Showing posts with label landlocked. Show all posts
Showing posts with label landlocked. Show all posts

March 23 – Day of the Sea in Bolivia

Posted on March 23, 2019


When you hear that a nation celebrates "Day of the Sea," I bet you picture people going to the beach or the rocky seashore for activities based around the ocean.

"Mar Para Bolivia" means
"Sea / ocean for Bolivia."
But...Bolivia doesn't have contact with any sea or ocean! It's landlocked. No beaches, no coast, no seashores.

So why does this nation celebrate a Day of the Sea?

Well...BECAUSE it's landlocked!

You see, Bolivia used to have access to the Pacific Ocean, but it lost its coast and became landlocked as a result of the 1879-1883 War of the Pacific with Chile. Every year it celebrates a Week of the Sea, during which officials again state their claims for ocean access. Semana del Mar ends on March 23 with a special ceremony dedicated to Eduardo Abaroa, Bolivia's hero in the war. (That's a statue of Abaroa in the photo at the top of the page.)

Before, above: Chile, in dark green, eventually took over the narrow coastal
strip belonging to Peru (orange) as well as the bit of ocean access belonging
to Bolivia (yellow).

After, below: In 1883, the familiar borders we see today were adopted.





What does Bolivia restating its claims to oceanfront property look like?

Parades...



And protests...


Notice that the Bolivians above are not only holding up a "Ocean for
Bolivia" sign, they're also holding up little pictures of ocean...

The Bolivians below are holding up a long, long, looooong
blue banner to represent the ocean that they feel should be
accessible to them.


By the way, the chunk of coast that Bolivia lost was part of the famous Atacama Desert. I should say "famous and gorgeous" - just check it out!







The statue "The Hand of the Desert" (above) rises 36 feet
out of the sand of the Atacama Desert - in what is now
Chile. It was sculpted by the same artist that sculpted
"The Hand" (below) on the other side of the South
American continent, in the sands of Uruguay.



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September 29 – Boquerón Battle Day in Paraguay

Posted on September 29, 2018
This holiday is also called Victory at Boquerón, so you know why Paraguay celebrates the day rather than some other nation.

Okay, so if Paraguay was the victor in some long-ago Battle of Boquerón, who was the loser? It turned out that the guys who lost this battle, which lasted most of the month of September in 1932, was Bolivia. The battle was over a chunk of land called Chaco Boreal - and it seems that one reason that that land was so important was that it was thought to have rich oil deposits.

Turns out that no oil has ever been found!

The reasons for the Chaco War were more complicated than just oil, of course. Paraguay had been the owner of the land since its independence, but Bolivians had been pushing the native people out and settling it...Which sounds horrible, but Bolivia needed access to the Paraguay River, because the nation had become landlocked (with no access to any ocean) after it lost its Pacific Coast to Chile in another war! 

The Chaco War ended with a compromise - Paraguay got most of the disputed land, but Bolivia got a corridor to the Paraguay River and the rights to build a port there.

So...the land has no oil. How is Paraguay using the land that people fought and died for?

The truth is, much of the land remains undeveloped. There is a problem in that there isn't much drinkable water in some parts. Also, much of the area lacks roads and other infrastructure (electricity, perhaps?) to start modern crop farms or ranches.


Both Bolivia and Paraguay are landlocked. They are the #1 and 3 poorest nations in South America, and although Bolivia has a much higher percentage of indios or full-blooded Native Americans than Paraguay does, Paraguary has the highest percentage of mestizo or mixed-Native-American-and-European-American folks in all of Latin America! These neighboring nations have a lot in common and I hope will continue to concentrate on working together more than battling one another!

Here are some nice photos of pretty Paraguayan landscapes:



Also on this date:
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December 8 – Constitution Day in Uzbekistan

Posted on December 8, 2017


On this date in 1992, Uzbekistan adopted its constitution.

Even though it's been almost three decades since Uzbekistan declared independence from the U.S.S.R., the nation is only on its second president. That's because the country's first president - who was ruling the Soviet republic that existed before independence - ruled from 1989 until his death last year. There were a lot of reports of human rights abuses and electoral shenanigans under that president, and freedom of the press was very shaky.

Dare we hope that things are getting better?

Actually, things DO seem to be getting better!

Uzbekistan's second president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, has already ended some of the bad policies from his predecessor. For example, Mirziyoyev abolished cotton slavery - citizens being forced to leave their homes and regular jobs to pick cotton, in dangerous working conditions. He also abolished exit visas - citizens having to ask their nation permission to leave for even short vacations or visits. He also released a lot of political prisoners - people who were in prison just for disagreeing with the president or the government.

Keep on with the good work, Mr. Mirziyoyev! Go, Uzbekistan!

Check out these wonderful sights in Uzbekistan:

As usual, water is a welcome sight - even (or especially?) in a doubly landlocked nation!



There is amazing architecture, especially in Muslim holy places. 



There are also ancient ruins, including Buddhist stupas. And I love me an olden-days walled city!


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