To Be A Policeman Is To Die

There have been protests by the police in Bolivia against Evo, the President, recently. Sandra was telling me about them and how they are protesting because they earn so little and they have no protection. She said, "to be a policeman is to die."

I have seen very few policemen while I have been in Bolivia. The main time, there were a few men standing in the median at a stop light. When the light was red, they went from car to car checking drivers licenses (drivers licenses are very expensive and so many people drive illegally). All of the officers were on foot. They did not even have radios. If something were to have gone wrong, they had no way to stop it or get additional help.

A few years ago we had a pig farm at the BLC. We had not yet built our perimeter wall and so we began to have problems with our pigs being stolen. We are within walking distance of downtown SipeSipe, but we discovered that their police department did not have a phone. We could not call to report a robbery. When someone broke into the barn, we had to leave our property, drive to the police station, hope that someone was there, and drive them back to our property.

The police have very little power, very little authority, and very little pay. Sandra also explained to me that there are some times when the police will take or request bribes. She said that this was not due to corruption but to their desperation to care for their families.