The Social Setting 99with independent operators of child shelters attempting to
cope with the shameful situation.
Poverty and misery are never tolerable, but in Bolivia, there
is a certain dignity among the poor, especially the rural poor.
Former Vice-president Cárdenas mentions that “Yes, Bolivia
is a poor country, but no one here dies of hunger.”
As a foreigner, I have found one qualitative difference
between Bolivia and some other impoverished lands. Poverty
does not breed stoic resignation, for the downtrodden here
are quite sophisticated in methods of organising to defend
their rights. They can paralyse the country with roadblocks,
topple presidents with hunger strikes, and reach a situation
in which they become an ad hoc co-gobierno.
Furthermore, poverty in Bolivia, or any other developing
country, has much to do with the world economic order. How
can Britain, France or the United States offer an ethical escape
from the reality of poorer nations when the economies of the
developed world continue to derive much benefi t from raw
materials, cheap labour and a trade imbalance in relation to
the Bolivias of the world?
Curiously, Bolivia has a relatively low index of antisocial
Social dissent is most commonly expressed without violence in Bolivia. The
hunger strike, such as this one, in its ninth day, is one of the more common
forms of protest.