Word: paz
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...ride down from the crater's lip to the center of the city is not only an unusual topographical experience, but a striking sociological one as well. In fact, the layout of La Paz can be viewed as a metaphor for the stark contrasts between wealth and poverty that pervade all Latin American societies. Dug into the stony walls near the top of the canyon are the most wretched hovels, those of the peasants most recently arrived from the altiplano. The weather in this part of the city, which is 12,500 feet above sea level, is pleasant...
...some point halfway up the slope of the La Paz canyon, rural and urban Bolivia meet. The Indian Quarter of the city is situated just where the western wall of the crater begins to rise sharply. The narrow sidestreets here are lined with the old, deteriorating shops and grocery stores owned by the mestizos (people of mixed white and Indian blood). Most of the real activity, however, takes place not in these dusty little buildings, but in the streets themselves. Everyday the Indian peasants, who live higher up in the poorer sections of the city, make the long, strenuous climb...
...migration from the country to the city has accelerated at a frantic pace in recent years. In 1966 La Paz had a population of 325,000; today, it is estimated to be close to 600,000. The annual per capita income in Bolivia is an astoundingly meager $200, the lowest in South America. The bulk of this poverty is concentrated in the wind-swept altiplano that surrounds La Paz. For centuries the Aymara lived here in isolation, speaking their own Indian tongue and showing a hostile back to any intruders. However, with each passing year, improved transportation and communication...
...hotel and the flickering outdoor food kiosks of the Indian Quarter to eat dinner with some Westerners I'd met in a cafe earlier that day. The main streets of the downtown area were quiet now, in contrast to the bustle of the tourists, businessmen, cocaine-pushers (La Paz is the cocaine capital of the world). I walked past the neon signs of the restaurants and clubs that dotted the fashionable blocks of the Prado, La Paz's most fashionable street...
...gone to serve in the Peace Corps. He had originally worked in southern Bolivia, in the same area Che had operated in, but after a left-wing military coup in 1971 he had been forced out of the country with the rest of the corps. He was in La Paz on vacation from Nicaragua, where he was working. He told me of his experiences while in Bolivia, and how he'd been shot at during the time of the coup. We talked about Che and why he had failed. The Englishman, looking at his watch, decided to order another banana...