Not So Fast! – Bolivia to Require Visas from U.S. Citizens

Este artículo también está disponible en español en el sitio Blogs de Bolivia

In a surprise move, the Bolivian government announced that it will no longer allow U.S. citizens to freely enter the country without a visa obtained at a consulate. Citing reciprocity and security concerns, any U.S. citizens including Bolivian-Americans that do not have double nationality or those Bolivians naturalized in another country must obtain a visa prior to entering. Bolivian citizens are required to apply for and are frequently denied visas to enter the United States and a bombing at a La Paz hotel was perpetrated by a U.S. citizen, although it appears to be an isolated incident by a mentally ill man. This was enough for Evo Morales’ government to announce the new requirements that may take effect by the end of the month.

Many bloggers disagree with this decision. Some cite that tourism will be adversely affected, as U.S. tourists do spend money in Bolivia. Hugo Miranda aka Angel Caido [ES] doesn’t think that Bolivia is an attractive enough destination for tourists to bother with the extra paperwork. He believes that neighboring Chile and Peru must be jumping at the chance to attract new tourists with their own version of Carnaval. El Alto blogger Mario Duran of Palabras Libres [ES] wonders, “When will we learn in Bolivia that tourism can provide more revenue than natural gas?”

Few have expressed concern about the plight of American citizens that hold special bonds with Bolivia, such as Bolivian-Americans. Miguel Buitrago of MABB, was born in Bolivia, but is now a U.S. citizen. Currently living in Germany, he would have to apply to receive a visa in order to visit his birthplace.

Also, it will not only be burdensome for US tourists, it will also affect Bolivian-Americans. A person like me will have to get a visa to enter his or her own country. I can think of many of my friends who, ironically, will be able to contribute to Bolivia's economic growth by sending remittances, but will have to apply to visit Bolivia, and perhaps only get a permission to stay three months. I know people who go to stay for longer than three months.

Josh Renaud, a US citizen married to a Bolivian, travels back and forth to Bolivia and cites four reasons why this is a bad decision, including hypocrisy. He notes that there are other countries such as Canada, Australia, Mexico, Honduras and Venezuela that require Bolivian citizens to obtain visa, “Why didn’t Evo (the Bolivian President) also demand reciprocity from these (especially Venezuela)? Because he doesn’t really care about reciprocity. It’s clear “reciprocity” is just a pretext to have a policy that antagonizes the U.S.”

However, others believe it is Bolivia’s right to implement the reciprocity guidelines. Sergio Asturizaga, who blogs at Así como me ves me tienes [ES] thinks that those tourists that really do want to travel to Bolivia will find a way in spite of the minor inconvenience.

Almada de Noche’s [ES]
Gustavo Siles is another that applauds the decision. For one, he hopes that it may make the work of the Bolivian consulates much more efficient. His experiences with the consulate in Madrid has been very unfavorable.

This time last year:

In a new feature to the weekly blog summary, we’ll take a look back at what the Bolivian blogosphere was talking about this time last year.

Post-election buzz dominated the conversations, as a couple of Bolivian bloggers were guests on Radio Open Source’s show about the Latin American’s New Socialism. Others were talking about the then new President-elect’s worldwide tour and plans for unique inauguration.

12 comments

  • carl

    Well, actually all Latinamerican countries should have to retaliate in such way. Can you imagine, Americans asking Visas for all Latinamerican countries that want to visit? no way. Do Americans want to visit Galapagos Islands, Macchu Picchu, Tango shows,they should have to pay for that. The world has been changed and USA is not anymore, the superpower that used to dominate the world economy. The US dollar is weaker even in Third World countries, we do not need devaluated dollars the USA is just another rich country; by the way; to entry Chile which USA has signed a free trade agreement, has imposed a visa tourist entry reciprocity fee, to all the countries that want to visit Chile, and the money Chile collect is invested in Tourist service. That is a fact. Good for you Chile, Bolivia and Brazil

  • Please folks, put on thinking cap and tighten strap. The reason that Bolivia has imposed visa requirements on US is not payback or because President Morales think Bush is a jerk (which I imagine he does!) It is because the US government is actively pouring money and people into Bolivia to DESTABILIZE it. If, Morales is going to stop his country from being destroyed, his government must carefully scrutinize everyone coming there from the US. The US conducted an unsuccessful overthrow in Venezuela and a successful one in Haiti and the US Agency for International Development’s funding of the National Endowment for Democracy (the experts at “soft coups”) planned and implemented these coups. Now, NED has Bolivia in its sights.

    The destabilization usually begins with US cultivating a relationship (read money) with the “opposition” and creating propaganda to suggest that the opposition is far greater in number than is true. Another feature of the destabilization is shameless demonization of the democratically-elected leader. In this case, Morales’ indigenous heritage and his coca leaf harvesting will be twisted into a perverted representation that the best public relations firms in the world cannot untangle. Also, the strategy calls for the creation of fake human rights NGO’s that are fronts for NED to frame members of the government and supporters. In Haiti, the former Prime Minister and the country’s most popular folksinger were framed by such groups and both sat in prison for over two years based on these false accusations. The final step is US enlistment of its allies in economic punishment of the country, thereby destroying the country’s infrastructure.

    Having enriched and empowered the opposition, ruined the reputation of the leader, funded organizations to accuse high ranking government officials of human rights abuses, and coerced allies in condemning the country politically and economically on the world stage, the US comes in for the kill and organizes the opposition and appropriate military forces for a violent coup d’etat.

    I am delighted to hear that Bolivia is taking this step with the visa process – it is one of the best ways to protect the country’s democracy.

    A few references you might want to check out to see how this all goes down.

    Venezuela – http://www.greenleft.org.au/2006/691/35882

    Haiti – http://hcvanalysis.wordpress.com/haiti-background/

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