Rallies and Rallies – Now Evo Takes a Turn

Last week it was here in Cochabamba, a large rally dedicated to "respect for law" which brought a few thousand people to the end of the Prado. It was not hard to sort out who people were calling on to respect the law – that would be the President – amidst complaints tat Evo is seeking too much control over the Constituent Assembly.

A friend of mine was there as a participant. The private school he teaches at told him to go or be docked a day's wages. But I am sure that many others present were there for reasons more sincere.

The poster promoting that march featured photos of all kinds of Bolivians, from the indigenous to a blonde who looked like a candidates to be one of the Chicas Primer. I found it interesting that the only photo repeated twice in the poster was the blonde – subliminal message or did the poster maker just think she was hot?

Today Evo has called for a rally of his own, in Plaza de los Heroes in La Paz. Morales' spokesman, Alex Contreras dubbed it a "March for Democracy" and said the intent was to "reaffirm the democratic system" in the face of rumors of a coup. I can't say if any of the people showing up there have gotten similar pay notices, but I am sure the rally will be big and that most of those present will be there for sincere reasons as well.

Santa Cruz, of course, had the Bolivian "mother of all rallies" just before the July 2 vote on autonomy, more than a hundred thousand people filling a section of downtown. Really, it was impressive, and carried live on all channels. Assuming that the Evo-fest in La Paz today doesn't surpass that, my bet is that Santa Cruz wins the Rally Olympics for now. I think it would be unfair to count Evo's inauguration, which probably drew even more people than Santa Cruz. I know people who hate Evo who went to that, just so they could tell people they did.

The main opposition party, PODEMOS, doesn’t think it is a good idea for Evo to call on people to rally. "God doesn't want that to happen, but it could result in confrontations," a PODEMOS member of Congress told the media here. It is good to know that PODEMOS has such a direct line to God. It is unclear if God also took a position on rallying in general, pro or con.

It is certainly more than safe to say that the Evo Bolivian honeymoon is over. Outright hatred seems to be the rule among many in the country's eastern states. So many transportation strikes are underway right now that the only real way to tell if there is going to be a way to get to work is to poke your head out the window at dawn and see if there are any buses. Evo's public support is down from 81% to 51%, according to a string of recently released opinion polls (Though be cautious, pollsters also somehow missed spotting the majority Evo was about to capture in the elections last year, something about not being able to reach people in the campo by phone).

One of my friendly neighborhood cab drivers old me this morning, "Aaay this government isn't doing anything it promised. The economy should be better by now." It is the kind of thing people said about Mesa, Goni, Quiroga, Banzer, Paz Zamorra, all the presidents that I have lived under across 15 years. No wonder most of them began their terms hiring poor people to put on orange vests and work under the hot sun for a few weeks repairing cobblestone streets that really didn’t need repairing. It sure made it look like the government was doing something.

Take unrealistically high expectations; mix it with a combination of arrogance by the new leaders and the determined defense of privilege by those who have it; add an economy that is no easy fix; and you have the current day's serving of Bolivia Soup – charges, counter charges, rallies, muscle flexing, and increasing polarization.

None of this is really surprise in a country passing through a moment of as much profound political and social change as this one. But what people wonder now, with more and more worry is – si esta es la sopa, que es la segunda?