Travel guides and information for visiting Bolivia.

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Bolivia is a fascinating country where everything takes place at high altitude. Towns, cities, mining industries and almost every imaginable sign of human presence is found at the highlands; but one of the most curious histories related to this country is that of the final days of adventure of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, the Argentine - Cuban guerrilla commander and revolutionary leader.

Before being ambushed and assassinated by Bolivian soldiers operating under an unclear chain of command, Che Guevara was trying to find adepts to extend the Cuban revolution to other countries of the continent, especially following the ideas that set in motion the revolution in Cuba against the imperialism of the United States.

However, he found himself isolated and with little support; in Bolivia, Che Guevara was soon in trouble, disenfranchised and relentlessly pursued. He then said a famous and ominous phrase: 'The Bolivian people is not yet ready for a revolution.'

And knowing the Bolivian way of life, perhaps a direct consequence of the astounding altitudes at which people survive and work there, and which obliges humans to act slowly and with tranquillity, perhaps only a few would expect Bolivians to rebel against anything. Thus, what Che Guevara said seemed for decades only a confirmation of a sad, apparent fact: some nations cannot save themselves from the clutches of oppression.

But during the last decade Bolivia has surprised everyone - except, perhaps, in the case of Bolivian nationals - and has indeed demonstrated that their people are indeed not a flock of tranquil sheep-like individuals ready to accept the mandate of 'developed' nations.

Pressure is mounting in Bolivia; it did take a while until it reached a certain level but now events are unfolding according to the country's own dynamic, and Bolivians seem to be fed up with what they used to get in exchange for what they used to give.

There are three main examples of many battles won in the country against the globalisation pundits:

1)- The 'war' of resistance against the privatisation of water, including rain water. Believe it or not, in Cochabamba all the water was ceded to private companies, and it was deemed illegal not to pay them for it, even if it fell from the sky. The - literally - puppet government of La Paz seemed poised to privatise even what can't be claimed by anyone.

2)- The 'war' of resistance against the govverments that don't follow the will of their people but someone else's and are therefore taken out of office, like what happened in Argentina in 2001 and 2002 by means of huge mass demonstrations and popular revolts rejecting the intervention of foreign governments and financial institutions, as well as multinational corporations which in fact, control those 'developed' nations whose name is used in those interventions in foreign lands.

3)- The 'war' of resistance against the depredation of natural resources such as oil, gas and other non-renewable energy resources based on fossil fuels and their derivates; these, like in the case of water, would be privatised under draconian conditions, depriving Bolivian citizens of the actual profits that they may produce. In other words, these privatisations never take into account the benefit of the public of the country, not to mention their opinions about them.

If Che Guevara were still alive today, perhaps he would be proud about the fact that in Bolivia, the people is already fit for a revolution, and this is something that others should take into account very seriously.

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