UPDATE BELOW
Let’s see...Bolivia has been crisis free for what? Like six months? So I guess it seems we were due. Yesterday morning...the day after Christmas, keep in mind...our President announced that the government would be eliminating the fuel subsidy it’s been paying since, well...basically forever. When would they be doing away with the subsidy, you ask?
Monday morning.
That would be today. As of this morning gasoline and diesel prices doubled. We went from paying around 70 cents Canadian a litre to paying $1.40. In one night. Imagine what would happen in Canada if gas went from say 90 cents a litre to $1.80 overnight. And that’s in a country with a stable, relatively strong economy.
Evo (our President) had a whole list of reasons why he was doing this. Some were reasonable...as he said, every year the government is paying more and more for these subsidies. That I can understand. Other reasons on the list were less sound. He figures this will help curb drug trafficking because the traffickers will have to pay more to transport their drugs. ‘Cause you know...drug traffickers can’t afford to pay higher transportation costs.
At any rate, the issue is that he decided to do this with a day’s notice. Most of the buses in the city didn’t run today in protest. The buses that did run had already doubled their fares. Taxis had almost tripled what they normally ask. In a city that relies almost completely on public transportation for people to get to work, manufacturing and retail pretty much ground to a halt. The news was reporting that people were waiting two or three hours to try and get a bus.
It’s hard to imagine all of the repercussions this will have here. Everything from food production to manufacturing to transportation of goods will be affected. Everything we buy and eat is trucked in from outside the city, which means everything will become more expensive. A huge percentage of our population barely survives now...how will they be able to afford even higher prices. Not to mention living on a lower wage since bus fares will significantly cut into what money they’re able to bring home. How will small farmers survive if they’ll be paying double to bring their goods into market?
This could potentially throw Bolivia into turmoil. It’s always hard to know how things will turn out, but people are upset. I think right now everyone is still in shock, but as the reality of what’s happened sets in, it could become more intense. Governments in Bolivia have fallen for lesser reasons than this.
Certainly our ministry and others like El Jordan will be impacted. How will El Jordan’s students afford to travel to classes every day? I spoke with Corina this morning and I asked her what this will mean for them. She said that at this point she had no idea. She said that, "This will change everything."
For us here at the house, we already pay more for bus fare than we do for food. Our financial situation is difficult right now...what’s that going to look like if our transportation costs double? Not to mention all the other increases we can expect.
As you can imagine, this has many people upset and worried. I’ve been thinking and praying about this situation all morning (I’m dreading heading to the gas station). I’m confident that God will bring us through this...He hasn’t brought us this far to abandon us now...but obviously it’s a huge concern for us. This will no doubt mean more suffering for a nation that is already struggling.
Please pray for Bolivia today. Pray for our leadership, that they would have compassion and wisdom. Pray for the people, that they would respond with strength but in a calm and reasoned way. Pray for the ministries that at work here, not only that God will continue to provide, but that we would have wisdom in our decisions and in how we respond. It’s easy to feel like this is one more thing on a long list of frustrations. So please pray that we would remain faithful and be at peace, no matter what the future brings.
Thanks everyone! I’ll keep you updated...
UPDATE:
There was more on the news today about the fuel crisis. That's pretty much all they're talking about. Blocades (the old Bolivian protest standard) have gone up north of the city here in Santa Cruz, as well as in La Paz and a number of other cities. There was some fighting in a few of the highland cities, but nothing in Santa Cruz so far. Some buses were running today, but most were still on strike.
The blocade north of the city already has about 200 semi trucks lined up, and that number will continue to grow overnight. I'm sure other blocades will go up as well. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the coming days. President Evo seems pretty determined (he always is) but he's losing supporters fast. It's tough to be ideological when something's hitting you hard in the wallet. The blocade here is being organized by one of his staunchest supporters in the last election.
This could blow over. It's hard to say. Political issues in Bolivia are tough to call. It could also get bigger and bigger. We haven't had much in the way of political messes for awhile, so either the people will be tired of it all or they'll be rarin' for a fight. I'd probably put my money on the second one. But we'll see.
Thanks for praying everyone. I'll let you know what happens.
Monday morning.
That would be today. As of this morning gasoline and diesel prices doubled. We went from paying around 70 cents Canadian a litre to paying $1.40. In one night. Imagine what would happen in Canada if gas went from say 90 cents a litre to $1.80 overnight. And that’s in a country with a stable, relatively strong economy.
Evo (our President) had a whole list of reasons why he was doing this. Some were reasonable...as he said, every year the government is paying more and more for these subsidies. That I can understand. Other reasons on the list were less sound. He figures this will help curb drug trafficking because the traffickers will have to pay more to transport their drugs. ‘Cause you know...drug traffickers can’t afford to pay higher transportation costs.
At any rate, the issue is that he decided to do this with a day’s notice. Most of the buses in the city didn’t run today in protest. The buses that did run had already doubled their fares. Taxis had almost tripled what they normally ask. In a city that relies almost completely on public transportation for people to get to work, manufacturing and retail pretty much ground to a halt. The news was reporting that people were waiting two or three hours to try and get a bus.
It’s hard to imagine all of the repercussions this will have here. Everything from food production to manufacturing to transportation of goods will be affected. Everything we buy and eat is trucked in from outside the city, which means everything will become more expensive. A huge percentage of our population barely survives now...how will they be able to afford even higher prices. Not to mention living on a lower wage since bus fares will significantly cut into what money they’re able to bring home. How will small farmers survive if they’ll be paying double to bring their goods into market?
This could potentially throw Bolivia into turmoil. It’s always hard to know how things will turn out, but people are upset. I think right now everyone is still in shock, but as the reality of what’s happened sets in, it could become more intense. Governments in Bolivia have fallen for lesser reasons than this.
Certainly our ministry and others like El Jordan will be impacted. How will El Jordan’s students afford to travel to classes every day? I spoke with Corina this morning and I asked her what this will mean for them. She said that at this point she had no idea. She said that, "This will change everything."
For us here at the house, we already pay more for bus fare than we do for food. Our financial situation is difficult right now...what’s that going to look like if our transportation costs double? Not to mention all the other increases we can expect.
As you can imagine, this has many people upset and worried. I’ve been thinking and praying about this situation all morning (I’m dreading heading to the gas station). I’m confident that God will bring us through this...He hasn’t brought us this far to abandon us now...but obviously it’s a huge concern for us. This will no doubt mean more suffering for a nation that is already struggling.
Please pray for Bolivia today. Pray for our leadership, that they would have compassion and wisdom. Pray for the people, that they would respond with strength but in a calm and reasoned way. Pray for the ministries that at work here, not only that God will continue to provide, but that we would have wisdom in our decisions and in how we respond. It’s easy to feel like this is one more thing on a long list of frustrations. So please pray that we would remain faithful and be at peace, no matter what the future brings.
Thanks everyone! I’ll keep you updated...
UPDATE:
There was more on the news today about the fuel crisis. That's pretty much all they're talking about. Blocades (the old Bolivian protest standard) have gone up north of the city here in Santa Cruz, as well as in La Paz and a number of other cities. There was some fighting in a few of the highland cities, but nothing in Santa Cruz so far. Some buses were running today, but most were still on strike.
The blocade north of the city already has about 200 semi trucks lined up, and that number will continue to grow overnight. I'm sure other blocades will go up as well. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the coming days. President Evo seems pretty determined (he always is) but he's losing supporters fast. It's tough to be ideological when something's hitting you hard in the wallet. The blocade here is being organized by one of his staunchest supporters in the last election.
This could blow over. It's hard to say. Political issues in Bolivia are tough to call. It could also get bigger and bigger. We haven't had much in the way of political messes for awhile, so either the people will be tired of it all or they'll be rarin' for a fight. I'd probably put my money on the second one. But we'll see.
Thanks for praying everyone. I'll let you know what happens.
2 comments:
Well, we by no means can be compared to Bolivia but when we lived in the North this very same thing happened. One day gas was 90-some cents and the very next morning (of course the morning we had to gas up and leave for Saskatoon) it was $1.85. Up there is was all about supply and demand. I can't imagine how this will affect Bolivia in the long term. The repercussions could be devastating. I will pray hard about this. Thinking about you guys always!
I'm so sorry to hear this news Ken and how much it's going to impact the good work you're doing in Bolivia. We will definitely be praying for solutions and that this decision by the government is reduced. Stay faithful and positive, God will remain just!
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