Democracy or Dictatorship?

While I have enjoyed all of our afternoon excursions thus far, I never imagined my favorite would be the visit with the United Nation’s Development Program. Always interested in nonprofit work, I immediately feel in love with the role of the UNDP and their three pillars of peace, human rights, and development. As our visit went on and we began discussing the specific role of the UNDP within Bolivia; the “Romanticized” idea of going to a foreign land to aid in peace, the protection of human rights, and it’s overall democratic development suddenly vanished replaced by reality.

When considering the role of nongovernmental organizations such as UNDP, I have never thought of the constriction and hardships it might face in the opposition of a corrupt government. As of current, the UNDP is no longer needed by the Bolivian government, which I find to be quite frightening. How can we assure the Bolivian people that they have a voice? Answer: we can’t. 

The Bolivian government has money, and with money obviously comes power, but can this power be controlled? As of my one week in Bolivia, I believe the answer to that question is no. The power within the government of Bolivia cannot be controlled or even in a lesser sense monitored. For the future of Bolivia and its citizens this is what I define as a serious issue, one that we can only hope and pray will resolve with the next presidential election.