Last night at around 8:30, Isabel called me to ask if I was watching the news (I wasn’t). She said that it was being reported that blockades would be going up around all the major cities of the lowland provinces at midnight. She suggested that it might be wise to try and stock up on some food staples and try to find diesel for my truck, as soon as possible.

So at 9:00 PM, the guys and I were running around the local market near our house (the Mutualista) buying rice and vegetables and whatever else we might need for the next couple of weeks. No one is really sure how long the blockades will be up for, but until they are taken down, the trucks that bring food stuffs and whatever else the city needs, will be prevented from entering the city. I watched the news today, and sure enough, there were videos of big trucks dumping loads of sand and gravel onto the highways to stop vehicles from passing. People can still walk across the blockades, but nothing else can pass.

Unless you follow Bolivian politics faithfully (and even then…) this is a bit difficult to explain. A while back, a committee was struck of leaders from the various lowland provinces. Their mandate was to determine a course of action for the lowland provinces, in response to our president, Evo Morales, whose leadership the lowland provinces are opposed to.

As a side note, I say provinces when the correct term is actually departments (departmentos)….this is just to simplify things. Departments are more or less the same as provinces or states.

Anyhow, things have escalated recently, and the national leadership has been withholding monies that the lowland provinces believe belong to them. I’m sure that Evo feels differently. He seems to be using those monies for good projects, but I’m not sure that justifies withholding the money from the provinces here. Obviously the leadership here believes it doesn’t.

So they’ve decided to use one of Evo’s famous tactics, and put up blockades. That rarely happens down here, although it’s become the favourite response for angry groups in the highland areas of Bolivia. Before Evo was president, and when he was leading one of the opposition parties, he used blockades as a bargaining chip in his “negotiations” with the leadership of the time. Most well known was when he blockaded the city of La Paz (a city of over a million people) for over a month. The poorest people were reduced to eating half rotten potatoes out of their gardens and cooking with whatever wood they could find. It was a brutal time…and yet these same people supported what Evo was doing, since it forced the hand of the then current president and in the end he had to resign.

So now that same tactic is ironically being used against Evo. To shut down the major cities of the lowlands, as well as block exports to Brazil and other countries to our east and south, will (the hope is) severely cripple Evo’s leadership (and possibly the country).

What does it mean for us? It likely means shortages of most staples, things like cooking oil, rice, meat, vegetables…all of which are brought in from outside the city. What we do end up with will be much more expensive. It also means fuel shortages (again). Already last night I tried to find diesel, but all of the gas stations in our area were out. Actually, my guess is that they had some, but were holding onto it to supply their “clients” (busses, taxis, etc…all of which are needed in order for the city to continue to function). So it may mean that my truck gets parked again soon if I can’t find any. I’m around a quarter of a tank, so that won’t last much longer.

It also likely means propane shortages, which has already been an issue here recently. A couple of weeks ago, we stood in line for an hour or so to refill our tanks (cooking stoves here are all propane) so we should be okay. We were fortunate, there was a long line behind us, and we were able to get some of the last tanks they had. We have two tanks, and that should last us until this is over. For awhile though, it was all over the news, how people couldn’t find propane and couldn’t cook.

In general, we should be fine. Prices will go up…we might not be able to get some things we need…my truck might get parked…but these are all things we can live with. I’m fortunate (and through me, the guys) in that, generally I have the resources to see this through. There’s no question that this will be a difficult time for the poorest of our city. My only hope is that, since it’s technically our people who are doing this, they won’t let it become as desperate a situation as Evo did in La Paz. When I first heard about the blockades, I had images of the city being blocked off for weeks…but I’m pretty sure (hopeful anyhow) that it won’t come to that.

So it seems we have a challenging time ahead of us. This is Bolivia however, so what seems dire today, could be fine tomorrow. =) But please continue to pray for us and for the people here. Pray that the leadership, both local and national, will have wisdom and compassion through this, and finally, for God’s protection for all of us.