IN STEREO

I have friends who tell me, “Now I have a job in the government, thanks to working for the MAS!” That’s why they start doing work for political groups. That’s why it’s very bad – some people don’t have the capacity to work there. [And] they don’t say, “I am going to work to help.” No, they are going there to try to steal or make more money. They told me that! For many people the contract is just for three or four months. Because in Bolivia, the law says when someone is working for a company for three months, that person has benefits like social insurance. They know that it’s unstable, [so] they have to try to steal as quickly as possible. That’s why nothing continues, or [even] starts. Corruption, it’s corruption. I hate the mayor because when he was campaigning, he said, “I’m going to work for Potosí because I am not part of this government – I’m campaigning by myself.” But once he won the election, he was listening to instructions from the government.

Money changes people. They find some [projects to work on] together, to make money. For example, two years ago, for our anniversary, the 10th of November, the government invested seven million bolivianos [~US$1 million] to repair the main square in the city. That was our ‘gift’ for our anniversary. Seven million for that? Now it’s the same case with the 6th of August [square] and the other square, Alonso de Ibáñez. Three years and it’s not finished. The same with the Cathedral. Last year, they brought a person to repair the clock. It was working for a few weeks, then not working again. We have a smelting factory, Karachipampa. Last year the government said, “We’re going to open Karachipampa again and Potosí is going to be a productive city.” They were working there two weeks, then they stopped again. That’s the problem in Potosí. When they start a new project like that, they don’t finish; they can’t finish. – Ronald