The UK Foreign office has removed the warning about travelling to Santa Cruz from their latest advice update.

The full advice for Bolivia can be found at the FCO website here.

No, I’m not trying to explain the political situation at Santa Cruz airport – I mean the real thing. There are reports that it was thrown at a house near the Venezuelan Consulate in Santa Cruz.

My first reaction was: why? But not why dynamite, but why Venezuelan?

Venezuela and Bolivia normally get on so well together – and that’s the problem, their presidents get on well together, and since Santa Cruz is trying to gain some degree autonomy from the Bolivian Government, it would to put Venezuela on the wrong side.

Readers who are not so familiar with Bolivia may be wondering where the dynamite came from. The truth is, that it is not very difficult to buy – as I myself have witnessed, as have most visitors to Potosí that have been on or even inside the cerro rico.

Here there are small stalls selling essentials for the minors inside, and visitors often buy items from the stalls to give to the minors in exchange for them explaining their work. These can be coca leaves, sticks of dynamite, fuses or even a black potato-based mixture that acts as a catalyst on the coca leaves and increases their effectiveness against the effects of the altitude.

So it came as no surprise to hear that dynamite was readily available – but it is the first time that I have heard of it being used in this way. Protests in Bolivia are not uncommon, but the advice to travellers was always just to accept them and any associated delays, and not to try and pass roadblocks or demonstrations.

With explosives involved, these protests may have just taken on a whole new, unfortunate, dimension.

The UK Foreign Office has issued an update to the travel advice that it offers for visitors to Bolivia to reflect the situation at Santa Cruz.

“The airport in Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Viru Viru) is currently suffering industrial unrest. There is an increased risk of cancellation of international flights. You should check with your travel agents or airlines before going to the airport.”

The full advice for Bolivia can be found at the FCO website here.

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)