A view into the politics here.

Every four months is a revolving door in Peace Corps Bolivia. We receive a new batch of volunteers to replace the batch of volunteers who leave every four months. Due to the recent defensive and political posturing of departmental governments and the national government and the likelihood of a future conflict between the two Peace Corps has cancelled the next batch of volunteers. The new volunteers were to arrive three days after the nationwide vote on the referendums on the approval of the new constitution which is supported by roughly half of the country, strenuously opposed by about thirty percent and with the remainder of the country being fairly neutral. This is disappointing, to say the least. The new group of volunteers would’ve been in basic sanitation and integrated education which is what our group was and that would’ve made them our “shadow group”. We had already started planning training sessions, site placement and logistical support, but no dice, no new group of volunteers to mentor and mold.
Bolivia is not new to political strife, regional tensions or bloqueos (blockades of highways and city streets, usually with autos and trucks, burning tires and trash) but in light of the recent heightened tensions between the “media luna” (basically the departments of Santa Cruz, Tarija, and Sucre) and the more MAS centered political area in and around La Paz the Peace Corps decided that sending in a new group into a possibility of large amounts of social unrest would not be prudent. I wonder about this decision and try not to draw too many conclusions but I feel there is probably more to this decision than just political discord in Bolivia. There have been Peace Corps Bolivia volunteers that have arrived in country amid similar periods of unrest and I’m not so sure this is any different. I think that the constant rhetoric spoken by the national government here about our own government has something to do with this decision as well but far be it from me to suggest any such ulterior motive I’m sure the decision is for the best and I may have a little too much free time to conjure up conspiracies.
We are safe and sound in our little Japanese village and will continue that way revolution or not, more to come for sure, especially the closer it gets to May 4th (Santa Cruz’s election day) and May 5th the national election day.