Fiery strikes

Image from Los Tiempos website

Today marks the first day of a 'paro de transporte', or transportation strike, in Cochabamba. The public transit drivers are lobbying for a price change in fares - from Bs.1.50 (US $0.21) to Bs. 2 (US $0.29) - and the general public is resisting. As seems to be custom here in Bolivia, if you want to be heard, a strike of some kind is in order. So, what does a paro entail? It means that none of the transit drivers will be offering service on their routes, and it could even mean that they block the roads and prevent other drivers (with private cars or motorcycles) from using the roads, as seen in the photo. It isn't necessarily violent, but they do mean business. Fares have not gone up for quite a while, and the transit drivers are citing the rising prices on other goods and services as the reason for making this the moment to raise the price of public transportation.

I work with poorer populations in the southern zone of the city, and I wonder how much this change could affect them. I mean, 50 bolivian cents probably doesn't sound like much, but when a person is only earning 25 bolivianos a day and trying to support a family, every cent counts. I can certainly understand why they are resisting the price hike.

It will be interesting to see how this all turns out. The latest report just came out that the strikers in the city's center are getting restless and starting to vandalize private property. I'm glad that I am far away from that action! In the meantime, I will definitely be getting some additional exercise as I'll be walking/biking to and from work until the paro lifts.