La Paz Bolivia crippled by transportation strike

Drivers of public transport in Bolivia harshly punished visitors and residents of La Paz, a city that has been virtually besieged yesterday and today by the closure of streets and avenues with buses and minibuses. Drivers have called this 48-hour strike to protest against the new Municipal Urban Transport Act, which regulates the sector.

The strike has forced thousands of people to walk miles to meet their daily activities. Most affected were the inhabitants of El Alto, a dormitory town 14 kilometers from downtown La Paz. It is estimated that more than half a million merchants, government officials and students ‘low’ daily to the center of the government headquarters, located in a hollow and surrounded by steep slopes.

One such person is Wilma Perez journalist for the daily La Razon. His house and the newspaper are about 20 to 25 miles away in a straight line: in the city of El Alto and in the extreme southeast of La Paz. “I’m going to walk. I must have walked seven miles and so far after doing some interviews, I’ll go down to the writing, “he says by telephone. Read Article