Into thin air

Our first port of call in Bolivia was it´s ´de facto´ capital of La Paz. The highest capital in the world at 3700m above sea level, the city itself forms a bowl in amongst a ruggedly mountainous landscape. One of the highlights of our short stay was a half day city tour, where we learnt about the city´s past and present. Without wanting to bore, I thought I´d share some of the interesting info.

1) In 2003, an ex-president (Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, I think), raised income tax from 12-24%. A peaceful protest against this ruling ended with 35 dead, after orders from this president. He wanted to make a statement, but his popularity pretty much vanished so he decided to jump ship. On his way he popped past the Central Bank of La Paz and ´withdrew´ $80 million. He now resides happily in the USA and still owns around 50% of all the mines in Bolivia. His safety is pretty much assured due to previous connections (business) with George W senior.

2) A fairly recent government initiative saw young woman in La Paz (and elsewhere in Bolivia) being invited to hospitals for free health checks. Without knowing it they were sterilised in an attempt to control Bolivia´s population.

3) The Police Chief of La Paz earns $1250 per day, most of which is made up of a compulsory $10 a day payment to him from each officer. Take into account that most of La Paz´s poor live on less than $2 a day.

4) La Paz must have the weirdest (and most shocking) prison in the world, called San Pedro. Rich criminals very rarely end up in prison, but when they end up in San Pedro, they live in the lap of luxury in rooms with jacuzzi´s, cable television and even servants. They´re allowed female guests whenever they want and spend most weekends outside. In contrast, the poor prisoners don´t even get cells, so in cold and wet conditions have to dig into the thick clay walls for shelter. They also receive no food, so spend most of their time begging, or trying to work for some.

Bolivia is one of the world´s poorest countries, with a vast mineral wealth that has, and still is being robbed of them. Why?