The Bolivian People 81The alarm over the Kolla–Camba split may be exaggerated.
With impenetrable geography and poor road and rail
connections, the relative isolation of Bolivian regions should
have generated a far greater degree of regionalism.
At a Bolivian party or festival, people will be dancing to
both tropical and highland music, no matter where they are
from. Occasional success of the Bolivian national football
team in world competition has also unifi ed lowland Benianos
or Cruceños with highland Paceños.
Bolivian tour companies do pioneering work in linking the
diverse parts of the country. Many Bolivian non-government
organisations have active outreach programmes that know
no regional boundaries.
Having lost a plot of seacoast to Chile in 1880 and a large
slice of the Chaco region to Paraguay in the 1930s, and
other sections to Brazil during different periods, Bolivians
are keenly aware today of protecting their most remote
regions, which is in the interest of both Kollas and Cambas.
I perceive that there is less of a cultural gap between Cambas
and Kollas than that which separates African-Americans in
South Central Los Angeles from white West LA and Chicano
East LA in the single California city.
During the great road blockades led by indigenous highlanders
in recent years, reactive calls for Camba autonomy have been
led, in part, by the region’s agro-industrialists and fomented
by the perception that such a large percentage of so-called
natural resources are found in the lowlands (see Chapter
Nine, Working in Bolivia, page 240).
Both Sides of the Divide
Two images are symbolic of the divide. A group of bikini-attired
Camba models called Las Magnifi cas were referred to as bimbos by
some highlanders. Meanwhile, a Camba congressman made racist
remarks in congress against the highlanders.In the end, some Bolivian intellectuals believe that Camba
calls for autonomy are a smokescreen that serves to protect