On Thursday I journeyed to Villa Tunari in Chapare for the weekend. It was remarkable to: trek the jungle, repel for my first time (and down a waterfall to boot), enter a bat cave, dodge bats in a bat cave, listen to blind birds squeal, dance at the small town's discoteca, and do the whole group thing in a hostel. It was only a 3-4 hour trip outside of the city, yet the climate and terrain changed drastically. I could just feel the moisture returning to my lips while on the bus getting there.
La transición:
In recent decades, the Chapare province has become a haven for illegal cultivation of the coca plant, which can be used to produce cocaine. This is due to Bolivian drug law, which until recently only permitted the Yungas region to legally grow coca, despite Chapare being a historical area for growth due to its fertility. For this reason, Chapare has been a primary target for coca eradication in recent years, with frequent and heated clashes between the Drug Enforcement Administration and Bolivian cocaleros. The law has since been changed by a deal that was struck between Evo Morales (a former coca activist and current President) and former President Carlos Mesa.
-from Wikipedia
-from Wikipedia
Eli: Evo is all into coca cultivation, why doesn't he tell the DEA to F off?
Pepe: That's wrong (referring to the Wikipedia page). The DEA is no longer in Bolivia. The American government was using the DEA to have military power in Bolivia.
Me: Why would we want a military presence in Bolivia? Afraid of the Socialist movement?
Pepe: It's anti-imperialism. He (Evo) doesn't like anything that relates to the U.S. The U.S. just wants to be here.
Me: But the U.S. has been neglecting Latin American interests for like fifteen years, why Bolivia?
Eli: Yeah, the U.S. doesn't have much strategic interest here.
Pepe: That is what everyone says. But after the DEA left, there have been more drug trafficking cases, so right now the drug trafficking has risen like 400% and it's a big problem.
Me: So maybe the DEA should be here.
Eli: Well I feel that creates conflict here too, I mean you look at Mexico with the U.S. involvement 35 thousand people have still been killed.
Pepe: You know what's been happening in Bolivia, they found some Mexican guys here, so you can see everything connecting. But before, you couldn't see Colombians or Mexicans, but now it's more international, more dangerous.
Eli: Yeah, like any industry where you can multiply your profits, why stop it?
Pepe: In the past few years, they built around 100 buildings and no one can explain the construction because we're in an economic crisis. Everyone is saying it's money laundering.
I should do my research. It seems that no one really knows what's going on. Feel free to chime in.
...and then we ate my American meal with my Bolivian family...black bean burgers and fries!
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