The Week That Was – Bolivian Blogs · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

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Plan B’s Sebastian anxiously awaits the publication of a story about Santa Cruz blogs, in which he was interviewed by a reporter from the newspaper El Deber.   This media interest coincides with the launch of the 2nd “Book Liberation” scheduled for October 23, which he has helped organize.  This ambitious project called Libro Libre Bolivia hopes to hook ordinary citizens onto reading by simply leaving or “liberating” books on city park benches or coffee shop tables in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.  Inside the book, the liberator would request that upon finishing the book, that the finder would leave it somewhere for another to discover.
Other Bolivian bloggers are catching onto the project and participating in other cities.  Carlos Hugo Quntinalla selects the book he plans on setting free in La Paz.   He writes in his blog, Del Quintacho su Rincón, that he selected a book of poetry for that special day.
On related arts news, Grillo Villegas highlights a recent mega book put out by the La Plata Foundation about the “History of Bolivian Culture in the 20th Century: Music”, priced at a whopping $100 USD, which includes an interactive CD.  However, Villegas wonders why he and his seven albums were not included in the chapter on Bolivian rock.
Bolivian elections still have not been finalized for the scheduled December 4th date.  However, three bloggers picked up on the recent threat made by Felipe Quispe, leader and Presidential candidate of the Movimiento Indígena Pachacuti (MIP), in which he stated that he would take up arms if he did not win the elections.  Miguel Centellas at Ciao!, Boli-Nica, and A.M. Mora y Leon at Publius Pundit all commented on this troubling statement, especially since Quispe is polling in the single digits.
A new blog called Pensamiento Indio, written by Oswaldo, a student at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés in La Paz, Bolivia, writes a lengthy, but scathing piece called “  Manfiesto Anti-Universitario” about the corruption and counter-productive attitudes by many at his university.  He spares no expense at addressing the self-interest of many including student leaders, administration and faculty members who bring shame to the university.  Oswaldo wonders if it wouldn’t be for the best to close the place once and for all in order to end the corruption brought on by co-governance and autonomy.
Finally, ex-pat Eoin writes in his blog On the Andean Side about the conversations and time spent with Hernan, a Cochabamba orphan.  At 18 years old, he has one year left at the orphanage, before he must make it on his own.  The teenager works full time for 2 dollars a day and attends night school, but at the same, maintains a positive attitude with his own difficult situation.