Bolivian minibus gang murdered up to 69 people on their way to work. Police in Bolivia are blaming a gang for a spate of early morning murders in Bolivia where people have been strangled on minibuses while heading into work.
Up to 69 people have been killed and dozens more were left for dead in El Alto, a working class city of one million people on an arid plateau above Bolivia's capital, La Paz. "This kind of assault came about because people, by necessity, take whatever transport they can get," said Felix Rocha, chief of Bolivia's police. Gang members would ride the buses posing as passengers, police said. After their victims had boarded, they were strangled with a rope or scarf and stripped of valuables that often amounted to little more than a mobile phone and the clothes on their backs. A 64-year-old man who said he survived an attack by the gang, recounted leaving his house at 4am on 5 February on his way to the bank where he collects his monthly pension. Bolivia has transformed itself by ignoring the Washington Consensus. Gabriela Oviedo is a fashion model and TV personality.
She is a 28-year-old brunette, almost six feet tall. Born in the Bolivian province of Santa Cruz, she was elected as the national beauty queen in 2003. In 2004, Gabriela took part in the Miss Universe pageant. There she was asked to name one of the biggest misconceptions about her country. In awkward English, she answered: "Um … unfortunately, people that don't know Bolivia very much think that we are all just Indian people from the west side of the country. Gabriela's answer, heavy with racism, raised such a wave of outrage in her country that she was forced to give up the contest.
How Bolivia Lost Its Hat. Endgame for Evo? - Roberto Laserna. Exit from comment view mode.
Click to hide this space LA PAZ – The populist government of Bolivian President Evo Morales seems to be heading for political failure. Faced with 11% annual price growth and mounting complaints from the country’s worst-affected sectors, Morales promises change, but delays decisions, leaving in place the policies that are stoking the problem. Of course, economic common sense sometimes prevails, but it is usually short-lived. At the end of 2010, for example, the Morales government decided to eliminate fuel subsidies in order to reduce the fiscal drain of importing market-rate energy and selling it at prices that have not changed in ten years. The World Factbook. Bolivia (Plurinational State of) Bolivia march revives Tipnis Amazon road dispute. 31 January 2012Last updated at 00:53 Clashes broke out as protesters tried to approach the presidential palace Hundreds of protesters have arrived in Bolivia's main city, La Paz, to demand the government resume the construction of a controversial road through an Amazon reserve.
President Evo Morales cancelled the project last year after a similar protest march by indigenous tribes. Bolivia 'to end Brazil firm's contract for Amazon road' 10 April 2012Last updated at 17:06 ET A dispute over the road provoked major protests in Bolivia Bolivian President Evo Morales says he is rescinding the contract of a Brazilian firm to build a controversial road through the Amazon rainforest.
He accused the firm, OAS, of not complying with the terms of the deal. The announcement casts further doubt on a road project that provoked angry anti-government protests last year. Mr Morales had already suspended the most contentious section which was to pass through an indigenous rainforest reserve known as Tipnis. Now he is seeking to annul the contract to build the other two sections of the road between Villa Tunari and San Ignacio de Moxos. "OAS suspended construction in these sections without justification or authorisation," Mr Morales told a news conference in La Paz. He said the firm had repeatedly ignored instructions and failed to meet various contractual obligations.
La Nina Leaves 259,000 Homeless in Bolivia. The weather phenomenon known as La Nina, which is usually blamed for causing excessive rain or severe drought, has driven more than 259,000 Bolivians from their homes, a local official said on Thursday.
La Nina has displaced more than 51,800 families, leading authorities to calculate the total number of the homeless at 259,000 since an average family in Bolivia is made up of five members, Bolivian Deputy Civil Defence Minister Oscar Cabrera said. Presenting his ministry's latest report in the central city of Cochabamba, Cabrera announced that a clean-up phase to repair damages caused by the weather phenomenon had started. Andean Information Network » Blog Archive » Where does Bolivia Stand on Drug Decriminalization and Legalization? As calls mount from prominent Latin American politicians for a profound re-evaluation of international drug policy, and even a debate on the feasibility of drug decriminalization and legalization at the Summit of the Americas this weekend, Bolivia’s complex position is often misunderstood.
Personal consumption decriminalized in practice Currently, personal drug possession in Bolivia does not carry a jail sentence. The 1988 antidrug Law 1008 mandates residential rehabilitation and treatment for drug addicts and occasional users. However, in practice this regulation has not occurred because of a persisting focus on drug interdiction and coca reduction, paired with almost non-existent public rehabilitation facilities. The law further stipulates that specialists from a government drug dependency institution should identify the quantity of each drug to be considered “for personal consumption.” Since 1988, only one person has been sentenced to mandatory rehabilitation.