Yesterday I wrote about the troops being sent in at Viru Viru airport in Santa Cruz, today it seems that local protestors stormed the airport and retook control.

You would think that this would cause all sorts of problems for the airlines – apparently not. One plane was delayed but otherwise everything seems to be going normally again.

The reports don’t mention whether the local authorities are demanding cash payments again.

I’m sure that if this sort of thing had happened anywhere else (Europe, USA, …) then the airport would have been closed down for days to investigate, check security, make repairs or even out of protest. Airlines may have avoided it.

But in Bolivia things can get back to normal just as quick as they became unstable. The airlines keep on flying and it looks as if it’s business as usual. Perhaps the protestors realise that having the airport open is better than having no airport at all. After all, international flights only land at Santa Cruz or La Paz – and it’s La Paz that they are demonstrating against!

Links to other sites

Protesters storm Bolivia airport (BBC News)

Locals retake Bolivia airport from army (Yahoo!)

Manifestantes retoman aeropuerto boliviano; retorna la calma (El Paso Times)

Cruceños desbaratan intervención a AASANA y se abre investigación (Correro del Sur)

 

I’ve hardly started this blog, and already there are things going on in Bolivia to demonstrate the difficult situation that the country is in.

Viru Viru airport, situated in the low-lying town of Santa Cruz, apparently tried to force an American Airlines plane destined for Miami to pay for it’s landing rights on the spot rather than transferring the money to the federal agency as would normally be the case.

In the end, troops were sent in to break up a protest and flights are back to normal.

But imagine being a passenger or crew-member on that plane, with the locals demanding money to let it take off? Some years ago I was on that flight and although didn’t have any security concerns back then, it wasn’t the sort of airport to be able to hold back hundreds of protestors if they really wanted to get through.

At the end of the day, it seems to be down to Santa Cruz flexing it’s muscles in order to send a signal to the national government. Is this a step on the road towards the attained autonomy for the area?

Links to other sites
Bolivian troops ‘avoid clashes’ (BBC)

Troops, residents fight for control of Bolivia’s busiest airport (Yahoo!)

Bolivia: Soldiers Take Over Main Airport (New York Times)

Militares se repliegan de aeropuerto de Bolivia (El Paso Times)

Gobierno toma Viru Viru con las FFAA y enoja a Santa Cruz (Correo del Sur)