraní people: the Tereré, as important as tea in England, Yerba-Mate in Argentina and Uruguay or mid-morning Salteñas time in Bolivia....
The diplo(MAS)cy
Puka Reyesvilla – University Professor 5 November 2021 The diplo(MAS)cy “In the world of international relations, where ‘misunderstandings’ are generally the best understandings, this phenomenon is exacerbated by the hardly reversible effect of the term used,” says Benoit Turcat in his foreword to the Basic Dictionary of International Relations, by author Aitor Iraegui. That...
TikTok LEVEL FOREIGN SERVICE
4 November 2021 TikTok level Foreign Service El Deber Newspaper Editorial The Bolivian Government yesterday dismissed Mario Cronenbold from his functions as extraordinary and plenipotentiary Ambassador in Paraguay as a result of a publication by him on the social entertainment platform TikTok, in which the Bolivian politician is seen representing a trending video that was considered...
FIDEL, PINOCHET AND PROSPERITY
Ronald MacLean Abaroa Former Mayor, Minister of State, and Chancellor of the Republic of Bolivia 2 November 2021 Fidel, Pinochet and Prosperity I have extracted from my memoirs a colossal incident. In the early 1990s, the Cuban Ambassador to Chile visited Andrónico Luksic Abaroa, the great-grandson of the Bolivian hero Eduardo Abaroa Hidalgo and an important businessman, to extend an...
PROTECTION AND COVER-UP FOR LAS LONDRAS ASSAILANTS
Amalia Pando – Journalist 1 November 2021 PROTECTION AND COVER-UP FOR LAS LONDRAS ASSAILANTS CRIMINALS IN POWER Dulfredo Suárez do Santos is identified as the ringleader of the gang of land-grabbers that operates in Guarayos. The ringleader of the band of land-grabbers For a case prior to Las Londras, he was arrested and released. He had threatened the prosecutors of...
THE FAILED SPECTACLE OF THE MAS AT THE OAS
Jaime Aparicio Otero Career Diplomat, former Bolivian Ambassador to the United States 24 October 2021 The failed spectacle of the MAS at the OAS A curious fauna of colorful characters: nostalgic for Che Guevara, statistical scholars under a contract of a radical NGO, compulsive liars, and a North American activist defender of the coca leaf to whom the wise phrase of Oscar Wilde...
IMPRISONED DUE TO A CELL PHONE NUMBER
Andrés Gómez Vela Journalist 24 October 2021 Imprisoned due to a cell phone number Martín Luque felt an infinite emptiness in his stomach the moment the Anti-Corruption and Anti-Violence against Women investigating judge 2 from El Alto, Miriam Tarqui Flores, ordered his arrest in the San Pedro prison. A numbness of helplessness crept from his feet to his head. His vision blurred and...
A TERRIFYING “TORTURE BUS” RUNS IN THE CHONCHOCORO PRISON
Prosecutor Ruddy Terrazas announced that in the preliminary phase, four inmates and two policemen are being investigated for the death of inmate Cristofer Quispe. The “torture bus”, on the premises of the Chonchocoro prison, where the inmates are isolated. Photo: Luis Callisaya, Página Siete. 22 October 2021 A terrifying “torture bus” runs in the Chonchocoro prison In the...
WHAT MAGNICIDE?
Rafael Archondo – Journalist 21 October 2021 What magnicide? Minister Eduardo Del Castillo reports that between October 16 and 23 of last year, former Captain Germán Rivera García was passing through Bolivia. A Colombian national and known as “Mike”, his military nickname, this 40-year-old retired military man would have stayed in a room located on the 14th floor of the “Presidente”...
FILTERED AUDIO: MAS LEADERSHIP WOULD SEEK TO ACCELERATE EVO’S RETURN
The Government denies that there was a meeting of authorities last Monday Former President Evo Morales 20 October 2021 Politics Filtered audio: MAS leadership would seek to accelerate Evo’s return The Government denies that there was a meeting of authorities last Monday The audio of a conversation that would have been recorded on Monday afternoon and that was released last...
WHEN THERE IS NO MORAL
Carlos Toranzo Roca – Economist 20 October 2021 When there is no moral Bolivia is not only experiencing a crisis of excessive State patronage and prebendalism, what we are looking at in the present is deeper than that, it is about the moral degradation of power due to the absence of ethics, due to the total loss of the values that guide daily coexistence. The efforts to...
STRIKES. THE POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK
Gonzalo Chávez Alvarez – Economist 17 October 2021 Strikes. The pot calling the kettle black The previous Sunday I had promised to write about another of the speakers, JH Chang, from the 14th meeting of economists organized by the Central Bank of Bolivia. The political situation forces us to speak of the civic strike and its economic impact. I apologize. I’ll leave the Cambridge...
GOVERNMENT, WITHOUT LEADERSHIP OR TRUST
Juan del Granado CosíoFormer Mayor of the city of La Paz 17 October 2021 Government, without leadership or trust Seeing President Arce as the main agitator of a MAS concentration, calling for street confrontations, portrays well the stature of a leadership that, without even fully addressing the health and economic crises, has chosen to maintain and exacerbate polarization. If in 11...
LINERA’S FIERCE RESENTMENT
Manfredo Kempff Suárez Bolivian writer, diplomat and politician. 16 October 2021 Linera’s Fierce Resentment On top of all this mess that we’ve had with the Wiphala and with the cursed laws, as well as with some folk speeches by President Arce, we have suddenly come across some statements by former Vice-President García Linera, which exude concentrated hatred, but above all, gives us...
CIVIC STRIKE AGAIN, NOW WHAT?
Jhanisse Vaca Daza (Human rights and non-violence activist, co-founder of Ríos de Pie) 13 October 2021 Civic strike again, now what? This Monday the country experienced a 24-hour strike that was felt mainly in the main cities. This national strike was carried out as a protest measure against Law 218, which, if enacted, would allow the investigation of bank accounts and the search of...
LONGARIC AND APARICIO: IACHR’S REJECTION OF AÑEZ’S REQUEST OPENS THE WAY FOR MORE VIOLATIONS IN BOLIVIA
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bolivia, Karen Longaric Rodríquez, and Bolivian Ambassador, Jaime Aparicio Otero. 10 October 2021 Longaric and Aparicio: IACHR’s rejection of Añez’s request opens the way for more violations in Bolivia Former Foreign Minister Karen Longaric and former Bolivian Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), Jaime Aparicio, have harshly...
THE ROAD TO SOCIALISM IN BOLIVIA
Renzo Abruzzese – Sociologist 6 October 2021 The road to socialism in Bolivia The political panorama that we live in shows clear symptoms of having reached a threshold point. The false certainty of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), according to which 55% of the electoral victory was a blank check that enabled them to do whatever they wanted, has come to an end, unleashing a...
ARCE OR THE GIANT WITH FEET OF CLAY
Lessons from two weeks of a hard battle to recover the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (ADEPCOCA) Edwin Cacho Herrera – Journalist 5 October 2021 Arce or the giant with feet of clay The powerful MAS Government is weak on the streets. They enraged the Yungas coca growers by taking away their coca leaf trading market to hand it over to a pro-government leader. After...
JUDICIAL REFORM FOR DEMOCRACY
Ramiro Orias Arredondo 29 September 2021 Judicial Reform for Democracy Since continuing Bolivian democracy was recovered in 1982, one of the greatest institutional challenges -still pending almost 40 years later- is the reform of the justice administration system. In these last four decades, the political system responded with some initiatives –unfortunately, only a few– that...
Is Bolivia near the precipice?
Agustín Zambrana ArzeLawyer, Journalist-Director of the Bunker 26 September 2021 Is Bolivia near the precipice? The Government of Añez is not qualifiable to argue that Bolivia was taken into bankruptcy, just as this Government (Añez) was not constituted by angels either, however, saddle it with the economic or health disaster is clearly politicking, with a clear objective, the...
Diplomatic fiasco at the CELAC Summit
Jaime Aparicio Otero Career Diplomat, former Bolivian Ambassador to the United States 26 September 2021 Diplomatic fiasco at the CELAC Summit States with a professional foreign service know that it is never wise to announce a foreign policy initiative whose chances of failure are far greater than those of success. In Bolivia, the opposite happens, both during the Government of Evo...
Bolivia will substitute imports to industrialize the country as part of the national economic reactivation
The President indicated that the substitution of imported products for a value of US $ 800 to 900 million is planned when the construction of the ecological diesel plant in the country is completed. 22 July 2021 Bolivia will substitute imports to industrialize the country as part of the national economic reactivation President Luis Arce said Thursday that the logic of substituting...
Analysts: Persecution strategy was effective and silenced the opposition
The experts pointed out that Evo Morales was skillful and could do politics after his resignation, and that both Jeanine Añez and her Ministers “were too naively trusting.” Former President Jeanine Añez.Photo: Archive. 22 July 2021 Analysts: Persecution strategy was effective and silenced the opposition Political analysts agreed that the strategy of prosecutions and imprisonment of...
Human Rights compares Cox with Arce Gomez and denounces him to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the United Nations (UN) for “abuse of power”
Cox was an Ombudsman and now a Vice Minister. Photo: VRIP. 22 July 2021 Human Rights compares Cox with Arce Gomez and denounces him to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the United Nations (UN) for “abuse of power” The Permanent Assembly for Human Rights of La Paz (APDHLP) denounced the Vice Minister of Internal Affairs, Nelson Cox, before the Inter-American...
Chile eases border restrictions for nationals and resident foreigners
The borders remain officially closed, Chileans and residents who have completed their scheduled vaccines will be able to leave and enter the trans-Andean country. 22 July 2021 Chile eases border restrictions for nationals and resident foreigners The Chilean health authorities indicated this Thursday that restrictions on the country’s borders, which have been closed since...
Chilean Senators hope that Bolivia’s refusal to negotiate rates is not an “artificial conflict”
The legislators indicated that they hope that this attitude is not part of a strategy to generate an artificial conflict of a bilateral nature. “The negotiations must continue to be framed in the commercial sphere, as was done in 2019,” they said. Senators Jose Miguel Durana and Jose Miguel Insulza promote bilateral dialogue. 22 July 2021 Chilean Senators hope that Bolivia’s refusal...
Mesa: Both Evo and Arce are autocrats and not two Presidents who are fulfilling their mandates
The former President and Comunidad Ciudadana (CC) leader mentioned more than a dozen public institutions, whose senior officers are on an interim basis. Former President and leader of Comunidad Ciudadana (CC), Carlos Mesa.Photo: Archive. 21 July 2021 Mesa: Both Evo and Arce are autocrats and not two Presidents who are fulfilling their mandates The former President and leader of...
Government analyzes activating “international criminal proceedings” for the alleged coup
The Vice Minister of Internal Affairs, Nelson Cox. Photo: Archive. 21 July 2021 Government analyzes activating “international criminal proceedings” for the alleged coup The Vice Minister of Internal Affairs, Nelson Cox, announced that they will resort to the activation of “international criminal proceedings” against “high authorities” of other countries and international...
Government warns: Politicians who misinform about arms trafficking will be linked to the case
The Vice Minister of Internal Affairs, Nelson Cox. Photo: Archive. 21 July 2021 Government warns: Politicians who misinform about arms trafficking will be linked to the case The Vice Minister of Internal Affairs, dependent on the Ministry of Government, Nelson Cox, reported this Wednesday that those political actors who misinform the population about the alleged illicit arms...
Health confirms that all ICU patients are unvaccinated
Patients in the ICU of the Hospital de Clínicas. / Photo: Archive. 21 July 2021 Health confirms that all ICU patients are unvaccinated The Vice Minister of Health Insurance and Management of the Unified Health System, Alejandra Hidalgo, said this Wednesday that the people who entered an Intensive Care Unit these days, affected by Covid-19, did not receive either of the two doses of...
Del Castillo: “We do not have any transcendental element that demonstrates the participation of other countries in the coup”
The Minister of Government, Eduardo Del Castillo, in a past press conference. Photo: Facebook (Bolivian Ministry of Government). Del Castillo: “We do not have any transcendental element that demonstrates the participation of other countries in the coup” 21 July 2021 After various official statements that point to regional Governments as participants in the alleged coup d’État in...
