Articles on Politics
Why Didn't the McChicken Cross the Road?
15 May, 2013, Robert Noyes
McDonald’s shut its doors in Bolivia in 2002. Theories are conspiracies are abound for its demise and eventual departure. In the latest turn of events, other iconic US chains are knocking on the country’s doors. Could this signal a return of the Golden Arches? Illustration: Ana Ryan Flinn On average, ...
EDITORIAL - Reinventing Progress
14 March, 2013, Amaru Villanueva Rance
Things are quickly changing in Bolivia — some say for worse, some say for the better. But what does it mean for things to improve in the first place? This is precisely what’s currently being debated across the country. Félix Cárdenas, Vice-Minister for Decolonisation helps us understand some of these ...
Under Construction - Democratisation in Bolivia
14 March, 2013, Frans Robyns
With it’s latest Constitution, Bolivia has laid the foundations for a new era in its history. While civil society has undergone important transformations, democracy is still being developed. Photo by Amaru Villanueva Rance Democracy is a recent development in Bolivia. It isn’t really possible to classify Bolivia as anything approaching ...
The White Gold - Lithium
14 March, 2013, Caroline Risacher
The need for alternative energy sources is increasingly becoming a worldwide priority. Oil and natural gas, on which we have become so reliant, are not sustainable sources. Efforts to change our ways, however, seem to be moving slowly, and have stagnated due to political interests that continue to benefit the ...
Out of the Closet, Into the Fire?
14 March, 2013, Felicia Lloyd
Changes in Bolivian Laws signal some progress towards recognising sexual freedoms, though for gay rights to improve in practice, society must follow suit. Can culture hold the key for change? Photo by K-OS GALÁN A good starting point to understand the historical development of gay rights in Bolivia, is an examination ...
Rainbow Nation?
14 March, 2013, Carlos (Kaamil) Shah
Bolivia is now officially Plurinational, has South America’s first indigenous President, and is developing in unexpected ways. But with a racial past as murky as Bolivia’s, can the country overcome its differences to become a true rainbow nation? Photo by Pablo Paniagua ‘The issue of race is not black and ...
The End of the World . . . As We Know It
02 January, 2013, Caroline Risacher
How Bolivia Is Going to Survive the Apocalypse The world is going to end on December 21, 2012, the Maya warned us. According to their beliefs, on that date we will arrive at the end of the 5,125-year-long cycle in the Long Count calendar, meaning that civilisation is going to ...
A united front
28 February, 2012, Omari Eccleston-Brown
Bolivia does exist, but it’s a nation divided along invisible lines: East and West; loose borders that separate one ancestral community from the next; and perhaps most strongly, the breach between the tropical lowlands and the cold and blustery highlands. There's a certain legend here that goes "Bolivia doesn't exist". ...
Ploughing In The Sea: The Legacy of Bolivar - 6 de Agosto
27 August, 2010, Alistair Smout
In the Zona Sopocachi of La Paz, things are peculiarly quiet. The normally chaotic traffic is calm, and pedestrians cross the road with relative ease. Shops are shuttered up, cafes are draped in red, yellow and green, and the rusty smell of a barbeque drifts over a garden wall. The ...
Customary Moralety
27 August, 2010, Alistair Smout
It’s not often that a president who returns with 64% of the popular vote (nearly 40% more than their nearest rival) faces stern political opposition eight months into their presidency, but then, Evo Morales is not your typical president. Always a controversial figure, the country’s first Aymara President is once ...