IN STEREO

That fight, that experience was a struggle for Potosínian dignity, in which we succeeded in that the government did not raise taxes so much. It was an exciting experience for me; it can never be erased. Thanks to that uprising – the strike, that struggle for our base – we accomplished our improvements. In the blockade, we used mostly logs [and] giant stones. It affects the government, economically most of all. Or, more than anything, I think it is a bad image. Because economically, maybe it has an effect in some parts, but I think we hurt poorer people more. But we give that annoyance, the bad image, that it is a very bad government, incapable in many situations, right? That is the meaning. The blockades may be a bad aspect, because a lot of people come from many countries to Potosí and have a plan.

[Then] it turns out that there is blockade, because nobody knows. Many times, dialogue breaks and the next day it’s there already. It causes problems for visitors, and you can imagine the rest: some robberies, maybe, often looting… There are people who really do not understand. [But] for me, the blockade looks bad for that government. I think the visitor thinks badly of them. It’s a sign of the government. In some way, it effects a bad image at the national level. Often there is no other option, because there are times everything is exhausted and there is no alternative than to make those decisions. And if this government isn’t working, maybe another will. That’s how it works: force. There is nothing else, that’s it. – Lorenzo