CLIMBING IN THE ANDES—V BOLIVIA—A Land Of Contrast And Ferment

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30534, 1 September 1964, Page 9

CLIMBING IN THE ANDES—V BOLIVIA—A Land Of Contrast And Ferment

[Specially written for the New Zealand Press Association by Dr. MICHAEL NELSON. a member of the New Zealand Andes Expedition, 1964.]

Bolivia is one of the least-known countries in Latin America, or for that matter, in the world; its main claims to fame are its height above sea level and the poverty of its people. Behind these cold statistics lies a fascinating nation of great contrasts, both scenic and cultural. The traveller interested in discovering Bolivia must have good physical health to withstand the altitude and the discomforts of cattle-truck riding, and sufficient time to explore the altiplano, the mountain valleys and the “beni” or lowland jungle area. Most tourists arriving at “ElAlto” Airport La Paz (13,000 feet) come from sedentary jobs. Such people often suffer terribly from the effects of the altitude for the first three or four days. These effects may manifest themselves as sleeplessness, headaches, lassitude, bleeding nose, breathlessness, or nausea. The average tourist would be better to book in at Acapulco, Rio de Janerio or Miami, Bolivia is not for the average tourist. Outside La Paz and Cochabamba accommodations leave much to be desired; acclimatisation can be a painful experience; cattle-truck riding is the standard form of transport and an experience which should not be missed by anyone who wants to see the Bolivian Indian “first hand.” Exciting Country

Bolivia is an exciting country for the venturesome traveller. No vista can be more exciting than the first gained by the visitor as he steps out at La Paz airport and looks down a thousand feet to the city, and across it to 21,000 ft Nevado Illimani, and the jagged, icy peaks of the Cordillers Real extending as far north as he can see. Contrary to what the name implies, the altiplano is not a plain but hilly tussock grassland with limited areas of flat land, cut in places by deep canyons. The altiplano is higher than the celebrated Tibetan Plateau and much

more densely populated. It extends for some 500 miles from the north-west tip of Argentina to Cuzco in southern Peru. It varies in width up to 100 miles, and in height between 10,000 and 14,000 feet. Its western limit is the main chain of the Andes, an incredibly barren range bordering the Atacama Desert. Peaks and Jungle To the east the altiplano is bounded by a series of beautiful, 20,000 ft icecapped ranges which drop off sharply into the Amazon jungle. For example, in five hours by car from La Paz, one can climb 4000 feet to cross a 17,000 ft pass, and then descend to 1700 ft in .the jungle. More than 70 per cent of Bolivia’s four and a half million people live on the altiplano. This fact constitutes the principal barrier to Bolivia’s economic development. The country is aptly named the “Roof of South America” but in spite of this, much of it lies below 2000 ft in the steaming tropical headwaters of the Amazon. In addition there is an area of fertile and temperate valleys in the belt between 5000 and 8000 feet.

These lowland areas, the “llunga,” which could be developed to provide a much higher standard of living than that currently available to the Indians who live on the altiplano (excluding the city of La Paz). The technical problems of transport, access, land clearance, drainage, provision of credit etc., could be overcome—the real block lies almost wholly in the social aspects.

Barrier To Change The lack of mobility and of motivation by the workers to improve their material wellbeing has its roots in tradition and limited, or nonexistent, education. Thus, the dilemma faced by those interested in economic development is whether to embark on a long-term programme of education designed to stimulate massive movements of population to the lowlands (such a programme may not show any significant results for one or two generations) or, to develop sources of more useful employment on the altiplano through establishment of industry and improved agricultural techniques. This latter course, while more expedient, may have the effect of freezing the present undesirable, distribution of population in relation to the natural resources of the country. One group which is mobile and politically active is the 60,000 to 80,000 tin miners who are concentrated in the Catavi area, about 100 miles south of La Paz. Since the 1952 revolution when the conservative land-holding element was stripped of poxver, the miners have been the princi-

pal pressure group in the country. Political Stability

To observers from Western nations the politics of LatinAmerican countries usually appear rather a puzzle. Bolivia is no exception. President Paz Estensorro has controlled the government since the 1952 revolution. He was re-elected “without opposition” or incident in June of this year for a further four-year term, following the familiar ploy of many Latin American presidents ■ of “amending” the constitution to permit reelection beyond the prescribed four to eight year maximum term. Under Paz’s administration Bolivia has enjoyed a degree of political stability which has encouraged foreign invest: ment and an influx of overseas aid and technical assistance at an unprecedented fate for such an unpromising country. Despite this, the declining prices of tin and the inefficiency of the State-owned mines keep the country in constant financial crises. There is always a threat though apparently diminishing, of violent action by a group of the miners’ union led by Sr. Lechin, the former vice-president. One anomaly which is hard to follow in terms of nonLatin logic, is the fact that Lechin is in no way restricted by the authorities in spite of his bellicose opposition and open defiance manifested in such acts as the kidnapping and holding hostage of five foreigners earlier this year. One also has to have an idea of the complicated coalitions necessary to allow an elected group of politicians to govern under the multi-party systems of Latin America (often 15 to 20 parties), to appreciate how it may come about that the vice-president is the most violent opponent of the president. Truly Foreign

Thus it is that the complicated social, political and economic factors, combined vast scenic and climatic differences, make Bolivia a fascinating country the fishermen bn Lake Titicaca, the hard-faced antagonistic Aymara Indians of Warisata, the bustle of La Paz in the middle of a mountain wilderness, the lofty miners’ stronghold of Catavi, the fertile valleys of Cochabamba, the clearing of jungle along the Beni River, the sleepy tropic atmosphere of Santa Crux—these and more give the observant traveller a glimpse of life and change in a truly foreign land. This is the last of five articles written by members of the New Zealand Andes Expedition. They are Messrs D. Mackay, of Christchurch, H. Jacobs, of Te Anau and E. Cotter, of Gore, and Dr. Michael Nelson, a New Zealander working in the Argentine.