10.03.08 A humbling experience

Susi’s birthday and I was a hopeless boyfriend: no card, no presents. Pathetic. She was wonderfully sympathetic, which was a relief. While I knew what I wanted to buy, I’ve been hamstrung by illness, not knowing where to get them, or what they’re called. Infuriating. In the end, I managed to acquire a card (technically, a postcard), some flowers (a huge, beautiful array) and a plastic jug to put them in. Not a complete success, but I did take her out for dinner as well. While this was not all I had planned, it still felt like an achievement and she was a happy lady. I am a very lucky chap.

I went to interview Juan Mauricio Choque Apaza. It was very different experience to last week: he was now in his 14th day of hunger strike and weak, his room was stripped of all its anti-Morales posters and bright flags, and he was completely on his own. A few days earlier, there had been five hunger strikers, when government officials arrived with the police. They knew to expect trouble and ran, leaving their visitors to take everything they could steal. Juan Mauricio Choque Apaza was told they were going to kill him, but he escaped. Despite the intimidation, he has vowed to carry on for another couple of days. Lying there now he looks incredibly vulnerable, he’s utterly defenceless. His bravery is in the name of democracy and it struck me how we in the UK treat our liberties with such disregard.