Monday (23rd March) was the Dia del Mar (Day of the Sea) or the Dia del Bar as my Spanish teacher called it. Now an annual military procession drawing on all the pomp and circumstance that Bolivia can muster, it commemorates the start of the War of the Pacific in 1879.
A seemingly endless army of uniformed teens in unseemly short skirts twirled batons. Troops wore the glorious uniforms from the day, complete with pink or baby-blue motifs. Magnificent horses were decked out in sparkly wrestling-style masks to match their regiments.
Huge crowds lined the streets around the Plaza Avaroa to congratulate the troops and enjoy the bouncy tunes of the military brass bands. They were regaled over the tannoy by triumphalist announcements of the honour and bravery of the fighting men.
Except that these men’s military forefathers had been ignominiously defeated and the sea had been lost. The consequences for Bolivia as a trading nation were catastrophic, leaving it simultaneously centrally located and yet isolated.
It is difficult to see the reasoning behind this camp and embarrassing event, except to remind Bolivians that they once had access to a coastline. The blame is laid at the door of the Chileans for having the temerity to beat Bolivia and the British for backing them (foreign support is still more likely to go to Chile).
Such grandiose recognition of failure will not win Bolivians anything back but only engender a feeling they were somehow cheated. The largely impotent navy is retained, working Lake Titicaca’s border with Peru and longing for choppier waters.
The Chileans have been leading them up the garden path ever since and continue to do so with fanciful negotiations about possible routes to the sea.
It may be that Bolivia’s more militarized neighbour is intimidated by the thought of being invaded by an army of baton-waving teenagers but I doubt it.
Perhaps the British army should hold similar events to celebrate its loss of India, the US and northern France.
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4 comments:
You fail to understand the War of the Pacific, this does not conmemorate the start, the start was in Feb 14, March 23 was the day Calama was defended by civilians, and Bolivia was cheated and still is by the chokehold chile has over imports/exports contraband, not to mention a miriad of other issues. You have live here 2 + years and can get a sense how most bolivian concience was shaped by this, I feel pity for you.
Anon: I owe you thanks. Firstly, for correcting my dates (sloppy, on my part). Secondly, for your pity (you’re too kind, really). Thirdly, for your clear Bolivian perspective.
Bolivia has had more than 100 years to accept that it was defeated in war and so lost its coastline. Instead of acknowledging this painful fact, as you say, Bolivians' conscience is shaped by feeling they were cheated. They weren't, they just lost.
This is precisely what makes the Dia del Mar such an embarrassing event.
I might have been too harsh on the pity part, but posts like these inflame me. Most Bolivian accept the fact that the war was lost, there have been many wars in wich Bolivia was involved, yet those dont inflame Bolivian sentiment, ask your self why is this? Not many wars in the world have left a scar that fails to heal to this day, because its consequences are still with us. I could write and rant pages about this, but if you want to learn read up on all version of the conflict and then write about it. Your jests and ironic comments on this subject, are not taken kindly.
Yes, Anon, but what exactly about is has driven an entire country to be in denial? Also, Bolivia is not the only land-locked country in the world, there are others, that despite not having access to a coast, have a thriving economies and are, for all intents and purposes, 'first world'. Furthermore, Bolivia was always a country rich in natural resources, that lost many things to other wars, (the rubber plantations for one) Why is that obsessive drive to blame not seen in other wars it has lost. Seems to me like, events such as the one mentioned by Stibb, serve only to detract why Bolivia still remaims so poor compared to the rest of Latin America, and how would having access to sea solve your economical problems? It is as though the sea has become a metaphorical, mythical saviour, that in reality, would still not transport you anywhere but the reality, and that is, that the people of Bolivia are hungry, and angry, not because of a war lost one hundred years ago, but because of an inneficient government,
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