JV PhiloBlog

Here is the first blog entry.

Here is how the BBC reports civil strife in Bolivia:

Opposition groups want greater autonomy as well as more control over revenues of natural gas in their areas.

They object to Mr Morales's plans to give more power to the country's indigenous and poor communities, by carrying out land reform and redistributing gas revenues.

This is badly punctuated and badly worded. What is meant by "land reform"? If you do not know, then this is bad writing because it fails to inform. It might be worse. If "land reform" turns out to mean confiscating people's property, then the failure to explain is not a sign of incompetence but of malicious intent to deceive. It would be a case of equivocation, colloquially known as "spin" or "whitewash."

Oh, and the comma makes it sound like the opposition's way of objecting to Marales's plan is to carry out land reform and redistribute gas revenues. That is not what the writer means, of course.

It seems that Mr. Morales is planning to take control of property in order to redistribute it. He says this will "empower" the indigenous poor. It certainly will empower him. Whether the poor see any benefits is something to keep your eye on.