Cochabamba, Bolivia June 30 – July 2, 1979

We spent a couple of nights in Sucre trying to organize transportation to Cochabamba.  This was more difficult than we had anticipated because of the election on July 1^st.  Because Bolivians must vote, according to Bolivian law, in whatever place they are registered to vote (usually where they live, but often not where they work), many of them were travelling by bus, train, truck and even plane to get where they needed to be.  This will be the first general election in 12 years (or more), and excitement and anticipation was high.  Most of the buses travelled at night, which is not our preference, but there wasn’t much choice.  It was not a comfortable ride.

 

We arrived in Cochabamba the day before the election.  The next morning we awoke to find that everything was closed: shops, restaurants, even large markets.  So it was difficult finding something to eat.  Fortunately a few vendadoras had set up street stands selling jugos and sandwiches.  An added wrinkle in Bolivia’s election rules is that once people are in the city or town where they must vote, they are not allowed to drive or take public transportation.  They have to walk, or cycle, to the polling stations.  There were machine-gun toting guardias stationed at all the polling places, and we even saw what looked like snipers on roof-tops.  

 

So it was a very quiet day in Cochabamba on July 1 – people sitting in the sun in the main plaza, listening to Sunday sermons in various churches around town, strolling and chatting with family and friends – and everyone plugged into their radios, all day and into the night, listening for whatever news there was… .  Sue and I sat in the plaza drinking multiple cups of coffee, watching the subdued goings-on and catching up on reading and writing.   

The central plaza - photo from Wikipedia.

We took a few strolls around the town, admiring the old colonial buildings – there are some real beauties here – and talking about our plans.  Sue’s catching a plane back home in a few days.  I am going to miss her.  She has been a great travelling companion; we have become good friends.  I’m uncertain where I’ll go next.  I could carry on to Chile and Argentina – there is a part of me that wants to go all the way down to Tierra del Fuego, but it’s still a very long way, and many more uncomfortable bus rides, away.   And there’s a part of me that’s feeling travel-weary, travel-jaded, and envious of Sue, who’ll soon be home and able to enjoy the comforts we take so much for granted – hot water, (relatively) clean surroundings, and, perhaps most precious of all (at least to us, now), freedom from the constant unwanted attentions of Latin American men. 

 

The day before the election the government had posted a notice in the newspaper saying that election results would not be published for two weeks.  The new government, if there is one, is scheduled to take over in August.  This morning’s paper had the following headline (in translation): ‘no candidate has a clear majority’.  I wondered how they knew that, already… .  I suspect the UDP might have won a majority, but as the communists do not want this outcome, Bolivia may be destined to another several years of military dictatorship before it finally, if ever, manages to return to something approaching a democracy.  In the meantime, Bolivians everywhere will likely go on praying, to whatever gods they believe in, for better living conditions for themselves and their families.

Statue of Christo de la Concordia, Cochabamba

Photo from Wikipedia

Note: given the heavy police presence in Cochabamba when we were there I was not comfortable walking around with a camera or taking photos, especially of people.