to move up and down
El Cupolog
Pan-american transmissions from the road to Tierra Del Fuego
Open Veins
Sorata, Bolivia - © Diego Cupolo 2012
Gottlieb
Sorata, Bolivia - © Diego Cupolo 2012
The Three Graces
Sorata, Bolivia - © Diego Cupolo 2012
Soldier Boy
Sorata, Bolivia - © Diego Cupolo 2012
Mountain Moto
Sorata, Bolivia - © Diego Cupolo 2012
Sorata
Sorata, Bolivia - © Diego Cupolo 2012
Valle Colorada
Sorata, Bolivia - © Diego Cupolo 2012
Valle Dorada
Sorata, Bolivia - © Diego Cupolo 2012
Sunset Sorata
Sorata, Bolivia - © Diego Cupolo 2012
Strike in Sorata
When we finally managed to escape La Paz, Ania and I went to Sorata, a small mountain village to the north, and found ourselves in the middle of another strike.
Every shop in town was closed. This time, people were rallying against a proposed night club in their village. They felt it would corrupt their children so they surrounded the town hall and demanded a town meeting with the mayor.
It worked. Regardless of the cause, it was good to see townspeople directly confronting their elected officials and expressing their views as a community. It almost looked like democracy or something.
Sorata, Bolivia - © Diego Cupolo 2012
48-Hour Road Blockade
Strikes and road blockades are almost a daily occurrence in La Paz. When people want change, they don’t set up tents in a park, they hold the city hostage.
That’s exactly what happened when Ania and I tried to leave the city - we couldn’t.
Taxi drivers and bus drivers parked their vehicles in streets throughout La Paz, forming massive road blockades, and pretty much stopped all forms of traffic and transportation for 48 hours. There was nothing we could do.
Some families went for milk shakes and enjoyed the impromptu holiday, but the milk ran out by the second day when delivery trucks failed to arrive.
The city’s public transportation drivers wanted to raise their fares, the government disagreed, and this is what happened. If any driver did not participate in the strike and was seen with customers in his car, the other drivers would throw rocks at the perpetrator, charge the car, pull him out of the window, and beat him senseless …
… which was especially bad because all the doctors in La Paz were also on strike at the time. The government wanted them to work 8 hours a day and they felt that was too much so they went outside and blocked roads with the bus drivers.
At least things were interesting.
La Paz, Bolivia - © Diego Cupolo 2012
Street Art in La Paz III
La Paz, Bolivia - © Diego Cupolo 2012
Street Art in La Paz II
La Paz, Bolivia - © Diego Cupolo 2012
Fancy Footwork
La Paz, Bolivia - © Diego Cupolo 2012
Mira-Flores
La Paz, Bolivia - © Diego Cupolo 2012
