20th July 2007
"La sede no se mueve"
More than a million voices are being heard today as hoards of `Paceños`(People of La Paz) are lining the street of the capital. This is no normal Friday where the centre is usually consumed by hundreds of buses and taxis.
The only commercial activity is in the central `Plaza de Murillo` where a single woman is selling icecream. People are marching in peaceful protest against the proposed move of governmental administration to Sucre.
El Diario, Bolivia´s national newspaper commented that: "All social and civil organisations, businesses and other sectors of the population are looking to ratify the permanency of government in La Paz." The newspaper also states that even "the private banks have agreed to close until Monday." This is not the first time that radical reforms by Bolivian`s elected President, Evo Morales (Bolivia`s first indigineous leader) has come up against strong opposition. La Paz is the economic centre where 2.7 Million people live. Many migrate to from the outer cities including; Oruro, Cochabamba and Potosi. La Prensa believe´s the right wing opposition and their reasoning behind the move is to improve "the conditions of families seeking employment." The move to Sucre will provide the indigineous population of the Quechua and Aymara people with plenty of work opportunities.
However, the proposed move will no doubt place financial burden on the national budget if the proposed move to Sucre went ahead. Evo`s main principle in his manifesto 18 months ago was to erradicate the poverty in Bolivia.
Bolivia`s national flag flies high today on top of lorries carrying passengers to the starting line of the protest in El Alto (a city rapidly expanding on the outskirts of La Paz). The protest to maintain the permanency of all executive and legislative decisions will commence at 1pm until late.
Jenna Bloomfield
