Happy 25th of May

Tomorrow Bolivia marks the start of its long quest for independence from Spain. The ¨First Shout of Liberty¨ in the Americas rang out right here in Sucre (still the official capital though La Paz ranks as de facto) on May 25, 1809. It´s a very big deal here and throughout the continent. You hadn´t heard of this? Apparently the Bolivian community in Washington has parades and festivals as well, for those of you DC-area blog readers looking for a Sunday activity.

Rest assured the expat festivities cannot match Sucre´s celebration. People here have grown quite emotional about it this year -- since we arrived, protests have intensified, and who knows what will happen tomorrow. At first, this May 25 was shaping up as one for the history books because it kicked off a year of bicentennial celebrations. Then, for what would probably be the first time in 200 years, it looked like the president would not come to Sucre for the events. Apparently last year´s celebration not go so well for the leftist Evo Morales, with angry words from the crowd, etc. And it was just as well, because many here did not want him to come. But now, it seems, he´s changed his mind. He´s coming, whether Sucre likes it or not. And many of those same people still do not.

So, stay tuned. If the drama stays to a minimum, we´ll be able to enjoy another very important event celebrating the city´s confectionery achievement: the chocolate festival. A miraculous accident of the calendar has squeezed all of these monumental undertakings into one week: in addition to the bicentennial May 25 and chocolate festival, we also have the Corpus Christi religious holiday, the human-rights film festival and after that, Sucre gears up to host the Bolivar games, an Olympic-like series of sporting events featuring several South American countries next year. We hope the Internet cafes stay open.