Join the new world

Mind you, I’m just an observer in a country just trying to get back on the damn map. Most of the world could care less about Bolivia in and of itself, but there’s a few out there that roots for the underdog, that tires of superpowers puffing their chests and their alliances going back and forth at each other. The drama may be in North Korea or Singapore or Ireland or in a dozen other countries, just wanting to be a country again, just a single region in their pockets so they can function. It’s not the same game played by the big boys, they take their power and resources and population for granted.

You and me, we don’t take these things for granted, and I can assure you, no country struggling to merely exist can ever be so foolish.

Two of my dearest friends are contending for the presidency in Bolivia this coming election. One befriended my grandfather years ago and gave him his first big break in a new place, the other has swept me off my feet in recent weeks and made me believe the beleaguered nation has hope for the future. One is a mentor and the father of the country, the other is an enchanting young woman who is jumpstarting the Bolivian heart.



Under a different name, Camarada Ernesto pieced together the original Bolivian community in the summer of 2009, collecting concerned citizens from all over the world. In those crazy days, we witnessed THREE PTO groups come in for our first Congressional election, the AFK Party from various points in Eastern Europe winning the day and eventually seizing thousands in gold and currency from the treasury, mucking up the economy so bad that the country perhaps never fully recovered. By the end of that first term, Chile and Argentina attacked, and it was Ernesto’s guile that brought Brazil into battle on our behalf.

For as resourceful and shrewd a leader as he was, he was also despised around South America. His name was a four-letter word in the halls of the Alianza Hispano-Americana for things he said as a Congressman in Argentina. No doubt there’s still bitterness around the continent where he is concerned, and though I consider him one of my primary mentors, the truth is his very presence may be keeping Bolivia under heel.



Then there’s Princess Isabella. I am very fond of her. To me, she represents a new generation in Bolivia that has no memory of PTO’s and a ransacked treasury, but lives in the aftermath. She is a prolific writer, using her newspaper Diario Santa Cruz on a daily basis. She is active in IRC and will gladly talk to anyone, even a wayward vagabond like me. In a country often marred by lethargy and apathy (who can blame people for losing interest if all they’ve ever seen is devastation?), Isabella is active, approachable, and always in the media. Her star is on the rise, and South America knows it.

Don’t believe me? Think I’m writing this just because I have a crush on a girl with a pretty avatar? She’s wowed them in Venezuela as an ambassador, as their president, Rey David 67, has given her a thumbs-up. She was recently interviewed in the Venezuelan media by PauloCazacos, you can read the article at http://www.erepublik.com/en/newspaper/the-herald--291020/1.



A glimpse at tonight’s Bolivian media tells you part of the story. In all, there’s just four articles. Three are from Isabella, discussing her political party in one article (Programa TSP Solidario), her time in Venezuela in another (Hola eVenezuela!), and her presidential candidacy in the third (Vota Princess Isabella – por un mejor futuro). The other is Ernesto’s campaign announcement in his newspaper, Hygienical Paper. While Isabella writes plentifully and with pictures and enthusiasm, Ernesto is direct and forthright.

I adore Ernesto, and as I said, he gave my grandfather his first big break many years ago, but if Bolivia has any sort of dream of normality, it needs new, lively, energetic faces. They get that with Isabella. Where there is energy, there dwells the spirit of hope.

It’s the age-old argument: experience versus youth, game knowledge versus personality.

Ernesto had his run; he continues to have his run, as he is the incumbent. He represents the old Bolivia, for better or for worse. He is a battle-tested warrior who has fought tooth and nail to keep the country viable, and while one can question the results, no one can question his dedication. He’s accumulated so much baggage, though, that his neighbors may never be able to befriend Bolivia so long as he’s at the helm; they may not be as obvious in their contempt for him as in the past, but it still lingers, it may always linger. Because of that, the nation suffers, just as it has so often in the past, just as it may in the future.

Isabella is on the upswing, and if Bolivians are smart, they’ll get on board to get a little of that positive energy. She may end up being a flash in the pan, or she may be the shot of adrenaline the country desperately needs, but voters need to take a chance with her. With Ernesto, they’ll get competence, but there’s no reason to think things will change; with Isabella, there’s at least the hope for something better. In a country where items like enthusiasm and hope are in short supply, she’s worth the risk.