Asi es Bolivia?

The original source of this article, entitled Asi es Bolivia?, is unknown. Apparently it was written by a Chilean, in one of their daily newspapers. The article attempts to generalize Bolivian culture, finding faults as well as, romanticizing some of our behaviors.

No matter how much I hate generalizations, especially since I am in the minority from unusual circumstances (i.e. in Bolivia, I am considered upper-middle class with all of my childhood spent in the U.S.), I can't help but think that the majority of Bolivians live very differently than I do. Even though I have experienced so many facets of Bolivian life and am friends with people across the socio-economic spectrum, I would never know how the "other Bolivia" lives.

Some of the fun observations include (translation):

“In Cochabamba, for example, one eats in the morning, mid-morning, at noon, mid-afternoon and at night. You wouldn’t believe someone eating so much. The food is very good and very inexpensive.”

No arguments here.

Yet, the author seems to find fault in his own Chilean society and claims that some aspects of Bolivian society is much more honorable.

“In Bolivia , the unfortunate racism that takes place in Chile, doesn’t exist..”

“As there is less infidelity (in Bolivia) than there is in Chile, the men go out with their friends to get drunk and play cacho.”

I don't think anyone can dispute that there is harmful racism exists in Bolivia , nor that the machismo culture contributes to rampant infidelity in Bolivia.

The author makes an observation about society amongst social classes and ethnic groups.

“Distrust and intolerance are more apparent in Bolivian society. There is a huge distrust of everything, that doesn’t allow for innovation and that impedes progress. This intolerance is manifested between the different ethnic groups, that only listen to their own leaders, that only value what is theirs and it also rejects somebody else’s idea.”

These are pretty harsh words, but, in my opinion, also highly accurate. Although this behavior is not limited interaction between social classes or ethnicities. There is a rejection of change among all groups. Firsthand, I became frustrated when I suggested new ideas and they were promptly dismissed because "that's not now we've always done it."

This article has yet to find itself into the Bolivian newspapers (I think). Perhaps it should stay out, even though it displays a good sense of how the outsider observer sees Bolivia. The fact that a Chilean author wrote this piece, makes it even less likely that it would be well-received.