What Happened This Week?

Readers:

I am back in Cochabamba after being away on retreat for the week in…wait a minute. I am not going to say, because it is a really great place, an absolute must for people visiting the country who want to spend time in a small town. Really, don’t miss a chance to go there and definitely stay at the 25 Boliviano-a-night place where I stayed. I just can’t tell you where it is. I don’t want to mention it and have a lot of people go there and screw it up. You understand, right?

In any event, I don’t have a clue what happened in the world in the last six days, other than my getting bit by a really unfriendly dog in the undisclosed location where I was. Though I suspect that didn’t get reported by AP. Dan Keane, are you there? Does that qualify as a story? I guess not. I’d have to bite the dog, as the saying goes.

Actually the only news event I have even heard about is that former Russian President Boris Yeltsin died while I was away, which I think is very strange. It isn’t strange that he died. I mean he was old and it seems like he drank a good deal, at least so say people who seemed to know. No, what I find odd is the timing.

I have witnesses to corroborate this. Last week in one of our more frenetic last editing sessions at The Democracy Center, out of the blue, another member of the team and I got into a heated debate over whether Boris Yeltsin was deceased. I really can’t say how it came up, other than we all wanted desperately to talk about something other than the work at hand. No one had an answer (until now, I guess), though others at the table seemed a bit perplexed about why we were discussing the state of existence of Boris Yeltsin instead of the finer points of Bolivian gas and oil policy.

I swear, truly, I had nothing to do with his death and my condolences to his family. Also, not to alarm anyone, I did have a dream while away about a U.S. stock market crash owing itself to an announcement by the Bush administration that it had emptied Fort Knox to pay for the Iraq War. But I don’t think anyone should panic and sell just yet. Great, now if there is a crash I’ll get blamed.

In any event, as I mentioned, I haven’t a clue what has gone on the last week. I presume Evo is still President and that Samuel Doria Medina still owns Burger King. Any changes in big things like these generally get told to you when you get home.

So, I leave it to you dear readers to fill in the details. What happened in Bolivia and the world the last six days? Enquiring minds want to know.

And if anyone is offended by the slight flippancy in my tone in this post (trust me, I could post the lyrics to America the Beautiful and one of the commenters here would be offended, it is just their nature, don’t read too much into it), please forgive. We will be back with some dreadfully serious stuff next week and you will be dreaming longingly for the days when the Blog debate of the day was whether Boris Yeltsin still walked the Earth.

By the way, does anyone know if Ethyl Merman is still alive? I wonder about that one too sometimes.

Jim Shultz

I am Outta Here!

Dear Readers:

It is long past the hour when normal people go to sleep and we are wrapping up a marathon of late nights such as these to finish our new book. With that work done I am, to borrow a phrase, "outta here." I am off to an undisclosed location, out of touch and not Blogging until the end of the week.

We'll see you back here soon.

Jim Shultz

A Note on our Absence

Dear Readers:

This has been an important news week in Bolivia, with efforts by the government to nationalize the Entel phone company, and violence yesterday in the Chaco over the gas issue.

However, The Democracy Center staff is up to our necks in late night sessions completing last edits on our book (deadline Friday). Rather than write on any of these issues in a rushed and incomplete way, we'd prefer to wait until we can write something worthwhile. So please abide our absence here on the Blog for a bit longer.

All best wishes,

Jim Shultz

PS: I did notice this piece of graffiti from Mujeres Creando on a wall walking into the office this morning. I thought it would be worth sharing:

"Pachamama, tu y yo sabemos que la unica originaria en Bolivia es la papa."

Roughly translated:

"Mother Earth, you and I know that the only thing native to Bolivia is the potato."

Some Strange Things I Read in Today's New York Times

Perhaps it is because if I am awake these days I am editing – wrapping up work on our new book. I think maybe all that sculpting with words has made me read differently, or just made me a bit odd. I notice things in a slightly different way. So it is that in my daily perusal of the New York Times on-line today (some habits even survive sixteen hours a day of editing) I found a few strange things that I would like to share.

1. The Times Obituary for Kurt Vonnegut

One of the other things I do when I enter the twisted world of round the clock editing of a book (I have been here before) is that I read novels with the same voracity and that my dogs chew up food slipped to them under the table (please don't rat me out to my family on that, thanks). I am on my seventh novel in four weeks, about 3,000 pages give or take a few hundred. One of the books I started with on this binge was Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, so for that reason I took special notice that Mr. Vonnegut died yesterday. The obituary in the Times described him as the "Counterculture’s Novelist", as opposed, I suppose, to being a "Pro-Culture Novelist."

More peculiar, however, was this sentence in the Times' lead:

"[Vonnegut] was 84 and had homes in Manhattan and in Sagaponack on Long Island."

The number and location of his homes was right up there with the titles of his three best-selling novels. Great, I can see it now:

"Shultz was 97 and owned neither a home, a vehicle, or a TV set. He did, however, possess a lovely collection of chipped coffee mugs."

2. World Bank President Apologizes for Arranging Job for Woman with whom he has a "Personal Relationship".

This one reminds me of the whole thing about Bill Clinton getting impeached for lying about sex but George Bush not getting impeached for lying us into a war.

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is in hot water today over disclosures that he pulled strings to help get a woman with whom he has "a personal relationship" a big money job at the State Department. “I made a mistake, for which I am sorry,” he said in a statement. According to the Times, the woman was on staff at the Bank and Mr. Wolfowitz, a former senior Pentagon official in the Bush administration, pulled a few strings and helped her get a $193,500 a year gig (almost as much as I make!) at the State Department (even more than the Secretary of State takes home).

So now, just as the Bank's board of directors gets ready to meet in Washington this weekend, Mr. Wolfowitz finds himself in, well, an awkward position. That would be the same board of directors that rolled over and accepted Mr. Bush's appointment of one the Iraq War's earliest boosters as the man best equipped on the planet to address global poverty. To be frank, exactly how big a screw up do you have to make before you don't get promoted in this administration? Just curious.

Anyway, Al Capone got nailed for tax evasion and now maybe a key architect of the war gone wrong will get nailed over "a woman with whom he has a personal relationship." But let's be honest, shall we? Don't you think that 99.9% of Times readers really just wanted to know what "personal relationship" meant? Guess we have to go see if the National Enquirer is available on-line.

3. Ooops, it was that Damn Delete Button Again.

Finally, today's Times also carries an article titled, "White House Says It May Be Missing Attorney E-Mails". Apparently the White House says it has "lost" some of the emails subpoenaed by the U.S. Senate in connection with its investigation of politically motivated firings of eight U.S. Attorneys by the Justice Department. “It can’t be ruled out,” said the deputy White House press secretary.

As someone wiser than me once said (maybe it was one of our Blog commenters), "History does not repeat itself, but sometimes it echoes."

It seemed obvious that the image to go with this particular Blog post needed to be something from the New York Times (as continuing readers might have noticed, I like finding images to go with these post. Most popular: Spy vs. Spy). And, given this story about lost emails I saw the chance to post my favorite Times front page of all time (above). Three decades ago what the Senate subpoenaed was Nixon's oval office recording tapes (technology has advanced) and, shockingly, 18 and half minutes of those tapes got lost too, courtesy of some mighty fine office aerobics by Nixon's secretary, Rosemary Woods (History buffs, see the photo here.)

Now, when I was in the fourth grade I used to "lose" my homework a lot too, so much that my teacher, Miss Upton, once memorably announced to the class, "Jimmy Shultz, if your head wasn't screwed on you'd probably lose that too!" But one might expect staff at the White House to be a tad more careful than a fourth grader from Whittier. I am really, really hoping, for history reasons only, that it turns out the Bush White House lost 18 and half e-mails. I love stuff like that.

The best part of the Times article was this little note about reaction to all this from the Senator who issued the subpoenas:

On the Senate floor, Mr. [Senator Patrick] Leahy was skeptical that the e-mails are indeed missing. “You can’t erase e-mails, not today,” he said. “They’ve gone through too many servers.” Mr. Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who just turned 67, is considered one of the more computer-savvy members of Congress, despite having grown up in the era of typewriters.

Ahhh, good writing has no substitute.

Seven Years On

I am sitting here in my office on a Saturday, writing a Blog to avoid getting to work on the task that brings me here instead of enjoying a day off. I am supposed to be doing the final editing on my chapter on the Cochabamba Water Revolt for our new book, Dignity and Defiance: Stories from Bolivia's Challenge to Globalization (UC Press, 2008).

Then it struck me on my way in that all those events happened exactly seven years ago this week. It was seven years ago today, the first Saturday in April, and around this same time, midday, that Victor Hugo Daza, a 17-year-old boy, became the Water Revolt's sole fatality. He was shot in the face by a military sharpshooter who was later acquitted by a military court and promoted. Justice Bolivian style.

The Water Revolt set so many things in motion. A chain of political events, from the protests against the IMF's belt-tightening demands to the uprising against Goni's cheap gas export plans, all of which eventually spilled into ballot politics and help make Evo Morales President. It was during the water revolt that I first met Morales, on Calle Heroinas. He might have been throwing a rock. I can't remember.

In the seven years since, Cochabamba has also played host to hoards of researchers, filmmakers and others all eager to get a little piece of the story to call their own. There is a romance to the Water Revolt by those who look at it from abroad. Some of it is deserved and some of it misplaced. I try to do justice to all of that in this chapter and I hope, I really hope, it is the last thing I will ever write abut the Water Revolt.

Seven years later, it remains a powerful story of a people waking up to global forces that were seizing control of their most basic resource. The people beat Bechtel, not once but twice. First they took to the streets to kick the US corporate giant out of town (after it jacked up water rates by more than 50% overnight). Then a global coalition beat back Bechtel's attempt, in a closed-door World Bank trade court, to take $50 million from Cochabambinos as a consolation prize.

It is also the story of how the social movements that led the romantic rebellion failed in the task afterwards of building a new public water company worthy of the sacrifices that people made to take it back from Bechtel. Cochabamba's water company has made some progress in expanding service to the poorer neighborhoods of the city, where spigots in the home are a dream. But seven years later that public water company is still hobbled by the same chronic inefficiencies and petty corruption that led to World Bank demands for its privatization. The Cochabamba Water Revolt, like my book chapter I suppose, remains an uncompleted task.

Note: For those interested in The Democracy Center's extensive writings on the Water Revolt, including reports from the streets while it happened, please see here. The photo above was taken by Tom Kruse and the full collection of his Water Revolt photos can be viewed here.

International Household Workers’ Day

Readers:

They are the women who work quietly and hard in tens of thousands of homes across Bolivia, cooking, cleaning, and caring for other people's children. They are a huge part of Bolivian culture and Bolivian economics – household workers.

Last week marked the global International Day of the Household Worker, and the 20th anniversary of the union in Cochabamba that organizes and represents them. To mark both those occasions, Leny Olivera and Melissa Draper of The Democracy Center went to the local celebration (dancing a good part of the afternoon, I hear) and spoke with the women and union leaders. Here is their report.

Jim Shultz

International Household Workers’ Day

March 30 is the day that Bolivia—and the international community—honors household workers. One year ago, President Evo Morales made the day official during a packed ceremony at the Government Palace in La Paz. In the audience were household workers who had traveled from the farthest reaches of the country to celebrate the day. The finest embroidered shawls, hats and pollera skirts were on elegant display by a group of women who had never before been invited to the Palace’s central salon with its giant stained-glass version of Bolivia’s coat of arms overhead.

Household workers are like no other sector in Bolivia’s workforce. It is a sector made up of almost all women. The majority—especially those in Cochabamba and La Paz--are migrants from the rural areas where Quechua and Aymara are spoken more than Spanish. Once in the city, these women work in relative isolation. Unlike other organized sectors, household workers do not have a central, physical place—like a factory, a university, or an office—where they regularly collect for work and where they could begin to organize. Instead, they work alone in private homes.

The Law 2450, passed in 2003, marks one of the movement’s greatest achievements. After ten years of building consensus among local household worker unions, building a team of lawyers and specialists and launching into the depths of Bolivian Congressional politics, household workers were legally recognized for the first time. Since 2003, the challenge continues to be the enforcement of the law, which requires training of special job inspectors, local mediators and lawyers, the regional and national Labor Department and judges. Most importantly, it means educating household workers and their employers about their rights.

Almost every Bolivia has a connection to a household worker: either they are related to one, or they are part of a family that directly benefits from their work—cooking, cleaning and caring for children and the elderly. These women and their work reach into every part of Bolivian society.

On April 2, scores of household workers collected at the local union headquarters to celebrate their special day on the only day they have free every week: Sunday. Despite the presidential decree’s requirement that household workers should not work on March 30 since it is officially a holiday, it is not widely recognized yet.

One of the members of the executive committee of the union, Julia, spoke to us about what March 30 means to women like her, important aspects of their labor law, and some of her experience as a household worker over the past nine years since she first started working at 16.

Q: What does March 30 represent for household workers?

A: First, thank you for this interview. March 30 is very important for us. Last year, with President Evo Morales’ support, our sector was recognized. This is a day that brings us together so we can share with one another and think about our futures--not only about continuing our work as household workers, but about educating ourselves and empowering ourselves. Today we celebrate each other. In the end, we all want to support our country and put an end to exploitation and discrimination.

Q: When was the local union in Cochabamba founded and how many members does it have?

A: Our union was founded in December 1987. This year, we’ll celebrate 20 years. Currently we have around 3,000 members, but of course not all of those women come to our regular meetings. There have to be around 10,000 women that we don’t have any contact with, who do not know about the union and aren’t registered as members. To reach these women, and to disseminate information about our rights thanks to Law 2450, we have to use the radio and other strategies to reach them.

Q: How has the Law 2450 benefited the household workers of Bolivia?

A: Before, there was no labor law protecting household workers. Then, with the passage of Law 2450 the conditions have gotten a little better. Before, so many household workers were exploited. There was so much discrimination. Little by little it has been getting better. Little by little the employers and the workers, themselves, have been learning about their rights. This is the function of the union: not just to help the workers but also the employers. If both know what their rights are, we can help protect both of them and bad things won’t have to happen.

Q: How many years have you been working as a household worker?

A: I started working in [the city of] Cochabamba in 1997. I had good luck: I always found good employers. I thank them to this day because they always understood me well. I cannot complain because they always respected my free days, gave me permission to leave and I would even tell them about my role with the local union. When you have that kind of understanding with your employer, you have much more passion for your work and you do a good job.

I have already been working for nine years—since I was 16 years old. While I worked I also studied. As we get older, we have to make space for our studies, go to high school or maybe another institute where we can learn new skills.

Q: How did you become a household worker?

A: I came from the province of Cornelio Saavedra in Potosí. I had been working there for six months for a salary of 80 Bolivianos (roughly $10) a month. That was 1995. I was 16 years old and for me, well, this was a lot of money. When my sister decided to go to Cochabamba I went with her. I started working for 200 Bolivianos (about $25) a month. I did this out of necessity because I wanted to help my brothers and sisters and my mother, who was already getting older. My father had already died. It was my responsibility to work and help them out.

Q: According to the Law 2450, what is the minimum wage for a household worker?

A: The law says a household worker should earn at least 500 Bolivianos (roughly $63) a month. However, we have a lot of problems with this. Some Bolivians say it is more than they can pay, and we understand this because some who don’t have a large income. But often, a household worker is made to work every day, including Sundays, and without permission to study. That is when we begin to have big problems. For example, the law says that if a household worker works on a holiday or Sunday, the employer has to pay them extra for this. We confront this issue when we do mediation at the Labor Department because many employers do not understand this. For this reason, we are working hard to get information out on the radios and other press.
_________________

At the same time Julia was giving an interview about Law 2450 in Bolivia, another Bolivian household worker was meeting national Congressional representatives in Mexico City. Casimira Rodriguez, founder of the Cochabamba union of household workers and former Bolivian Minister of Justice (2005-2006) has spent the last week working with grassroots leaders and politicians in Mexico about formulating a special labor law, like Bolivia’s, for household workers in Mexico. Her debut on CNN Latin America took her image and the household worker’s message not just across Mexico, but also across the continent. It appears the Bolivian example might just be catching on.

Written by Leny Olivera and Melissa Draper

Bolivian Government Announces New Visa Rules for US Visitors

On January 1 of this year Bolivian President Evo Morales announced that his government was developing a new visa policy for visitors from the US. He said the new policy would be based on "reciprocity", meaning that visitors seeking entry to Bolivia from the US would be subject to similar rules as those facing Bolivians who seek a visa to enter the US.

The months since have been marked by substantial confusion about what these new requirements would actually mean, amidst rumors that US visitors would be required to be interviewed in advance, by one of the handful and short-staffed Bolivian consulates in the US.

On Friday, staying on target with the government's pledge for new rules by April 1, Bolivia's Foreign Minister, David Choquehuanca, laid out the details of the plan in La Paz. He said, "We have made our decisions carefully to develop a plan that brings both dignity to Bolivia and also remains practical in terms of encouraging visits by US tourists and others."

The specifics of the plan include the following:

1. All US visitors, whether arriving by air or land (arrival to Bolivia by sea is difficult as it has no sea coast, but presumably the rule would be the same) must secure an entry visa which, up to now has been free for the first 90 days, but will now cost $100.

2. While the new rules will not require visitors to obtain the visa in advance of their arrival, they will need to present a signed letter of reference from a Bolivian citizen certifying that the visitor "is not a terrorist and has no intention of committing terrorist acts while in Bolivia."

3. As part of each visitor's $100 payment they will receive an "Evo Sweater", sized appropriately. Each visitor will need to be photographed at the port of entry wearing the sweater, for official immigration records.

US Ambassador Philip Goldberg (pictured above wearing the Evo Sweater given to him Friday by Mr. Choquehuanca) said in La Paz that he and other Embassy staff had been briefed on the plan prior to the Bolivian government’s announcement.

"To be honest, when we heard about the sweater we were taken aback. To our knowledge no other government in the world requires visitors to purchase a specific garment on entry or to be photographed wearing it," Goldberg said at a US Embassy new conference. "But, if you think about it, it's actually a good deal. Bolivians seeking an entry visa to the US have to pay $114 just to be interviewed and most of them only get a DHL receipt, a cold wait in line in front of the Embassy and a rejection slip. And the sweaters really are attractive."

Mr. Choquehuanca announced that to supply the estimated 10,000 sweaters that will be needed annually as a result of the new policy, the government has entered into contracts with six women's knitting cooperatives in El Alto, Cochabamba, and Potosi. "This new policy will create dignified incomes for 300 women," he noted. The Foreign Minister also announced that all after-cost profits from the sweaters will be dedicated to a new special Presidential fund to provide the nation's toddlers with soccer balls.

"It's good for employment, it's good for Bolivia-US relations, its good for sweaters, and it is also good for sports and for our nation's youngest children," the Minister declared. "We think it is a creative win-win solution for everyone."

Among the unexpected winners from the new policy appear to be the new businesses seen propping up in Cochabamba within hours of the visa policy announcement. "We pay 40 Bolivianos for letters of references for gringos!" proclaimed one banner outside a Cochabamba storefront. Hugo Montesinos, the letter agency owner explained, "A lot of gringos want to come here and we see a real market in letters of reference from Bolivians. I mean, how many of these foreigners actually know a Bolivian? So we feel we are providing a service." Other agencies, speaking off the record, said they expect to sell the 40 Bolivianos letters (about $5) for a mark-up of as much as ten fold. "Fifty dollars for a letter of reference really isn't much for people up there," one said. "We are going to make a lot of money!"

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Happy April Fools Day from The Democracy Center!!!