More road blocks today, but these were official, and only to be expected when El Presidente comes to town.
With the higher than usual number of military police on the streets - and a parade of neatly turned out schoolgirls in white dresses - I thought there must be something going on.
The Plaza Principal had been blocked off to traffic and a stage erected in one corner. But this was not another demo, and as I sat having a coffee in the Cafe Paris on another corner of the square, I could hear an amplified voice talking to the crowd, eliciting enthusiastic responses, but strangely no fire crackers exploding every few moments, which is usually the case when large crowds congregate here.
He was probably preaching to the converted, and as I went to have a look at what was going on I could see that he was surrounded protectively by loyal banner-carrying supporters, and there were no hecklers.
As is usually the case in politics it had more than a whiff of orchestration about the whole thing.
Needless to say I couldn´t understand what he was saying, besides a rallying sentence ending with the word ¨Campesinos¨ which received a loud cheer.
Given the relatively quiet turnout, I expect this was not a publicised event, as there are plenty of people who are not satisfied with the Evo regime, and would probably have been only too willing to show up and let off a few fire crackers, should they have been allowed to get anywhere near.
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