"A big mess... Un gros bordel, tout de... " a La Paz Travel Page by Maillekeul

When we arrived in La Paz, it was two days only after the departure of the president of Bolivia nicknamed Goni, the richest man of the country, owner of many oil and gas companies; raised in the USA (and not even speaking a good spanish !!), he had first hold the Ministry of Economy and some people said that he had taken doubtful decisions... But people, in South America, easily forget their politics past, and he was finally voted for as President. The thing is that, after the discovery of some new gas sources, he decided to sell them to the US companies, that would probably give the exploitation of the gas to Chile. For Bolivian people, who have originally lost their access to the ocean during a war against Chile, that was the word of a treator. La Paz was completely jammed during many days, people from the countryside urging the President to leace. It was impossible for people to get in or out La Pax and other big cities. During some demonstrations in La Paz, the worst happened : the army shot and almost 50 people were killed ; in total, 70 people died in the whole country during this period. Finally, the President flew out the country and two days later; we arrived in a city where you could feel the heat of the past few days... Such a mess there !! Fortunately, we had the opportunity to come back 3 weeks after and enjoy this splendid city...

Quand on est arrives a La Paz, cela faisait seulement deux jours que le President de Bolivie, qu'on appelait Goni, avait quitte le pouvoir et le pays. L'homme le plus riche du pays, car proprietaire de nombreuses raffineries, eleve aux Etats-Unis (et ne parlant pas bien l'espagnol !), ancien ministre de l'economie aux mesures douteuses, etait parti en douce, apres plusieurs semaines de remous dans tout le pays, appelant a sa demission, suite a la decouverte de nouveaux gisements de gaz dans le pays et une declaration de ceder son exploitation aux USA et peut-etre au voisin ennemi, le Chili (auquel la Bolivie a cede son acces a la mer, il y a des annees, ce que les Boliviens vivent toujours mal). Apres des manifestations reprimees dans le sang par l'armee, l'acces à ou depuis La Paz et d'autres grandes villes etaient completement bloque par des paysans et ouvriers. Nous sommes arrives dans un La Paz un peu apocalyptique et heureusement qu'on a pu y retourner trois semaines plus tard pour profiter de cette ville incroyable, sans la tension qui y regnait lors de notre premier passage...