Bolivia: A plurinational state of mind
You know how countries called “Democratic” tend be rather loose with their definition of democracy, and how the people in Peoples’ Republics tend to get very little say over their lives? Well at first glance it seems like the Plurinational State of Bolivia (its official name) continues this tradition well as, over the years, there have been many times when Indigenous Peoples (there are 36 official Indigenous languages) have had little power to run their own affairs. This may be a little unfair though as its only been Plurinational since 2006, when they voted in Evo Morales — their first President from the Indigenous Population — so hopefully things have improved since then…
This week’s film was set six years before Morales’ election victory during the infamous and decidedly unplurinational Bolivian Water War, in which the government tried to push through water privatisation against the wishes of the people. The decision was finally reversed, but if it had gone through, the people could have been fined for collecting rain (hence the film’s title Even the rain). The water war does not take centre stage, however, it focuses instead on filmmakers saving money by filming the Christopher Columbus story in Bolivia where Indigenous actors are cheap… as the filming progresses they realise they are part of the oppression the film is attacking. Sadly the issues the film addresses continue as companies like Nestlé are still trying to get water privatised all over the world. If you want to help stop it, you can sign this petition here, and maybe never buy a Nestlé product again!
Talking of things that should never be done again, my children would tell you that Bolivian peanut soup, is an unacceptable crime against tastebuds. To be honest, it was easy to make and I rather liked it, but I guess there is no accounting for taste!
Talking of not accounting for taste, my wife has put her foot down and told me that under no circumstances am I allowed to make Chipas (cheesy cassava bread) again. I thought I had done a good job and found them far nicer than the Argentinian ones I produced a few months ago, but she was clear, “they are weird and chewy and you are banned from making them.”
She had a very different opinion of this week’s drink though! Agwa is a spirit made of Evo Morales’ beloved Coca leaves, tea leaves and other herbs and spices. It tastes of medicine and works on its own or as a Bolivian Mule (mixed with ginger beer). Having never tried coca leaves in any of their other forms I can’t tell you whether this drink gives you a cocaine buzz, but I must say I had one of the strangest hangovers of my life the next day!
When it came to music I have no gems to report, though I am sure there are many out there. We happily listened to this playlist (but as background music) and I read a little about the many musical types of the Indigenous Peoples, but time was just too short to research it properly.
Talking of short things. This week’s book was a very fast read. Having spent so much time learning about Che Guevara in Argentina, I steered clear of the many books I was recommended about his death, plumping instead for Affections by Rodrigo Hasbún. But of course Che turns up throughout and is the inspiration for one of the family to take up arms herself. The rest of the book was a bit of a mystery to me, being written in first and second person by at least five narrators, but I enjoyed the poetry and took it at face value — a fictional tale of German immigrants moving to Bolivia in search of a mythical ancient city. According to the reviews though, there was more to it than met my eye and the family were Nazis! Several reviewers said you need to be quite immersed in Bolivian history to truly “get it.” I guess that sometimes not only can you not judge a book by its cover, you can’t judge it solely by its contents either!
Next week I return to Europe and the multinational state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
