Light at the End of the Tunnel

Thank you to all of you who have been concerned about my safety, for your emails and prayers. I am pleased to say things appear to be getting better in Bolivia now. Yesterday, Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera met with the governor of Tarija, Mario Cossio for 7 hours, and the second meeting in three days to discuss a solution. Mario represents the group CONALDE (National Democratic Council) which is the group of people supporting the autonomy movement in the east. Apparently the meeting went very well, so well that both sides feel confident an agreement can be reached, possibly as soon as tonight when President Evo Morales returns from an emergency summit in Santiago, Chile to discuss the crisis with other S. American leaders. As a gesture of good will, the roadblocks in the Santa Cruz region have been lifted.

I just read a very good summary of how the whole crisis started, some of its earliest beginnings took place in 2000 before I ever set foot on Bolivian soil. It also explains the suspicions of Morales over US Ambassador Philip Goldberg and why he ordered him to leave. There is still a ways to go in resolving the situation completely, but things are definitely more optimistic and these talks could lay the groundwork for a more stable Bolivia.

Trinidad has remained calm and peaceful throughout this whole crisis, the only things we have been affected by are the roadblocks which have prevented food and gas shipments from arriving. Apart from that, life is normal here.