Police Relations

    Police in Bolivia. A relationship and organization about which I am really curious to understand more. One of our first days here, as we walked through Plaza Murillo and the surrounding area,  we had to be strategic in our navigation because many roads were blocked off with large gates and manned by police officers at the doors. I originally saw the large number of police and assumed they were there to mitigate any ill-will and tension that might arise. When I was in France, another country where protests are an almost ubiquitous affair, I noticed that the police were always present at such protests. However, they were always dispatched in order to protect the people. They did not stop or intervene with the protests , but simply stood by to ensure the safety of those involved. So when I saw the police near the Plaza, I first assumed such. But then I was informed that they were blocking protestors from entering the square. This made me wonder at the relationship of the police force to citizens in La Paz and Bolivia as a whole. 

     With a history of military dictatorships and police brutality, I wonder at how the functions of the police have evolved. I do not know if Bolivia has a right guaranteeing the freedom to gather, but at least this act seems like an infringement on freedom of speech. When we visited the representative from the UNCI, he spoke on freedom of speech and how though it is legally guaranteed, it is often not as protected in practice. What measures is the MAS administration taking to ensure freedom of speech and other social inclusion? This also leads to a previous question I had proposed, is MAS more interested in protecting indigenous people’s rights and less on those of others, such as LGBT rights and women’s rights? Is he truly a proponent of social inclusion? And if he claims to be, what has he done statistically and politically in order to progress social inclusion?