18 Jul, 2011 | Amaru Villanueva Rance

A portrait of the familia Galan. “What questions do you usually get asked in interviews?” is the last question I ask David Aruquipa. This is perhaps the best place to begin. ‘I get asked a lot of...

18 Jul, 2011 | Matthew Grace

Life in Bolivia behind bars On may 19, 2008, three young Norwegian women, Stina Brendemo Hagan, then 17 years old; Madeleine Rodriguez, then 20; and Christina Oygarden, then 18–along with Madeleine...

18 Jul, 2011 | Camilla Swift

Expats and their offspring After 5 months of living and working in La Paz, I became increasingly intrigued with the idea of expats who, by moving abroad, end up raising their children in a differen...

18 Jul, 2011 | Nina Triado and Georgia Wolf

After a frightening number of cases of discrimination against afrobolivians were disregarded by the Bolivian government, Jorge Medina eventually made a breakthrough in his struggle for the recognition...

16 Jul, 2011 | Ciaran Raymer

When I hear the word ‘’gringo’’, the first thing I think of is Mexico. However the word is used throughout spanish-speaking countries. In Spain, for example, it was first used to describe foreigners i...

16 Jul, 2011 | Camilla Swift

Taking time to learn about some of the characters and costumes of carnival leads to an understanding of the importance and sincerity of the homage that oruro - and other bolivian communities - pay to...

16 Jul, 2011 | Mads Ryle

INTERVIEW WITH FERNANDO CAJIAS Dr. Fernando Cajias de la Vega is former Culture Minister for Bolivia, currently Professor of History and Deacon of Humanities and Education Sciences at San Andres...

15 Jul, 2011 | Emma Hall

Browsing the countless pirate DVD shops, stalls and recycled tarpaulin mats in La Paz, it would be easy to assume that such a thing as a Bolivian film industry does not exist, and that the Bolivian po...

14 Jul, 2011 | Jack Brooker

Four Bolivianos can go a long way in La Paz. An avocado, a DVD, or even as, I have been reliably informed, a new white board pen can be bought for the equivalent of around 40 English pence. However, p...

14 Jul, 2011 | Joseph Art

A country becomes what it is today because of its people. All countries are built by men and women who struggled for and believed in their land. Bolivia is no exception. In school we are taught about...

27 Aug, 2010 | Andrew Cummings

‘Chicken’, noun: as well as referring to the animal, the word can colloquially mean ‘cowardly’, alluding to a certain deficiency in one’s virility. But Evo Morales seems to believe that the link betwe...

27 Aug, 2010 | Deborah Bender

The lustrabotas are the young boys who offer to shine your shoes on the streets of La Paz. You will also find them running to your side with their shoeshine kit if you chance to sit on a bench in one...

22 Jul, 2010 | George Dallas

“We are tall, white, and speak English,” were the infamous words of Gabriela Oviedo (the then Miss Bolivia) in 2004 when trying to dispel a purported stereotype about Bolivian people. The number of wh...

22 Jul, 2010 | Camille Reltien

“¿Rendirme yo? ¡Que se rinda su abuela, carajo!” According to the story, these were the dying words of Eduardo Avaroa Hidalgo at the battle of Topater on the 23rd of March 1879. On this day, Bolivia l...