Stuck in Tarija

It seemed that I have Landed in Tarija, right into the middle of a nasty dispute between the governor of the province and the peasants (Campisinos). I could not have picked up a worst time to fly to Tarija, this is my third day here, and all transport into and out of the city is still paralyzed by road blocks.


I have to say that when I saw the marchers yesterday, blockading the main road in front of the bus station with rocks, I felt little sympathy. You can´t have road blockades every time somebody is dissatisfied with the governor, I thought. But then I learned the reason for the marches: they are protesting the continuous delays in the plans to develop the roads in the Tarija province. As someone who traveled quite a lot around Bolivia, I can tell you that the roads here need immediate attention and investment, they are probably the worst in South America, and they are particularly bad here in the south of Bolivia, as there is no paved road connecting Tarija with the rest of the major cities in Bolivia, a situation that would be considered unacceptable for the 21th century. Now that I get the reasons behind the marches, I feel more sympathy for the marchers, and I might even join them in their protests (just kidding).
After waking up today, I asked the hotel manager about the latest in the crisis, and he told that something was going on at the main plaza, so I decided to check it out. I took a Taxi to the main Plaza, and my timing could not have been more perfect, to witness the action. As the Taxi stopped at the plaza to drop me off, I noticed that we were behind a convoy of three trucks. The last truck was loaded with people, brought to join the protests. The first two on the other hand were full of tomatoes, packed in boxes.

The trucks parked in front of the municipality building, and then the tomatoes were distributed to the protesters. A worker who was standing at the porch of the municipality building (or was it the governor?), took cover inside as the protesters pelted the building with tomatoes. I could hear the sound of shattering glass, as one of the windows was smashed by the tomatoes, it was then that the police decided to intervene, and threw a tear gas shell into the crowd. The protesters scurried away, repelled by the eye and throat burning tear gas. I managed to take a couple of pictures of the action, and a few videos as well. I had to retreat my self, after the gas burned my eyes. I have to say that in this case the police had no option but to respond to disperse the protest, and only did so after the protesters actions turned violent.

After witnessing the clash at the main plaza, I became pessimistic about the prospects of this dispute being resolved quickly. I reserved back to Cochabamba and was ready to get on the plane, but then I heard that a key meeting was going to be held this afternoon, between the governor and the leaders of the protesters, so I decided to wait and see, for one more day at least.

It is 9:30 at night now, and the discussions are still going on. Buses are still not leaving the terminal yet, but there is a lot of activity in the terminal, and buses are preparing to leave; it seems the people are anticipating that the blockades will end tonight. Anyway I will not wait longer than tomorrow, if I can´t leave tomorrow to Salta, I will take a flight back to Cochabamba.