The people are heard

It was the week after Christmas here in Bolivia, just 2 months ago, December 2010. During this week many people are on vacation or traveling to see family, as is also common in the United States, so at first there was not a very visible reaction to the surprise over-night increase in fuel prices between 70-80% implemented on December 26th. The president, Evo Morales made a Supreme Decree taking away subsidies for diesel and gasoline, but NOT for natural gas, which is often used by buses and cars in cities and as cooking fuel. The reason stated for removing the subsidies is that the subsidized prices encourage a great deal of fuel contraband to Bolivia’s neighboring countries. At the same time he also increased salaries of public workers (police, known for being a very corrupt and under-paid institution; teachers; firemen etc.)

It took several days but people were NOT happy about the fuel price increase and on Thursday December 30th there was a strike here in Cochabamba by all the public transportation people as well as blockades in several main roads to prevent anyone from passing. At the time I was house-sitting for friends who live outside the main city, near a lake in the southern zone, so I walked back to the city for a 3pm meeting I had. It only took an hour and it was actually pleasant with not a whole lot going on during the end of the lunch hours…but that would soon change.

As I sit inside the office of Justice and Peace, which is situated one block from the main plaza in Cochabamba, I hear very loud BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! I look over with wide eyes at the person I’m meeting with, a Franciscan living here well over 30 years, who says to me calmly, “Oh, that’s just tear gas, it’ll probably be entering the building pretty soon.” Trusting him and his non-flustered demeanor, I said, “oh, ok then” and we continued on talking as lots of shouts and more shots were heard right outside our door.

The gas never did enter our building, or at least I didn’t sense it. When I opened the door to leave a couple hours later, there were about 30 police officers with plastic shields in the corner, trying to move dumpsters that had been pushed into the intersection as a blockade. I walked back to my home 2 blocks from the office and saw many people in the streets burning things in the intersections or just walking. I never felt in danger, but it’s not something that happens every day so it was a new experience.

Mind you, all that week, I was being charged double the price to ride public transportation, which is an awfully big jump to happen without any warning and I felt it in my pocketbook, so just imagine what an average person would think who has more people to care for and less resources than I do. Finally, to end the rage, strikes, some violence and speculation of public transportation and food prices, President Morales took away the decree the night of New Year’s Eve, so that 2011 began with prices of diesel and gasoline going back to the way they were before December 26th. Although the price of natural gas for vehicles was not increased, it is not available in areas outside of cities and therefore “disproportionately affected these communities” (The Andean Info. Network).