Sucre Part 1

The Chilano and I split-up in Potosi, him leaving one day before me, with plans of reconvening upon arrival in Sucre. Mid-afternoon the following day, I was on a bus effortless cruising the mountainous terrain by way of combustible engine, when I passed him huffing and puffing, by bicycle, up the highway. I swallowed the urge to make sassy faces at him through the window. We managed to find each other, in a city, Sucre, literally under siege by protest.

So Sucre wants to be capital of Bolivia. Bueno. Actually, more accurately, the citizenry just down right refuses to admit that 100 years ago Sucre lost a civil war that relocated the official federal headquarters to La Paz. With a bullheadedness that I´ve learned is very Bolivian, they just won´t let it die and seem to be willing to pull the entire country into a nation-wide spitting match over the issue.

Basically, its a political mess; a class-war generations old, predicated on the under-education of basically the entire population. To start, Bolivia is proudly presenting the world with one of the only examples of an indigenous president; a president, Evo Morales, who is full blooded Native Indian, figuratively one of the opressed rather than a descendant of Spanish Colonizers. His platform is saturated with promises to elevate the poverty and oppression of Bolivian native peoples and, to achieve this, he has taken his governance on quite a radical path, nationalizing various industries, rewriting the constitution, and becoming strongly aligned with Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. He´s blatantly challenging hundreds of years of history where "rich" and "colonial blooded" have been basically synonymous, and upsetting more than a few prominent people in the process, among them is Sucre´s relatively weathy population.

Logistically speaking, Sucre has basically no reason to be the Capital of Bolivia. With a population of 250,000 it completely lacks infrastructure as a global city; such as sufficient federal buildings, an international airport, or a work force properly educated and trained to make a federal government function. Nor does Bolivia have the money to develop it as one. Yet the entire city is parading through the streets, unified under this cause. So why does everybody continue to be so insistent? I tried diligently to get to the bottom of this conundrum during my visit. I made it a habit of asking everyone, and I mean everyone, to give me valid, political reasoning why the capital should be moved to Sucre. Here´s all I got...

"Because Sucre is the TRUE capital"...

"Because Sucre was the capital FIRST"

"Because democracy was born in Sucre"

"Because Sucre is centrally located in Bolivia"

"Because changing the capital will bring more money and development to Sucre"

Bueno, basically there doesn´t seem to be one reason that carries much political backbone. In the end, its a way for a rich urban populous (Sucre is one of the richest cities in the country) to express their descent for a federal government (Evo Morales) that for once, isn´t putting them first. Its an excuse to take to the streets and to light things on fire in the name of their own pride and anger.

I´m sure without the blockades in the streets, everything from boulders to trucks and buses to flaming tires and brush fires, Sucre is just a charming city. I visited some great museums and even got a tip from one of an indigenous village known for its weaving, in the surrounding mountains. With the arrogance of the protesters heating up and weighing me down, it was time to get out of the city. Don´t get me wrong. I love protest, but only when its fighting to overturn an unjust status quo, not maintain it.