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The Week that Was - Bolivian Blogs

Bolivian Vice-President Alvaro Garcia Linera traveled north to the United States with a delegation of businessmen and members of Congressmen, both from the ruling party and the opposition. The main objective of this trip was to speak with their U.S. counterparts regarding an extension of the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA), which expires at the end of 2006. This agreement provides the Andean nations of Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador with preferential trade treatment in exchange for achieving certain measures in relation to, as the name implies, the eradication of drugs in these countries. The Vice-President also took advantage of his visit to speak to different groups during the visit. Miguel Buitrago of MABB links to a recording of his speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Buitrago also speculates regarding a possible meeting between President George W. Bush and Bolivian President Evo Morales in September.

Jaime Humérez Seleme, of the blog Boliviscopio (ES), considered the task of an extension to be a “Mission Impossible,” and wondered whether the Vice-President participated in an Andean ritural called a “milluchada” because the delegation needed added supernatural help in the negotiations. It appears that any extension of this trade preference may now be based on the negotiations or signing of a Free Trade Agreement between the U.S. and Bolivia. President Morales has been pushing for another type of agreement called the TCP (Commercial Trade between Peoples), which he signed earlier with Venezuela and Cuba. However, Morales has kept the possibility of signing some sort of trade agreement with the U.S. open. Jaime Rubin de Celis of JCR’s Place (ES) says that no one can seem to define what a TCP even is and he didn’t think Bolivia had much chance to get a favorable reaction from U.S. officials.

Is it possible that someone held onto a small bit of hope that the U.S. government would say, ‘Sure, no problem, we’ll extend the ATPDEA for two more year, even though your president insults us every time he opens his mouth?’

However, there has been less mention about Bolivia’s efforts towards the fight against drug trafficking and the growth of excedent coca leaves, which plays a big role in the original signing of the ATPDEA. The blogger Boli-Nica links to a Center for Global Development report that states that Bolivia is currently in a relatively stable political environment and that the U.S. has expanded its engagement in Bolivia to other areas, such as judicial reform. Boli-Nica also reprints a comment from the Democracy Center’s blog in which he writes.

He (Morales) is in the strongest position EVER for a Bolivian president re: growers. After all he is the grower federation's elected leader, commander in chief of Bolivia’s military and elected president. With the resources available to him, he should be able to craft a solution, that would essentially clean up most of the Chapare.

Even though Garcia Linera and the rest of the delegation returned without any commitments, he did swing by to visit his friend Desiree Duran, who was busy competing in the Miss Universe pageant, where she finished in the top 10. Over the past couple of weeks, the blogger who goes by the moniker Ciudadano K (Citizen K) documented the preparation of Miss Bolivia and provided several observations regarding her participation, such as the notable presence of Bolivians in the audience complete with waving Bolivian flags (ES). Another blogger, Javier Sandoval, who personally knows Duran, vouched for her “fantastic personality’ and her down-to-earth nature. His blog is called Javier Libro Abierto (ES).

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Light in darkness, Petroleum prices in Ghana, Famine and Education in Cameroon

Oluniyi David Ajao · 17:10 · Sub-Saharan Africa

We start this week's blog round-up with Under the acacias. The blog throws light on Markoye in Burkina Faso where solar energy is being used to power lamps in villages and town with no connection to the national power grid.

Burkina Faso

Light in the darkness

This photo shows one of the solar-powered lamp-posts that are springing up around Burkina Faso, especially in small towns which otherwise have no electricity. This one is at the colourful market in Markoye, about 40km north-east of Gorom-Gorom.

Solar power of course has considerable potential in places like Burkina, where there is more than enough sun. But the purchase and replacement costs for the equipment are still prohibitive for people's personal use.

The Trials & Tribulations of a Freshly-Arrived Denizen…of Ghana asks important questions about “Petroleum Prices and the Ghana Government“

Now that the rate of petrol is at exactly $US5.00/gallon, how are Ghanaians supposed to manage? Where are the safety nets in place that the government should be thinking about to cushion its citizens from the effects of the world market? SO, just because there is a serious inter-necine conflict going on in the Middle East, where Hezbollah is being targetted for wiping out by the Israelis, so we, in the developing world, have to suffer the consequences?

Niger Watch blogs famine in Africa and quotes Oxfam as saying response to the famine was “too little, too late“

Food emergencies in Africa are occurring three times more often now than in the mid-1980s, but the global response to famine continues to be “too little, too late”, the international aid agency Oxfam said on Monday.

Conflict, HIV/Aids and climate change are all exacerbating food shortages for sub-Saharan Africa's 750-million people, with innovative solutions and massive long-term support needed to break the cycle, the British-based group added in a new report.

Scribbles from the Den scribbles about Higher Education in Cameroon: When Chickens Come to Roost

It was an apparently innocuous article tucked deep inside a recent issue of Cameroon Tribune, but its content was yet another message of despair from Cameroon. According to the article,

“Out of some 10,000 candidates who sat for the competitive entrance examination into the Customs Department of the Ministry of Finance, recently launched for holders of First School Leaving Certificate (FSLC), over 4,000 were university graduates.”

Yes, you read correctly - 4000 university graduates sat for a public service exam meant for Primary/Elementary School pupils. This is undoubtedly the fallout from an outdated and irrelevant educational system – from primary school to the university – originally designed to train future civil servants, and not to develop an entrepreneurial class with ability to create jobs.

Home of the mandinmories‘ beef is with people who choose to use the pulpit to bully others. The blog entry is titled: “Bully Pulpit“

Using a funeral at a church or a mosque to score a political or debating point is something that has been battle tested and used time and time again. The only problem is; it doesn't work. Grandstanding at funerals is very tasteless and unsavory. People who act on the impulse to do it never understand how bad they look when crashing a funeral or stomping from the pulpit. Most funeral attendees see them as nothing more then pompous opportunists taking a cheap shot at people who can't respond to them out of respect for the deceased. The real meaning of a funeral eludes them.

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DRC: As Elections Approach, the Congo's Bloggers Discuss Recent Violence, Media Repression and the Limits of Foreign Aid

Jennifer Brea · 11:41 · Sub-Saharan Africa

With the July 30th elections just days away, many pro-opposition Congolese bloggers remain deeply cynical about the prospects of a free, fair and peaceful electoral process. Violent repression of opposition demonstrations and the killing of several journalists in the last few months have left many wondering whether, even if successful, these elections alone are enough to set the Congo on a better path.

Congolese bloggers also continue to question the role and interests of foreign donors who are footing the multi-billion dollar bill for this election.

Pre-Election Violence

Writing for Le Prince du Fleuve Congo, opposition blogger and journalist Anthony Katombe describes two recent protests that were violently suppressed by state security forces, an act Katombe sees as part of an established pattern of government repression of opposition candidates.

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China: Cameras, drunks and forced website closures

John Kennedy · 06:12 · East Asia

Kimbo Hu/Hu Defu, a well-known Taiwanese aboriginal folk musician gave a performance at a small bar in Beijing this past weekeknd. In attendance were many prominent bloggers, and here is Ycul blogger Reading Storeroom's account of the show, along with the problems he sees as more and more Chinese purchase digital cameras:

相机

Cameras

今天晚上去看话剧《琥珀》。邻座两个小女孩，手机就像两个永不熄灭的小手电筒，不是拍照，就是发短信，也许是拍照后即时上传维护自己的博客？我估计她们大概没看进去多少戏，晃得我也大受干扰。

Tonight I went to see the play Amber. Sitting next to me were two little girls. Their cell phones were like two ever-lasting little flashlights. If they weren't taking photos, they were sending messages. Maybe after they took the photos they posted them straight to their blogs? I imagine they didn't get too much into the play, and ticked me off with their flashing.

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