Juan Karita / AP
Medical students run from tear gas fired by police as they protest in solidarity with striking public doctors in La Paz, Bolivia on April 24. Public doctors are on their 28th day of an indefinite national strike in response to a decree by President Evo Morales that extends professional working hours from six to eight hours per day.
Juan Karita / AP
A miner shouts slogans against the government of Bolivia's President Evo Morales during a protest in La Paz, Bolivia on April 11. The protest was called by the Bolivian Workers Central (COB) union to demand wage increases.
Juan Karita / AP
An overhead view of workers marching during a protest against the government of Bolivia's President Evo Morales in La Paz, Bolivia on April 11.
David Mercado / Reuters
A miner and member of the Bolivian Workers Union (COB) covers his head as a dynamite stick explodes during a demonstration on April 11 in La Paz, Bolivia.
Martin Alipaz / EPA
Soldiers participate in an operation to eradicate coca at the Chimore locality, Bolivia, March 30, 2012. Governments from Bolivia, Brazil and United States have implemented a new system to verify eradications of illegal cultivations in the El Chapare region.
Photos by David Mercado / Reuters
Physically disabled people clash with riot police in La Paz, Bolivia on Feb. 23, 2012. Hundreds of physically disabled people arrived in La Paz on Thursday after completing a protest march of 994 miles to demand that Bolivia's government offer support in the form of $434 payment to each physically disabled Bolivian, according to local media.
A physically disabled man tries to block a police vehicle during clashes with riot police in the center of La Paz on Thursday.
A wheelchair-bound woman is helped after being affected by tear gas during clashes with riot police.
Daniel Alarcon/Wildlife Conservation Society
Miguel Llanos writes:
It’s not often that jaguars in the wild are captured on camera, and less so a mom with her cubs. But this photo shows exactly that and the Wildlife Conservation Society, which released it, says it’s a sign that efforts to protect the endangered species in Bolivia are working.
“The adult jaguar, nicknamed Kaaiyana, has been seen with her cubs in the area for over a month; though WCS conservationists have confirmed she has been a resident in the vicinity for at least six years,” the group said in a statement.
The family was seen along a gas pipeline corridor that crosses Bolivia’s Kaa Iya National Park. An estimated 1,000 jaguars live in the Bolivia-Paraguay border region.
“Kaaiyana’s tolerance of observers is a testimony to the absence of hunters in this area, and her success as a mother means there is plenty of food for her and her cubs to eat,” said WCS jaguar expert John Polisar.
WCS said it helps fund projects to mitigate the pipeline’s environmental impacts. Those projects include training park guards against illegal hunting and squatters.
“The photographic histories of jaguars in the area by WCS and the reproductive success of this female are testimony that conservation efforts have been effective,” said Julie Kunen, WCS director of Latin America and Caribbean Programs.
Jaguars originally ranged from the U.S. Southwest to southern Argentina but deforestation has reduced their habitat, and their stronghold now is in forests of Bolivia, Paraguay and Brazil. Experts are not able to estimate the overall population because of jaguars’ reclusiveness.
Related: Wildlife Conservation Society website.
David Mercado / Reuters
A Bolivian woman holds skulls as she attends a Catholic mass during the Day of Skulls at the General Cemetery in La Paz on Nov. 8, 2011.
I am always fascinated by how indigenous beliefs and customs merged with Catholic traditions once the Spanish arrived in South America. In Bolivia, this has resulted in the celebration of "Dia de los Natitas," or day of the skulls, when indigenous Catholic Bolivians honor their skull. They believe the skulls, which are usually kept inside homes and given names, offer them protection and fortune throughout the year. On this day, the skulls are dressed up, taken to the cemetery and celebrated so that they will continue to provide protection in the coming year. According to the BBC, the skulls do not necessarily belong to relatives or loved-ones, and their names do not correspond to that of the original person's.
For more images from similar celebrations see our tag stream on the Day of the Dead.
David Mercado / Reuters
The skull of a woman called Arminda is displayed during the Day of Skulls at the General Cemetery in La Paz on Nov. 8, 2011. Bolivians head to the cemetery chapel once a year to have the craniums of their relatives blessed and to bring themselves good luck in the future.
Dolores Ochoa / AP
Protesters hold flags of the indigenous movement as they walk at La Cumbre, Bolivia, as they advance toward the country's capital Tuesday, Oct. 18. Indigenous and environmentalist groups, began an estimated 242-mile march from Trinidad to La Paz on Aug. 15 to protest a government planned highway that would cut through the Isiboro-Secure Indigenous Territory National Park, home to 15,000 indigenous people. After a police crackdown on marchers on Sept. 25, Morales announced the suspension of the highway, saying he will let voters in the affected region decide its fate.
AP reports:
Most Bolivian voters cast spoiled ballots in an election Sunday to choose national judges, according to unofficial polling results, handing a rebuke to President Evo Morales in a vote that had been seen as a test for the leftist leader.
Morales' traditional base of Indian support appeared to hand him a setback, angered by his plans to build a $420 million highway through the Amazon and a subsequent police crackdown on protesters opposed to the road's construction.
Previous PhotoBlog post: Bolivian Indians march against highway as lawmakers agree to postponement
Aizar Raldes / AFP - Getty Images
Aymara farmers, miners and unionists march in support of the government of President Evo Morales, in La Paz, on October 12. Bolivian lawmakers agreed Tuesday to postpone plans to build a highway through an Amazon nature preserve after months-long mass protests from indigenous people.
AP reports:
LA PAZ, Bolivia - Hundreds of indigenous activists opposed to plans to build a highway through an Amazon reserve resumed their march to the capital on Saturday, a week after a violent police crackdown.
The march against the Brazil-funded highway through the Isiboro-Secure Indigenous Territory National Park in the eastern state of Beni began on Aug. 15. But it was halted Sept. 25 by police using clubs and tear gas in an operation that left dozens injured and led to the resignation of the defense and interior ministers.
David Mercado / Reuters
Rescue workers climb down a cliff after rescuing the occupants of a taxi that got stuck in a crevice in La Paz, Bolivia, Sept. 12. The taxi driver lost control of the vehicle and drove off the main highway connecting La Paz with El Alto. Three people died in the accident while another three survived, police said.
It's hard to believe the rescue workers could get anybody out of this situation.
Gaston Brito / Reuters
Aymara people attend the sunrise of the winter solstice ceremony in La Apacheta, El Alto in the outskirts of La Paz, Bolivia on June 21. The solstice also coincides with the Aymara Indian New Year.
David Mercado / Reuters
Bolivia's President Evo Morales (center) celebrates the sunrise during a winter solstice ceremony in Tiwanaku , about 45 miles from the capital, La Paz, on June 21.
With June 21 marking the Summer Solstice for us here in the US, I saw these photos come through and realized that we're not all on the same schedule -- it's the start of winter for Bolivia.
Interesting facts from Wikipedia:
David Mercado / Reuters
A Bolivian mine worker with a stick of dynamite on his helmet attends a protest rally in La Paz, Bolivia April 6. Thousands of Bolivian miners marched through La Paz on Wednesday to protest against President Evo Morales' government because they believe that a ten percent rise in their wages is insufficient.
Gaston Brito / Reuters
A Bolivian mine worker throws sticks of dynamite during a protest rally in La Paz.
David Mercado / Reuters
Bolivian mine workers cover their ears from the noise from dynamite explosions during a protest rally in La Paz.
David Mercado / Reuters
An ice cream cart is seen during a protest rally in La Paz.
Jorge Bernal / AFP - Getty Images
A miner hurls a stone at a riot police van during a protest called by Bolivia's Workers Central (COB) in demand of a salary rise superior to the 10 percent announced by the government of Bolivian President Evo Morales for the Armed Forces,
David Mercado / Reuters
People walk on a destroyed road after a landslide in the Kupini and Valle de las Flores districts in La Paz, Bolivia, on Monday, Feb. 28. Heavy rains triggered landslides in the area on Sunday, leaving two people dead, dozens injured and destroying hundreds of houses.
AP reports residents began evacuating late Saturday when a hill, saturated after prolonged rains, began sliding and cracks appeared in streets and homes around La Paz.
"My neighbors were running around and told me to get out," said Maria Elena Siles, the mother of three adolescent children. "I looked out the window and there were no more homes to the left or the right of mine."
Siles was able to flee before the hill collapsed entirely early Sunday.
By day, amid a persistent drizzle, some residents scrambled over the unstable terrain to try to rescue furniture and other possessions from the muck.
Read the rest of the story here.
Aizar Raldes / AFP - Getty Images
Residents began evacuating late Saturday when the hill, saturated after prolonged rains, began sliding and cracks appeared in streets and home.
David Mercado / Reuters
A view of cementery after a landslide in the Kupini and Valle de las Flores districts in La Paz February 28.
Aizar Raldes / AFP - Getty Images
A firefighter recovers belongings in the southern Valle de Las Flores area, in La Paz, on February 28.
Aizar Raldes / AFP - Getty Images
General view of the southern Valle de Las Flores area, in La Paz, on February 28. following landslides caused by heavy rains affecting the region. Over 4.000 people were evacuated and some 400 houses have been devastated by the landslides in the "biggest disaster" in the Bolivian capital according to authorities.
See more of the latest weather images from around the world here.
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