The New Issue of the Democracy Center's Annual Magazine

Dear Readers:

Here at The Democracy Center we begin 2008 by publishing the second annual issue of our magazine, Jallalla! (an indigenous word here in Bolivia for Live!). The full issue – dedicated to ‘citizen power’ around the world – is freshly posted on our Web site and I hope that you will take a look here.

Below is an introduction to the magazine and a summary of what you’ll find.

Happy reading and thank you, as always, for your interest and support!

Jim Shultz


The New Democracy Center Magazine: The Power of Citizens

In the United States, 2008 promises to be ‘the year of the politician.’ Candidates for the Presidency alone will spend more than $1 billion this year trying to convince voters to go their way. That's enough money to take every person in Bolivia out to lunch every day for four months, or to finance the War in Iraq for 36 hours.

Yet, with so much focus on politicians and what they do, it is easy forget that what really makes a difference, from California to Cochabamba, is what citizens do. From peacemaking to battling global warming, it is citizens, not politicians, who are taking the lead.

This issue of Jallalla is dedicated to the power of citizens, the ability of each of us to make a difference. As before, a main focus of this magazine is Bolivia. In this issue we look at the current state of things in this country we call home, including political battles, environmental struggles, what 'feminism' means here, and some updates on issues that have put Bolivia in the global news.

But just as The Democracy Center's work reaches out globally, so this second issue of our annual magazine goes global too. We spotlight some of the work we have been doing with citizen groups around the world – from Uganda to the Balkans. We also spotlight an important new Democracy Center campaign, Voices from Latin America, which aims to bring a very different perspective into that big election-fest scheduled up north in 2008.

Here’s a look at what you’ll find in the new issue of Jallalla, at this link (and also information on how to order the glorious print version).

FOCUS ON BOLIVIA

2007: A Nation at a Difficult Crossroads

The year 2007 in Bolivia showed us just how difficult a road it is when a country begins to move in a new political direction. The first year of President Evo Morales was marked by big beginnings that symbolized hope and long-sought change. In Morales' second year in office, however, deep fault lines – divisions drawn by ethnicity, ideology, politics, socioeconomic differences, and regional interests– kept the country in constant conflict.

The Struggle for a New Constitution

The demand for a new Constitution finds its seeds among the nation’s indigenous majority. From the start, Bolivia's Constituent Assembly saw its task as looking far beyond traditional constitutional issues of how government should be organized. The Assembly declared that it had a mandate to make dramatic changes on an array of issues, including indigenous rights, autonomy, and land reform.

Focus on the Environment

The Chacaltaya glacier is a thick layer of ice that stretches across the rugged scalp of a mountain that rises more than 17,000 feet above sea level. The glacier dates back tens of thousands of years to the last ice age. For as long as people have lived in Bolivia's capital, La Paz, Chacaltaya glacier has been a source of water and life. But if geologists are right, by 2015 the last of the glacier will melt into a final drop of water and disappear. This is what global climate change, set in motion by energy use a hemisphere away, means for Bolivia's highlands and its people.

La Q’owa: A Taste of Bolivian Culture

Walking through the streets of Cochabamba on the first Friday of any month, one is struck by a pungent aroma wafting through the air and trails of smoke sneaking out the doors of small stores. This is the scent of the Bolivian ritual of the Q’owa (koh-wah), and a reminder of one of the ways in which many Bolivians still hold fast to ancient traditions.

Feminism from the Ground Up

Machismo is a phenomenon that runs deep in many cultures around the world, including in Bolivia. Feminism, however, is another powerful current that has its place in Bolivia’s history, one whose story is rarely told and often misunderstood.

Bolivia In Brief: An Update On Issues in The News

Coca: Bolivia Tries a New Approach: With a cocalero leader in the nation’s Presidency, Bolivia has taken a different approach to the green leaf that is simultaneously an ancient part of the nation’s culture, and also the base ingredient for cocaine.

A Former President Faces New Legal Challenges: Former Bolivian President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada was ousted by popular protests in October 2003 and living in self-imposed exile in suburban Maryland, now faces serious legal assaults on two fronts – one criminal and one civil.

ACTIVISM GONE GLOBAL

Road Trips: A Look at The Democracy Center’s Work Around the World

In Uganda, community organizers gather under a sprawling mango tree, plotting strategy as they monitor how the local government spends public funds. In the new Balkan republic of Montenegro, environmental advocates working with the United Nations debate the best way to protect a river from devastating development. In Santa Fe, New Mexico, a workshop brings together environmental activists, Pueblo tribal leaders and others to compare notes on how to wage effective lobbying campaigns in their state legislature. These are a few of the places and people that have been a part of The Democracy Center’s work recently, providing advocacy training and support to communities all over the world.

Seeds of Change: Social Entrepreneurs Across the Globe

Usually, the word “entrepreneur” conjures up the idea of a person who sees a demand in the economic marketplace. In that demand, the marketplace entrepreneur finds opportunity for profit and assembles the resources, capital, and market know how to take the risk of making that vision real. Not all demands, however, can be met by the marketplace. Not all opportunities are defined as a return on investment.

Voices from Latin America: Bringing Perspectives from Abroad into the U.S. Elections

The U.S. War in Iraq teaches us again that U.S. foreign policy is not something that we can leave solely in the hands of our politicians. Citizens have to take a strong and direct interest in what our nation does abroad, which includes understanding what people in other countries have to say about the impact of our policies on them. Voices from Latin America is an effort by The Democracy Center and our friends both north and south to bring Latin American perspectives directly into the U.S. election debate in 2008.

The Peacemaker: An American Woman's Journey With the Iraqi People

Cathy Breen served as a Maryknoll lay missionary in Bolivia for a decade. Later, in the run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Cathy traveled to Baghdad to bear witness and report what she saw back home. She was on the ground and under the bombs during "Shock and Awe" and for the toppling of Saddam and the chaos and violence that followed. She now works with the huge community of more than 700,000 Iraqi refugees. These are her words from an interview in November 2007 from Amman, Jordan.

Beyond Violence

Last May Democracy Center staff member Leny Olivera traveled to Vermont to gather with 80 people from more than 20 countries for a global meeting on nonviolence. For three weeks they lived together, and shared their experiences of violence and ways to work beyond it.

Read any or all of these articles by visiting the on-line version of the magazine here.

Also: Please consider making a donation to support The Democracy Center’s work. Checks can be mailed to the US address below, or donations can be made by credit card here.