Paro civico

Bob, An, Quentin and I met on Thursday morning about 10 am. We had planned to walk up to the cross we had seen on one of the tall hills towering over Sucre. We walked uphill on the same street as our hotel for a number of blocks. It was a very quiet morning. The night before the city was bustling and busy but this morning there were no cars on the road and barely any other people. As we climbed the hill we came across an intersection with a bus parked diagonally across the street blocking traffic in the direction of the center of town. We turned a corner and headed further up the hill and came across another bus, this one with a couple guys sitting nearby relaxing.

It soon became clear what was happening. The blockade that we had heard about stopping traffic on the main roads into Sucre was now a complete stoppage of traffic within the city. It is called a “paro civico” (civil strike) and is not uncommon in Sucre. We stopped at the base of the hill at an old convent with a large square and a beautiful colonnade overlooking the city and listened to the absolute quiet that had settled over Sucre.

We continued up the hill taking the direct route of steep steps (memories of the Inca Trail). About halfway we stopped for a little rest and had a long and very informative conversation with a couple of Peace Corps workers. They explained what they understood to be the reason behind the paro civico. Apparently President Morales was said to be coming to visit the city. As Sucre is the constitutional capital of Bolivia there are many official duties that take place in here, for instance the inauguration of the president. The people of Sucre expected a large influx of indigenous people to welcome the president. On the day he was expected there were a number of racial incidents. Before heading to Sucre we had heard that some students had demeaned some indigenous people on a university campus and the Peace Corps workers told us that a number of car tires were slashed by Sucre residents who suspected the cars to be indigenous people involved in the arrival of the president. In the end the president never came to Sucre. The transportation stoppage was a statement against the racial incidents. At least this is what I’ve pieced together.

The city was basically on holiday. Most shops and many restaurants were closed. The hotel couldn’t do our laundry (but the maid who cleaned our room offered to take our clothes home and clean them – an arrangement that was to be kept quiet from the hotel management). Schools were closed and the only traffic we heard through most of the day was the occasional siren. On the walk back to the hotel from the Jesus Statue (the cross we had seen lit at night that we thought we were climbing too was on the other large will along with all the radio towers) we encountered kids playing soccer on the empty streets. At the main plaza kids raced their bicycles around the square on the vacant street. Later in the afternoon as dusk began to fall traffic began to reclaim the streets.

This morning I couldn’t take a shower due to a shortage I had not yet experienced. I had no cold water. The hot water was too hot to shower under and there was literally no cold water. Once the hotel staff knew the situation they turned the cold water back on and about 15 minutes later I could shower.

The city was alive again and bustling with traffic. We all met about 9:30 for a morning of museums and cathedrals before the 12:30 – 2:30 lunch time when everything closes. We climbed to the roof of a cathedral and got some great pictures. After lunch Bob and I went to the Textile and Ethnographic Museum and did some shopping. Later we had another great meal at the French Restaurant we had enjoyed two nights ago.

Tomorrow we leave for Potosi and hope to visit a town on the way, Marauga. Supposedly the town is built in a crater and a two hour hike from the town are some dinosaur tracks and possibly hot springs.