Roadblocks to the Left of Me, Roadblocks to the Right, Here I am

It's official: I'm stuck! Through the grapevine I hear that the opposition has removed their roadblocks surrounding Santa Cruz, yet now we have pro-government forces erecting their own. So, while the country is slowly gaining stability, there's still a whole bunch of pissed-off people. In fact, there's supposed to be a whole bunch of angry MASistas on their way to Santa Cruz "to take back what is theirs." (I quote a anti-MAS shopkeeper just outside of Santa Cruz who calls MAS "a bunch of regressives," so interpret that according to your own political philosophy/party sympathy--I've got no insight at the present moment.)

What this means at Down South headquarters is that our staff of one is on a forced vacation! Could be worse--we could be stuck in Santa Cruz. Instead, we are still in a little town just a couple of hours out (no, we ain't saying where, as it's a pro-autonomy town and we don't want the locals to know they have an Evo sympathizer in their midst; they are nice folks here, and we don't feel like rocking the boat). We can't get to Cochabamba, and we don't feel like negotiating roadblocks just to end up in Santa Cruz (yuck!). So here we sit, watching our dwindling money supply (no banks in town, natch), and reading bad science fiction and mystery novel (thank god for the local book exchange).

Meanwhile, El Dude has published a letter from Latin Americanists asking the U.S. to disclose who the recipients are of your tax dollars (that is, besides the banking industry). Here's an excerpt, but go over to Abiding in Bolivia for the whle thing.

We call on the U.S. government to turn a new page in its relations with Latin America by clearly and unequivocally condemning the violent, destructive and anti-democratic means employed by members of Bolivia's pro-"autonomy" opposition. Most importantly, Washington must also disclose its funding for groups inside Bolivia - through USAID and other agencies - and reveal the names of the recipients of these funds. The U.S. government must cease any and all support - financial or otherwise - to any group or person in Bolivia and other Latin American countries that engages in violent, destructive, terrorist, or anti-democratic activities such as we have witnessed with great shock and sadness in the past weeks in Bolivia.