16 Jul, 2013 | Wilmer Machaca

In Bolivia, culture, civilization, and the Andean market economy revolve around the cultivation of the potato.  Photo: Juan Manuel Lobaton ‘All of the greatest cultures and civilizat...

28 Feb, 2014 | Wilmer Machaca

These famous blue buses began circulating around the city of La Paz in 1938, and have since become iconic. They barely need signs anymore as they are instantly recognisable from as far as the eye c...

22 May, 2014 | Wilmer Machaca

Wilmer Machaca explains the social significance of one of the most popular (yet marginalised) musical styles in the country. Cumbia is very popular in Latin America: originally from Colombia, vir...

22 Oct, 2014 | Wilmer Machaca

To cast an eye upon the rural areas of Bolivia is to look back at the history of the country. You are looking at a Bolivia that, in its early years, depended on the peasant workforce, taking you back...

25 Nov, 2014 | Wilmer Machaca

In all societies, age appears to be one of the principal defining attributes of activity and social image. Age and sex form the basis for social classification, coding and structuring in a demographic...

21 Jan, 2014 | Wilmer Machaca

Wilmer Machaca savours some of La Paz’s most traditional market delicacies Cuellitos (Chicken Necks) Doña Wilma has been selling deep-fried chicken necks with potatoes for five years in Villa P...

28 Feb, 2014 | Wilmer Machaca

It’s been 10 months since El Alto introduced their Municipal Transport Guards (GMTs). It is the city’s response to the friendly zebras roaming the streets of La Paz, cartwheeling across the s...

28 May, 2015 | Wilmer Machaca

PHOTO: ALEXANDRA MELEANThe Queen of Street Food, in spite of the grand variety of Street-bought snacks available in Bolivia, the salteña remains both a popular mid-morning snack and a food of celebrat...

08 Mar, 2014 | Wilmer Machaca

TORITOS A new form of transport has descended on El Alto. Toritos (‘little bulls’) or mototaxis, as they are otherwise known, have made it their aim to conquer the whole of this ever-expanding ci...

30 Sep, 2020 | Wilmer Machaca

Illustration: Marco TóxicoENGLISH VERSIONYour time at university is shaped by the unique experiences and memories that you acquire over the course of your degree. In Bolivia, while each university has...

15 Jun, 2013 | Wilmer Machaca

Aparapita is the name given to the hundreds men who carry huge loads for a living across the city’s main commercial arteries. Wilmer Machaca talks to two different generations of these personages to u...