Bandidos Yanqui
Posted on 10/14/2004 4:17:07 PM PDT by ChicagoHebrew
I'm writing this from an internet cafe in La Paz, Bolivia. About fifteen minutes ago, I started to hear what I think was gunfire and cannon fire from right outside the cafe. It was shortly followed by bullhorns booming and people chanting. The gunfire is intermittent now.
I have no idea what's happening.
I don't know if this is related, but it was posted 4 hours ago.
Bolivia Congress authorizes trial for ex-president
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N14179635.htm
Do you think it is an Iraqi wedding?
All of your south america capitals are belong to us...
LOL
The streets are relatively quiet now, so I´ll be signing off and heading back to my hotel.
Stay safe...
Streamed over Real? No wonder it'll fail.
RealOne Player = horrible.
It turned out the local communist party was having a demonstration about something or other. Freaked me out as it was my first day in country. Just ask some of the locals what’s going on. If they are not concerned I would not worry about it.
Whew, good.
Stay safe and keep us updated!
Chicago Hebrew, duck, take cover and get back home pronto!
Are they chanting, "Osama"?
In any event, quietly finish your burrito, and act bored.
lol
From:
http://www.brazzil.com/2004/html/articles/aug04/p131aug04.htm Recently, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva urged Bolivia to take the path to democracy, calling it the best instrument for economic and political recovery.
Last October, Bolivia went through a political crisis which resulted in the resignation of president Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada as a popular uprising raged throughout the country.
During a speech at a ceremony celebrating the signing of agreements with Bolivia, Lula declared that the decision by President Carlos Mesa (who substituted Sanchez de Lozada) to hold a referendum on the country's energy policy and municipal elections in December "will make it possible for Bolivia to discover what its population wants."
Lula went on to say that, "At this moment, when Bolivia gathers strength, it can count on the friendship of the government and people of Brazil. That is the message we sent Bolivia last year during its crisis, and that is the message we send now. That friendship also underlies these agreements we sign today."
Lula concluded by saying that Latin America needs a "Bolivia that is democratic, prosperous and united... a country based on the dreams of Bolivar who wanted borders to bring people together, not separate them," said the Brazilian President.
Carlos Mesa endorsed those words, saying that democracy was the only mechanism that would enable Bolivia to get back on track. "We want democracy to be the crucial issue in our future," he declared, adding that he still intends to convoke a Constitutional Assembly.
I was almost stuck at La Paz. On a lay-over flight to Asuncion, I got out at LaPaz and had a beer and a smoke. I had no idea that I was at 11,000 ft. Got woozy and all happy until I saw a Bolivian soldier running towards me, waving his gun. "Senor! Senor!"
My plane was leaving, and I hadn't noticed. The crazy bastards ran out across the airfield, waving their arms to stop the plane, while another set pushed the stairs towards it. The plane stopped somewhere on the tarmac. I just kinda stumbled along, and climbed up to the plane. They gave me another drink once onboard....
Good luck. Stay safe. And if you feel the urge, pick a side and join in.
CH, if you hear shooting again, blanks or not, hightail it out of there unless you're in a PJ O'Rourke kinda mode and feel like writing a postscript to his "Holidays in Hell."
Now stop that, this is series.
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