This past weekend saw my first trip to the Chapare, a tropical rainforest that occupies the eastern portion of the Department of Cochabamba. Crossing over the Andes, the ecology quickly changes from a dry, temperate, sparsely vegetated landscape to one flush with intense green and oven-like heat. Before you hit the real jungle, though, you cross through the cloud-forests. High up, this region catches the last of the moisture rising from the Amazon plain and holds it there in the form of thick mists. It’s dangerous driving but the views more than make up for the risk.
Crossing over the Andes on the road to Chapare, cloud forests dominate and offer distraction to the weary driver.
When you finally make it down to the valley floor and turn off the car engine, the sounds and sights overwhelm the senses. Bird calls that sound like alien chatter, bugs the size of your palm stretched out under the lights (we arrived during the night), and vegetation in untold quantities stretching out to trip you up at every step. It can be a bit scary at first. You feel vulnerable, and it’s certainly humbling–so much life is packed into every square meter.
A typical scene in Cochabamba's Chapare region. Intensive cultivation of coca and illegal forestry are just two of the environmental issues facing the region.
Politically, the Chapare is a stronghold of support for the Morales administration. This is quite evident, even to the casual observer, with MAS propaganda (not defaced for a change) festooned onto almost every other building.
The graffiti on this building reads "NGOs Out" and "Judicial Elections -- Yes." The MAS influence is clear: Evo recently blamed NGOs for fomenting the TIPNIS conflict, while judicial elections have been one of his administration's pet projects.
Chapare is also coca country, and that, at the moment, is cutting both ways for the Morales administration. On the one hand, the cocaleros are some of Evo’s fiercest supporters. On the other hand, this alliance has been shaken a bit by Evo’s decision to cancel the road through TIPNIS. When we tried to pass through Villa Tunari, the main city in the region, we were stopped in our tracks by a road block set up by cocaleros. They were halting all traffic from Cochabamba to Santa Cruz in protest of the government’s decision. Although they must realize it would be political suicide for Evo to double-back at this point, the cocaleros are still sending a strong message to La Paz: “We wanted that road,” they are saying. “If we can’t have it, you better give us something else in return.”
Road block in Villa Tunari organized by cocaleros.
Blockades are a political tradition in Bolivia, and they are often effective. However, I am beginning to question whether they are getting out of hand. An occasional blockade for issues of critical importance may be the sign of a healthy democracy–of people who care about their government’s decision and who are willing to stand up when their government fails to act on their behalf. But when blockades become commonplace and are used to flout the will of the majority, they may do more harm than good. Just some thoughts. I could be wrong.
-NF
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