Imagine that one morning you have to wake up in the middle of bombs, explosions and gunshots. You, like the majority of the population, have no choice but to escape to preserve your life. Taking a few supplies, he embarks on a journey through several countries. When it seems that you are far from danger, you have the misfortune to meet a couple of immigration bureaucrats who, without your having the slightest knowledge of the reasons, put you back on the plane, because it turns out that these two agents are allies of the character who invaded their nation. A similar journey befell the Ukrainian couple seeking refuge in Bolivia.
However, although it may seem strange to you, millions of Bolivians receive the same treatment when they have to carry out procedures at state offices. That’s right, kind reader, the citizens of this country also get mopped on the floor. It happens that mistreating people is the best strategy that bureaucrats have to collect bribes.
In this regard, the International Transparency organization, in its Corruption Perception Index (IPC), shows that in the last 10 years Bolivia has dropped its score from 34, in 2012, to 30, in 2021. Data that places us in the range of the most corrupt and authoritarian countries in the region.
Entrepreneurs are not doing any better either. In Bolivia there are 42 procedures to pay taxes that require 1025 hours per year. In addition, the tax burden reaches 83.7% (the fourth highest in the world). The nickname of fiscal hell is out of place for the country.
However, the attacks against private initiative are not only reduced to tax terrorism, but also to the subjugation of lands -especially in the department of Santa Cruz- committed by shock groups related to the government. And it is that the conflict over land in eastern Bolivia seeks to change the population majorities in rural areas to ensure control of the provinces and municipalities of the main region that opposes the current national government. Note the irony: in Bolivia, ordinary citizens have to protect themselves from government abuses.
In November 2015, the Bloomberg ranking described the Bolivian health system as the worst in South America and one of the worst in the world. To reach these conclusions, he created a system of scores that measure the health and health challenges that each country has, as well as the health risks to which the inhabitants of the nations are exposed. Among the main causes of death in Bolivia are acute respiratory infections, intestinal infections -which generally occur during the first years of life- and cancer.
In February 2021, UNESCO published the results of a study it had carried out in Bolivia in 2017. Some 12,000 students from the nine departments participated in the exams (which were endorsed by the ministry of education). The worst performance obtained by Bolivia (position 14 of 16 nations) occurs in the cases of reading and natural sciences for sixth grade. Bolivian students obtained less than three points out of four. On the other hand, a slightly better performance is given in mathematics. Third graders rank 12th out of the 16 countries participating in the study. As expected, the government did not make the investigation public. Since he throws his narrative on the ground regarding the achievements in management of Evo Morales.
Likewise, the freedoms of the press and expression are salutes to the flag. The Freedom House organization, in an investigation entitled: Freedom of the Press 2017, described the Bolivian press as partially free. Especially because of the attacks on the media by the government and its “social movements” (in reality, they are thugs financed by the ruling party).
With the desire to control what is reported, the Bolivian State turned all repressive engineering against the media. The methods include public verbal attacks, arbitrary arrests, smear campaigns, threats and, as in the case of Las Londras in Bolivian Chiquitania, kidnapping of journalists.
Bolivia is a homeland imprisoned by union groups – the teachers, among them -, prebendary businessmen, abusive bureaucrats, drug cartels and, especially, a false opposition. Poor country!
“The opinions published here are the sole responsibility of their author.”
