Wishful Thinking

This upcoming weekend promises to be a very interesting one for Bolivia. Not only will citizens vote on a new constitution, but in La Paz they will also celebrate the Alasita festival- an Aymara tradition to ring in the New Year. Alasita is Aymara for Cómprame pues, which is Spanish for Well buy it for me then (I think...)

The festival is centered on Ekeko an Andean God who represents abundance, and it is based on the idea of hoping for the best in the New Year. Celebrations will begin at noon this Saturday and last for a month as Paceños (people from La Paz) flock to the streets buying miniature representations of things they hope to receive this year. Popular items include mini university diplomas, marriage certificates, houses, passports and dollar bills. After purchasing the miniature of your choice it is customary to perform a ch’alla (an Andean ritual using alcohol, incenses and flower petals) to bless it and ensure its effectiveness. Sometimes the miniatures are then blessed a second time in a church. It is most common to buy something for a loved one that represents what you wish for them this coming year, but it is also acceptable to buy a miniature for yourself. Apparently if you are single it’s recommended that you purchase yourself a mini hen if you’re a boy, or a mini rooster if you’re a girl. I will be passing through La Paz in two weeks to catch my flight back to Toronto so I look forward to taking part in this festival. I have no loved ones here who will buy me something, but I also have no shame- I plan on buying myself a mini Hummer and a mini color coordinated Louis Vuitton luggage set. They shouldn't be too hard to find.

This is a photo of Ekeko and some little trinkets.

Since Evo Morales became President he has become a popular figure in the Alasita festival. Miniatures have been sold of his famous chompa (a striped sweater that he wears all the time) and of him delivering a speech to congress. Newspapers release mini newspapers on the first day of the Alasita along with their regular editions that contain comics and jokes, but in recent years they have mainly consisted of politic jokes revolving around Evo. This year however, things have taken a more serious turn. A Bolivian feminist movement, Mujeres Creando (Women Creating) has released a miniature of Evo holding a baby on his back while wearing his famous chompa. The organization has said that the figure represents the idea of a ‘responsible father’, but that it is also meant to battle the machista attitude of government officials.

This is a photo of a member of Mujeres Creando talking about the Evo miniature. Take note that he is also holding a broom and a grocery bag.

Machismo is a term used to describe the sexist and excessively masculine attitude of many Latin men. Of course forms of machismo manifest themselves in different ways across the world, but unfortunately the term originates from this part of the world for a reason… A representative from Mujeres Creando, Christina Ojeda, has said that a machista attitude emanates from the government and that Evo plays a role in perpetuating it. He has commented on the benefits of the ‘single life’ in public speeches and has openly praised the conquests of vice president Alvaro García Linera who is also single. Evo's most notable offense was when he claimed that after his presidency he plans on returning to Chapare to live on a farm with a quinceañera (15 year old girl). The 15th birthday of young girls is celebrated throughout much of Latin America as their ‘coming out’ or the age at which they become women- kind of like the American Sweet Sixteen, but less MTVish. Needless to say, his comment was hugely inappropriate and caused lots of controversy for obvious reasons.

Through the sale of this new Evo doll, Mujeres Creando hopes to raise awareness of what it means to be a responsible Father- 'someone who takes care of the kids, helps out around the house and goes grocery shopping' (that's how they described it). I’m not sure how effective their miniature Evo will be, but it’s certainly worth a try. Even if the members of this feminist movement are the only ones who buy it, hopefully Ekeko will grant them their wish.
Evo actually does have two kids of his own who have appeared with him in public a couple times, but I don’t think there is a strong fatherly bond...

As for Sunday’s referendum things are still looking all shades of grey. Last week Lula da Silva, the President of Brazil, made a visit to Bolivia to show his support for Evo. The trip was claimed to be in honour of two transnational highways that opened last week, but many think that the visit had a much more political edge. Analysts suggest that the visit was specifically timed less than 10 days before the referendum so that Bolivians could see the international support Evo’s government has.

Another interesting development occurred last week in a MAS congress meeting when Evo said that if the opposition boycotts this weekend’s vote or tries to obstruct the rules of the referendum in anyway then he will push the constitution through by decree. I don’t like the sounds of that... Usually pushing something through by decree isn’t considered to be a very democratic move, so I hope that Evo doesn’t feel that this is necessary in the end.
I did see a campaign for ‘Sí’ last week in Sucre, which should spice things up a bit here in this largely 'No' part of the country. They were marketing it as ‘Si es Si a la autonomia’ (Yes means Yes to autonomy), but either way at least it was a different side of the story.
I haven’t seen them yet this week though… I don’t know if that should worry me or if I should just assume that they’ve given up.

Bolivians will head to the polls on Sunday from 8am to 4pm and then on Monday hopefully we’ll have an answer. Obviously tensions are too deeply rooted to be resolved overnight, but with a big enough majority the constitution should go through without too many comments from the peanut gallery. What most people are worried about though is that if the numbers are too close then whatever side loses might not respect the results. Unfortunately, democracy is still new to Bolivia so unlike our willingness to let a minority government rule Canada, Bolivians may not stand for a new constitution that only wins by a small margin.
More to follow after Sunday’s results come in.

But speaking of Canada… Parliament is back next week! Woohoooooo!
Party on Harper! Party on Ignatieff!

This is a photo of Stephen is his party suit (just incase you couldn't tell)