I lived in Bolivia for two years as a missionary back in the 70's and while I don't think the socialist programs of Evo Morales are as productive as the democratic ideal, they could not possibly be worse than the corrupt governments that have oppressed the people since independence.

Beautifull pictures of the most wonderfull country in the world!
The comment on #12 is wrong, though. The logo on the shield the young man is holding belongs to the Union Juvenil Cruceñista, a racist and fascist youth organisation of Santa Cruz. Its members are urban youth and not farmers. They are strong opposers of President Morales and are used by politicians from Santa Cruz to carry out dirty jobs like blockading and deblockading roads, fight and threaten supporters of Morales and the police, ...

Interesting choice of words in #27. "Ancient"?

awesome.

Fascinating. This is my favorite website in all the internet. Really!!

stunning pictures!!!

#9, 18, 25 are phenomenal

WOW how gorgeous.

Y love #25... it's so bizarre and beautiful at the same time. An all European sport played by a indigenous woman, with the Andes in the background.

How awesome is #25?

#19 is amazing with the bird in its flight.

Wonderful pictures once again, great work.

Awesome.... Amazing collection of photo-journalism.

Great picture of a beautiful place. The pictures tell this part of the story very well.
Favorites #27, #25,#22

The dove in #19 is spectacular

#21 and #25 caught me off-guard...did not see those pics coming.

Beautiful as always.

Typo in #17 "The the Bush administration ..."

Also agree with comment 16 - "ancient" isn't a good word to describe a person.

Nice pictures, bad choice on the referendum.

@Maarten and @Dr Radical, @dm, thanks for the heads-up, typos and errors fixed now.

I loved them all! Thanks...I would never get to see this part of the world without you all work! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

#25 is the best, but #20 and #2 are spectacular as well. Great overview of the exciting news in this country.

oh BP! you never cease to surprise me!
thank you thank you thank you

Democracy: two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner...

We can already put Bolivia on the list of next countries needing humanitarian aid..

#35 / AAA: You mean because they've been beaten into submission and dependence by American business interests for so long? Then it's about time we paid them back for all the harm we've done (and the thousands we've killed there).

I love those hats they all seem to wear down there. Wonder where that look got started, and why it's lasted so long?

25th is so nice!..

#25 - wow! a great symbol on equal rights.

Thank you so much for covering this important issue with such beautiful pictures, Alan--I've been following the progress towards the passage of this new constitution for some time, and have been very disappointed in the dearth of coverage in the mainstream American news. Here's hoping that the Obama administration takes a serious look at why such a poor country would rather expel all the agents of the US Drug Enforcement Agency than keep its preferred trade status with the US, and revise its foreign policy towards Latin American countries accordingly.

I don't know why but for some reason I love #23 the most. Maybe it's because the Bolivian politicians are wearing blue jeans and plaid shirts. It just makes them seem kinda...real.

It's too bad to see #17 in there. I'm no expert on Bolivia, but I have traveled there and I think the emphasis on coca growing is greatly over-emphasized in US media (I live in the US), simply because it provides a link to the drama of cocaine production. And from what I understand the suspension of trade benefits was the result of quite a lot of events, with what I would consider wrong-doings on both sides. There's no way the whole story can be told in a simple caption, and since it doesn't really have much bearing on the story, I would have left it out.
Just my opinion though. All the pictures are great.

So Impressive!!

I'm glad you feel it necessary to glorify class warfare. Unfortunately when these people are dirt poor(er) and unable to feed their families and push out all foreign investment and more so push out religion. Pathetic

You people that say that Bolivia is better off with the US out of Bolivia (see comments #36 and #9) obviously are the usual liberal democrats that speak without any facts and just hate the US. You obviously have never been to Bolivia because if you had you would see how much money the US sends there in food support and other aid yet the corrupt government would take the free food sent for the poor and sell it to the people and keep the money. Don't talk about something you know nothing about. Live there first, like I did. I love Bolivia and I truly love the Bolivian people, never known a more humble and loving people.

Don't know much about Bolivia, but through the photos it seem like a lovely place to visit. I like their traditional costume, they are so colorful. I will find out more about this country and pay more attention to it when I come across news about it.

Comment 44. "Glorify class warfare" Doesn't the will of the people expressed in the vote mean anything to you? I'm encouraged that the long age of crushing control by a tiny super wealthy elite seems to be coming to an end. I wonder if the US will ever get an Evo Morales.

#25 - I love this world, it's full of pleasant surprises. Vive Bolivia!

Great and impressive how Bolivian people are involved.

great thanks!

The pictures are wonderful - as always.
Thank you for bringing this news to us. The drug thing seems real but why not buy the product from them with an allotment program under their micro control (like the US used to keep peanuts viable for years). http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA107377

My favorite is number 24--the beauty of the mountains in the background is incredible--they appear so close you could touch them. With such beauty, who wouldn't be inspired!

#25 is just so.... prefect! Congrats to the photographer :)

Thank you for this wonderful insight on countries we sometimes tend to forget they exist ...

Grate work. I think US should be worried for their own people. Like providing health free for everyone, good education and peace. Leave south american countries alone. Your help is only for keeping the system on roads, not to helping poor people.

God bles Bolivia.

I am native from Bolivia and love all the pictures of "My People" ...Muchas Gracias!!!

I think that class warfare theories promoted by the Government of Bolivia, are a ruse to hide his political mismanagement, and remain in power... just like presindet Hugo Chavez in Venezuela

Great shot on #9! Gave me goosebumps!!! Nice job as always!

Oh, how I miss you Bolivia.

# 25 best picture this year all over. amazing!

If you do like #25, see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHQK1hBIdbo

# 25 is one of the rare, a woman from Bolivia try her best to learn Golf in paradise country. I am loving it..

#25 is cool and all, but #28 was the one that really caught my attention. I live in a developing country, and have visited with older village women, and it would be amazing to hear this woman's thoughts. Great pictures.

better Bolivia than Mars...

Bolivia is one of the most amazing countries I have ever visited and am so happy to see it come through some hard times....still a way to go but these pictures provoke some happy memories of such wonderful people.

#2 --> GTA V

Beautiful pictures. I thank to the photographers to show my country (I am Bolivian and live en La Paz). Although I am "middle class", I support my President Evo Morales and hope he will be as President for many, many years.

I was an exchange student in Bolivia for about 5 months. These pictures brought me back! Beautiful!

amazing country!
good luck Bolivia

Reminding the poor that they are deprived of the benefits of wealth is "warfare." Paying attention to their needs is "class warfare." ! And these photos make it impossible to ignore why these amazing perople have succeeded in getting true democracy whether it goes well or not for them. With Leon Panetta heading the CIA they have a chance, unlike Salvador Allend's supporters in Chile.

RE: #17; With the amount of money the US has spent on the "War on Drugs" over the years they could have bought up every coca plant and poppy field the world over. I don't see the point in cutting off trade because they don't want US agents harassing peasant farmers. Trade should be regulated so that illegal products are not transferred and domestic drug control and education should be what the US is focusing on.

La paz de Dios este con vosotros!

I've just added Bolivia to my list of " Places to visit before I die"

Thank you, Alan Taylor, for sharing this testimony to the dignity and beauty of the Bolivian people, not often seen in the US media. There is much that we in the US can learn from Bolivians in their struggle to achieve social justice through democratic means and hold their popular leaders accountable. Let's hope that President Obama gets the message - time to restore positive relations with Bolivia, including trade preferences, without political interference.

I´m Chilean, and I traveled 10 years ago through the Altiplano to La Paz.
Bolivia is absolutely an amazing country. I´m definitely going again. And please, USA, leave South America alone!

Love 20, 24 and 25. Great subject, wish we'd heard more in the medias.

The powers that be would hate democracy like ths taking place.The ordinary people exercising ther rights having been denied all these years.

I was in Bolivia in July 2007 for a meeting of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and felt a great fondness for the country and the people. this brings it back to me with the hope that promise is fulfilled.

Golf at 14,000 feet, rap music, and Atlanta Braves' supporters (pic 18). Talk about globalization!

Bolivia no necesita el dios de los blancos

Unfortunately, lovely though these photos are, they present a superficial understanding of prevalent issues. And I say this not ideologically, but as someone who has lived abroad in 4 different countries over the past 12 years, including 5 in Bolivia -- 2 in the highlands and 3 in the lowlands.
1. Where are the photos of blood? Were this a travel column, the photos make sense, but, in the presence of political commentary (and there is quite a bit of editiorial license taken above), showing the full story would make this more balanced. That includes opposition leaders with bloody heads, soldiers with WWI-era guns or the recent murder of a courier paying off a very very high-ranking government executive at a family home.
2. About the lowlands, their calls for autonomy (decentralization less seen in Spain and much less than US- or Mexican-style federalism) are largely to shield themselves from what they see as an attack on their way of life and protect the status quo that admittedly favours them. But these calls go back 40 years, pre-dating the currently governing party. And, to balance the pictures above, the largest demonstration in Bolivia's history was for autonomy and against Morales, completely eclipsing the marches in the above photos. Your pictures include nothing on this matter though -- or show anything much of anything outside La Paz state at all -- suggesting you may have only travelid to the highlands.
3. President Morales may have started out with high ideals in his mind, but his constitution does promote vengeance -- punishing those living for the sins of their ancestors -- an idea that Nelson Mandela rejected because of the future ire it would undoubtedly breed.
4. Were you a Bolivian journalist, you wolud likely not be allowed to publish this report so frelely. The new constitution limits those ideals that many in the world take for granted, including feedom of expression, liberty of the press and the right to assemble. Government spokesman maintain they are not technically prohibited, but those of us who know the President and Vice President and opposition leaders are more skeptical. And the fact that speeches against the government are considered criminal offenses now does call into question those spokesmen's honesty. The governing party has limited freedoms at every chance since taking power in early 2006 and gone back on every single political deal it has made since even before it was in power. Bolivia's VP is the Dick Cheney figure down there, always trying to get around the constitution, despite what he might say in interviews.
5. It's easy in pictures to romanticize peasantry, but please remember that not everyone eats every day. Not everyone know when they might next work. The myth of the happy peasant is just that -- a myth! Given the chance, most people prefer good education, reliable infrastructure and access to food. Cultural and historical norms don't change that. To address an earlier comment, those hats are still in style because changing fashions to too expensive for most people to even consider.
I apologize if I have put a damper on the comments, but it seemed important to remind people that, though a beautiful country, Bolivia is considered high-risk and Embassies discourage travel there for a reason.

Terrific photos Alex!

excelet photographsOf thpoor est of bOLIivia,thEre is ALSO A MIDDLE CLASSOF Eurpean originn thaworks and createst manny good thingsfor a modern Bolivia, including eocracy ad ductioad,orever, liberated thepeasats from a id ofacesral slvery kow as "pogueaje'.thags t a atial revolutio of te fifties,Ufortuately, your photos do't show the multiracial,pluriculturalsciety that really is Bolivia.

Beatiful photos, thank you, Bolivia is an amazing country constructing a new development model

80. Beautiful pictures. I visited Bogota, Colombia a couple of years ago. Much like Boliva with beautiful scenery. Thanks, Gerry

Wonderful photographs that really capture the inner strength and spirit of the Bolivia people. Having been in Bolivia as part of a delegation from Unite the Union at the height of the referendum in August and visited some of the places shown in the photographs, they brought back many happy memories.The flag (No 1) was everywhere and how I remember the view of La Paz from that spot (no's 2 & 3) in El Alto - I remember how breathless I was also! The group made the same salute (no 23) when they sat in those government seats as a sign of solidarity for the Bolivian peoples right to self determination

The pictures are great, but the problem is that the people that went to vote for a new Constitution had no idea what they were voting for. From the 100% of electorate population probably only 5 to 10% actually read the Constitution. I guess that is how you change a country.

The photos are beautiful, thank you.

I do wish you could have showed the other side of the story. I interned in Bolivia last summer but in Cochabamba, where they are very much more pro-US and very very anti-Evo. There is another whole side to this story that is not portrayed at all-- the many Bolivians who are against Evo, who have reasons to be, and who staged such huge riots just these few months ago in the first place. I think both sides really need to be shown here.

Really made me miss it though. Bolivia is an amazing place, despite its poverty and dangers. I really loved it there.

Pictore #25 tells us all that Bolivia and its people can be.
Bolivia for its indigeneous people.
Viva Morales!

I was in Bolivia in July 2007 for a meeting of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and felt a great fondness for the country and the people. this brings it back to me with the hope that promise is fulfilled.

Please less romanticising of a real, complex society facing extraordinary challenges from globalisation - as most developing economies of the world. I find the emphasis on the 'beauty' of indigenous people almost patronising. The photos, though aesthetically stunning, do not explain the harshness and mediocrity of daily life for most Bolivians (I lived and worked there for almost ten years).

Comment 87 is totally wrong... the people of Bolivia is aware of the process they are carrying forward......they put President Morales in power, they are the makers of the new society they want to have. I've read the new constitution and it is the most progressive, advanced and inclusive of all. The people of Bolivia and President Evo Morales, deserve credit for the most participatory democracy in the whole world today..... Too bad the people in the opposition have not read the new constitution and don't really know what they are struggling for, because if they did, they would not be in the opposition.... as simple as that.....

Time ago in Bolivia was composed a song in aymara language which is "Uca jacha uru jutasquiway" means "The Day is coming" . I think some dreams and hopes are becoming true for oppressed people in Bolivia.

Number 25 is breath taking !

I love this country

Preciosas fotos. Gracias . Alli esta naciendo una historia y un continente no escrito....

Thank you for pictures that reflect emotions. Through them you can feel hope for a better tomorrow, you can see the strugle of the people to overcome poverty and, join the hope of a better future for children. This is much stronger than any ideology and/or political agenda.
Gracias por fotos que reflejan emociones. A través de ellas puede uno sentir la esperanza de un mañana mejor, ver la lucha de la gente para superar la pobreza y unirte en la esperanza de un futuro mejor para los niños. Esto es mucho mas fuerte que cualquier ideología y/o agenda politica. Vivia mi patria Bolivia!

Correction to #2: La Paz is not the capital of Bolivia. Although much of the government is run from La Paz, the capital is actually Sucre.

Hermosa fotos vistas de fuera del País. Triste realidad la que se vive en Bolivia, Investiguen y verán un País peor que Cuba

Pueda ser que Evo no traicione los sentimientos y las espectativas de millones de Bolivianos y que siga el camino de liberacion del imperialismo. Esperemos que a Bolivia la acompañen otros pueblos. Hernan

La mayor parte de los que leen esos comentarios y ven las hermosas fotografias, pueden creer que ESO es Bolivia. Pero no. Solo estan mostrando la clase indigena y la pobreza, que si, existe. Pero Bolivia no solo es eso. Habemos gente blanca de origen europeo que con trabajo y esfuerzo hemos logrado una educacion y trabajamos con honradez. Evo vive de los recuerdos del pasado. Sus discursos son de una persona que solo menciona lo que hicieron "los otros presidentes" y nos ofrecio CAMBIO, pero nunca pensamos que el cambio iba a ser para peor, con su gente corrupta como el caso de actualidad como es el del ex-`presidente Santos Ramirez y el caso que esta queriendo quedar en el olvido elcual es de Jaun R. Quintana. PÑdte. Evo Basta de masistas corruptos. Viva Bolivia Libre.

It's hard to call it the "will of the people" when Evo is paying the people with Chavez's money for them to cast the "right" vote. Bolivia is entering a time of self-destruction. Evo is not running a campaign for equality, he is waging a war of racism. Bolivia has a history of presidents coming from the upper class, most often white, who have neglected the rights of the poorer lower, and often indigenous, class. Evo, in contrast, rather than equalizing the rights of all citizens, is seeking revenge for the years of oppression. Ignoring the fact that the landowners in Bolivia employ and pay people who do not have the knowledge, education, or means to reap benefits from their own land, Evo wants to take away the land from those who own it to redistribute it to people who would not know what to do with it. Redistribution of property... a bit too close to communism?
Bolivia is an extremely poor country, and it needs outside help. However, how is it to expect outside help when it nationalizes minteral, oil and gas industries. No foreign investors will take the risk of investing in an unstable economy where the government could at any moment seize their property.
As for Evo being a man of the people, one can hardly say that the 300% increase in the price of basic items such as bread has done much to help the poor. Rather than taking from the wealthy (many of whom have worked very hard for what they now have), maybe Evo should consider investing in education and funding new jobs. Giving free money and property to people is of no use, it only teaches them to expect to receive things for free. They must learn to work and EARN what they have, rather than expecting the government to give it to them.
Bolivia is in need of a great deal of change, but Evo's quasi-communist racial segregation methods are far from being the solution.

Also, in response to post #98: Bolivia officially has two capitals. La Paz is the administrative capital, while Sucre is the judicial, constitutional, and historical capital.

Great fotos! Makes me wish I were there again to share this historic moment. The suffering of the Iraqis made the new Bolivian constitution possible. If the attention and resources of the US had not been distracted by Bush's wars it would never have permitted this to happen "in its own backyard".

Very beautiful picture. And pleased with the new Constitution.

Beautiful country, it may not be much better than when the neoliberal governments were in power but it is improving, like the redistribution of the land taking form the wrong hands and returning to the rightful owners and the constitutional reform that finally is including all the people not only the colonialists and we don' t need help from out side, because all the help we got before has made Bolivia even poorer because they brought 5 and took millions. Taking all the country's natural resources almost for free.
Bravo Evo we all are with you!!!

simply great, makes me cry,but happy,thanks for all of them

I love #25. The spirit it captures reminds me of the altiplano in 1968 -- supposedly before Bolivian women had heard of women's rights. Amid her skirts, a Bolivian woman was sitting, watching her sheep. We began talking. She said she was going to move to La Paz -- more work. I asked what she was going to do. She said, "Become a taxi driver." I said, "There are no women taxi drives." She said, "I will be the first." I asked if she knew how to drive. She, said, "No, but it men can do it, I can do it." Thanks for all the great photos -- a tribute to the spirt of Bolivia!

Amazing photos, thank u

opinions are like assh*les; everyone has one... and there are certainly enough of both represented here. Our Bolivia: read and decide... but don't decide before you read...
Bolivia's Petroleum:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fbb0123a-fc94-11dd-aed8-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1
Bolivia's Lithium:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/world/americas/03lithium.html?emc=eta1

I hope that OBAMA reigns in the CIA and the warmongers in Washington who hate real democracy. It is time for all progressive people in the world to warn the USA, "Hands off Bolivia, we are sick and tired of your interventions in the Third World countries."

Hermosas fotografías, que dicen una realidad y la esperanza del pueblo. Bolivia sufre aún las arremetidas de los anteriores gobiernos. Bolivia no es rica aún porque históricamente fue violada y vendida por los políticos y familias privilegiadas aprovechando la ignorancia del pueblo, sin embargo ahora despierta pobremente pero despierta, sale del neocolonialismo, del racismo, de la xenofobia y del clasismo, recupera sus derechos, de libre circulación, de integración en las esferas culturales y políticas, y es normal que el cambio no sea del agrado de los blancoides y de mentalida exógena. Para el buen investigador las sociedades cambian, no son estáticas, sólo el boliviano que ama a su país, comprenderá esto. Nos falta mucho por ser buenos bolivianos y ahora es el tiempo de reflexionar y valorar nuestra verdadera historia y proceso.

The Constitution of Bolivia enacted by president Evo Morales Ayma - English Version - Available June 26th, 2009

Please visit http://www.BolivianConstitution.com to discuss the new Bolivian Constitution translated to English.