History Of Bolivia

Trouble began again in September 2003 when a group of tourists became trapped in the town of Sorata. After days of unfruitful negotiations, the Government of Bolivia security forces launched a rescue operation, but on the way out, were ambushed by armed peasants and a number of persons were killed on both sides. The incident ignited passions throughout highlands and united a loose coalition of protestors to pressure the Government of Bolivia into halting the proposed project to export liquefied natural gas, most likely through Chile. Anti-Chile sentiment and memories of three major cycles of non-renewable commodity exports (silver through the 19th century, guano and rubber later in that century and tin in the 20th century) touched a nerve with many citizens. Events slowly built as La Paz became trapped by the protester's blockades. Violent confrontations ensued, and most of the 60-80 deaths occurred when security forces tried to bring supplies into the surrounded city. In the end, many ... [Read More]

Bolivia Information Page

At the signing ceremony on December 4, 2001, Minister Gustavo Fernández Saavedra of Bolivia recalled that, "Some years ago, the Embassy of Bolivia in the United States carried out a demarche that was ultimately successful. The purpose of this effort was to regain possession of some textiles that originated in one of the oldest cultures of my country. We lacked the legal basis at that time to protect our cultural heritage. We do, however, have that legal basis now. And I want to express my appreciation to all the members of the Department of State who have worked to make that a reality." In her statement at the signing ceremony, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Charlotte L. Beers said, "Bolivia's heritage is integral to the heritage of all the Americ ... [Read More]

Bolivia Federal Register Notice, 2001

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background The value of cultural property, whether archaeological or ethnological in nature, is immeasurable. Such items often constitute the very essence of a society and convey important information concerning a people's origin, history, and traditional setting. The importance and popularity of such items regrettably makes them targets of theft, encourages clandestine looting of archaeological sites, and results in their illegal export and import. The U.S. shares in the international concern for the need to protect endangered cultural property. The appearance in the U.S. of stolen or illegally exported artifacts ... [Read More]

Bolivia Federal Register Notice, 1989

The U.S. joined international efforts and actively participated in deliberations resulting in the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (823 U.N.T.S. 231 (1972). U.S. acceptance of the 1970 UNESCO Convention was codified into U.S. law as the "Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act" (Pub. L. 97-446, 19 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.). The spirit of the Convention was enacted into law to promote U.S. leadership in achieving greater international cooperation towards preserving cultural treasures that are of importance not only to the nations whence they originate, but also to greater international understanding of mankind's common heritage. In 1983, the U.S. became the first major art importing country to implement the 1970 Convention.  ... [Read More]

Fulbright Gallery : The Artist and Her Fulbright Experience

I resided in Bolivia photographing from 1997-99, supported by a Fulbright Scholarship. I exhibited my photographic work with the help of the U.S. Embassy, the Goethe Institute, Ministry of Culture, and Union Latina. Five solo exhibitions were held: three in La Paz, one in Cochabamba, and Santa Cruz, I returned to the U.S., printed and exhibited my thesis exhibition and received my MFA degree in photography from Penn State University. More recently, I was one of three artists invited to represent Bolivia in Imagenes de las Americas an official exhibition for the Summit of the Americas 2001 Quebec City, Canada. ... [Read More]

Overview

Before the State Department reaches a decision, it considers the recommendation of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee. Appointed by the president, the committee consists of eleven private citizens who are expert in archaeology and anthropology; expert in the international sale of cultural property; and who represent the interests of museums and the general public. The State Department provides technical and administrative support to the committee. Implementation of Agreements ... [Read More]

2004–2005 Fulbright Awards – Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
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Bolivia

The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, problems remain in certain areas. Legal and institutional deficiencies prevented the full protection of citizens' rights. In April violent demonstrations and road blockages broke out in Cochabamba over a controversial municipal water project, and unrelated protests occurred across the country, leading to the deaths of protesters as well as members of the security forces; commerce was brought to a virtual halt. On April 8, President Banzer declared a state of siege, which Congress approved on April 13. The stage of siege ended on April 20. Nongovernmental human rights organizations criticized the state of siege and the killings, injuries, and preventive detentions that took place during it. Violent demonstrations and other confrontations due to an unrelated list of grievances against the Government also took place in September and October, and resulted in the deaths of up to 10 civilians, 4 security officials, ... [Read More]

US Dept of State

HTTP/1.1 200 OKDate: Thu, 14 Jul 2005 23:33:12 GMTAccept-Ranges: bytesETag: "82f3cb3d3516c51:363"Server: Microsoft-IIS/6.0Content-Length: 64949Content-Location: http://exchanges.state.gov/culprop/bl01fr01.txtContent-Type: text/plainLast-Modified: Sat, 19 Feb 2005 03:43:57 GMTClient-Date: Thu, 14 Jul 2005 23:22:22 GMTClient-Peer: 12.44.14.112:80Client-Response-Num: 1[Federal Register: December 7, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 236)][Rules and Regulations][Page 63490-63499]From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov][DOCID:fr07de01-3]=======================================================================-----------------------------------------------------------------------DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURYCustoms Service19 CFR PART 12[T.D. 01-86]RIN 1515-AC95Import Restrictions Imposed on Archaeological and EthnologicalMaterials From BoliviaAGENCY: Customs Service, Treasury.ACTION: Final rule.-----------------------------------------------------------------------SUMMARY: This ... [Read More]

Background Notes

These publications include facts about the land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, and foreign relations of independent states, some dependencies, and areas of special sovereignty.  The Notes are updated/revised by the Office of Electronic Information and Publications of the Bureau of Public Affairs as they are received from the Department's regional bureaus and are added to the database of the Department of State website you are now using. ... [Read More]