Genetically mutated baboons run rampant through Africa, carryinga very contagious form of the bubonic plague.
Ridiculous, right?
Well, I'm willing to bet that many of you, because of lack ofworldwide perspective when it comes to the news, read that firstsentence and swallowed it whole. Not that I'm assigning blame; I amas guilty as anyone else. Our isolation from what is going on inthe rest of the world seems to be growing as we find our societycompletely enveloped in the thick fog that is the BushAdministration's foreign policy.
When I walked into my Spanish conversation class last week, myprofessor asked if any of us could tell her what's going on inBolivia. We all dumbly looked at each other and mumbled the oneword we all know in Spanish: "No."
The professor arched her dark eyebrows, turned the full force ofher stare on each of us (unless you've had Dr. Moulin, you simplycannot imagine the intensity behind her expressions) and demandedthat we research it before the next class.
Well, I did, and I was shocked.
On Oct. 17, the President of Bolivia, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada,resigned from his position after last month's violent riotsthroughout his country. The protests were led by angry Bolivianswho were frustrated with two issues: the U.S.-backed plans toexport Bolivia's natural gas and to eliminate the growth of thecoca crop, which is the base ingredient for cocaine, bath products,tea and chewing leaves in Bolivia.
Funny how both of these issues that have caused such destructionwithin South America's poorest country have U.S. origins. Lozada,who finds a fellow failed-to-win-the-popular-vote friend inPresident Bush, escaped to the United States shortly after hestepped down from office.
Vice President Carlos Mesa, a learned historian and journalist,is the new President of Bolivia. Already Evo Morales, leader of theMovement Towards Socialism Party (MAS) and a coca leaf farmerhimself, has given Mesa one month to start giving some clear signsof where he stands on the coca issue, according to cbsnews.com.
Mesa faces a difficult decision. He can obey U.S. wishes.eliminating the coca crop from Bolivia's already meager economy(where workers average around $2 a day) and causing MAS-ledprotests to start up again. Or, he can defy the United States,losing the millions of dollars that we supply in emergency aid.
Even if he somehow manages to resolve that issue, what about thenatural-gas pipeline controversy that sparked the rioting in thefirst place? Bolivians have no reason to trust that they willreceive the benefits from such a pipeline, with exploitativeAmerican companies such as Enron involved in the project.
The situation in Bolivia is bleak. With the chaos and fear thatis spreading through the country like a disease, you would assumethat Mesa would be doing his best to eradicate his opposition anduse fear as his means of control. However, he is doing just theopposite; he is asking for peace and creating a more representativegovernment.
I find it very ironic that the leader of a poverty-stricken,politically divided country is asking for peace, even while theleader of our country, at present the most successful in the world,demands war.
Write to Carla at caalderman@bsu.edu
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