Bolivia's Independence Day!

[Tuly]

Ola!! today is Bolivia's independence day, Emma made llama sugar cookies to celebrate the day.

Bolivia proclaimed independence from Spain in 1809, but 16 years of struggle followed before the establishment of the republic.

The fight for independence started again after the Battle of Ayacucho, on December 9, 1824, as part of Bolívar's War in the Republican Campaign when Antonio José de Sucre's republican army of 5,700 defeated José de La Serna's royalist army of 6,500 (with 500 Spanish soldiers). The republicans suffered more than 1,000 casualties as compared to more than 2,000 royalist casualties and more than 2,000 captured, among them de La Serna.

After Ayacucho, the royalist troops of Pedro Antonio Olañeta surrendered after he died in Tumusla, Bolivia, 2 April, 1825. It was Sucre who made the Declaration of Independence in the city which bears his name.

The country was named Bolivia, after Simón Bolívar, on August 6, 1825

[Tuly]

I'm always sadden when missionaries are pulled out from any country. Hopefully local missionaries will help out at this time.

LDS missionaries leave Bolivia
They're sent to Peru in wake of civil unrest
Deseret News and Associated Press

Published: September 17, 2008
The LDS Church announced Tuesday that some 102 North American missionaries serving in Bolivia have been transferred to Peru in the wake of political unrest within the Bolivian government.

A news release said the transfer was made "in consultation with U.S. government representatives in Bolivia and with the cooperation of Bolivian immigration authorities as a precautionary measure during the present unsettled conditions there."

The missionaries are expected to return to Bolivia "when conditions become more settled," the release said.

Most of the missionaries were transferred via commercial and charter flights beginning last weekend. The transfer was completed Monday night.

Church spokesman Scott Trotter said the missionaries will continue their service in three missions in Peru, which is part of the church's South America West area, headquartered in Lima.

The Associated Press quoted Bolivia's president saying soldiers have arrested an opposition governor inside the country on charges of organizing a massacre.

Gov. Leopoldo Fernandez of Pando province is being charged with genocide in what Bolivian President Evo Morales calls an ambush of his supporters last week that left at least 15 dead and 37 injured. Morales announced the arrest at a news conference Tuesday.

Anti-Morales activists seized buildings last week in Pando and three other states to protest a planned vote on a new constitution granting greater power to Bolivia's poor indigenous majority.

The continuing unrest, and last week's expulsion of U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg, prompted the United States to suspend the Peace Corps program in Bolivia. That agency also evacuated its estimated 130 volunteers to neighboring Peru. The U.S. Embassy has advised other Americans to leave Bolivia if they can, the AP reported.

American Airlines temporarily suspended flights between Miami and Bolivia because of the unrest.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has good relationships with the Bolivian government and has a significant humanitarian aid program in the country, according to the church press release. Recently, 1,000 wheelchairs were delivered to Bolivia as a part of that humanitarian effort.

Contributing: Carrie A. Moore, Deseret News

[Edward]

Frankly, while Bolivia may be an independent state now, it is far from free. President Evo Morales is as corrupt as they come, making massive efforts to pursue his socialist ideals while imposing his regime on the entire country without mercy, cutting down any opposition through subversion and force. He promotes the production of drugs and weapons while moving ever closer to Hugo Chavez, whose pseudo-Bolivarian* attempts to unify the northern countries of South America into one anti-American league is really a big threat. Bolivia is in bad shape. I have a few friends from there (I'm even part of the Bolivian club!) who are tremendously concerned for the future of their country. It's one of the poorest in the Americas, and it's generally one of the most slighted as well. Most neighboring countries either look down on it or take advantage of it. What a pity too, as it's people are for the most part so pacifist and loyal. I hope something in the future helps move the country to better change and progress.




* Simon Bolivar, one of the greatest heroes of independence South America has ever known, had tremendous desires to unify what is now Equador, Bolivia, Colombia, and Venezuela into one great state, the which would be an equivalent to the United States of the north. Sadly, his dream fell victim to the desires and demands of all the different regions, cultures, and military leaders of those states, which led to a host of petty nations without the leadership needed to move them out of their early stages towards progression and unity. As a result, all of those countries have become corrupt and militaristic, with very little remaining of Simon Bolivar's high morality and ideals.

[Tuly]

o.k this is not about Bolivia's independence but it's about Bolivia. This is from Mormontimes.com

Hebrew DNA found in South America?
By Michael De Groote
MormonTimes.com writer
Published: Monday, May. 12, 2008

Was Hebrew DNA recently found in American Indian populations in South America? According to Scott R. Woodward, executive director of Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, a DNA marker, called the "Cohen modal haplotype," sometimes associated with Hebrew people, has been found in Colombia, Brazil and Bolivia.

But it probably has nothing to do with the Book of Mormon -- at least not directly.

For years several critics of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and of the Book of Mormon have claimed that the lack of Hebrew DNA markers in living Native American populations is evidence the book can't be true. They say the book's description of ancient immigrations of Israelites is fictional.

"But," said Woodward, "as Hugh Nibley used to say, 'Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.' "

Critic Thomas Murphy, for example, wrote in one article about how the Cohen modal haplotype had been found in the Lemba clan in Africa. The Lemba clan's oral tradition claims it has Jewish ancestors.

Murphy then complained, "If the (Book of Mormon) documented actual Israelite migrations to the New World, then one would expect to find similar evidence to that found in a Lemba clan in one or more Native American populations. Such evidence, however, has not been forthcoming."

Until now.

So will Murphy and other critics use this new evidence of Hebrew DNA markers to prove the Book of Mormon is correct? Probably not. But neither should anyone else.

Why?

According to Woodward, the way critics have used DNA studies to attack the Book of Mormon is "clearly wrong." And it would be equally wrong to use similar DNA evidence to try to prove it.

This is because "not all DNA (evidence) is created equal," Woodward said.

According to Woodward, while forensic DNA (popularized in TV shows like "CSI") looks for the sections of DNA that vary greatly from individual to individual, the sections of DNA used for studying large groups are much smaller and do not change from individual to individual.

Studies using this second type of DNA yield differing levels of reliability or, as Woodward calls it, "resolution."

At a lower resolution the confidence in the results goes down. At higher resolution confidence goes up in the results.

Guess which level of resolution critics of the Book of Mormon use?

The critics' problem now is what they do with the low-resolution discovery of Hebrew DNA in American Indian populations.

For people who believe that the Book of Mormon is a true account, the problem is to resist the temptation to misuse this new discovery.

Woodward says that most likely, when higher-resolution tests are used, we will learn that the Hebrew DNA in native populations can be traced to conquistadors whose ancestors intermarried with Jewish people in Spain or even more modern migrations.

Ironically, it is the misuse of evidence that gave critics fuel to make their DNA arguments in the first place. According to Woodward, the critics are attacking the straw man that all American Indians are only descendants of the migrations described in the Book of Mormon and from no other source.

Although some Latter-day Saints have assumed this was the case, this is not a claim the Book of Mormon itself actually makes. Scholars have argued for more than 50 years that the book allows for the migrations meeting an existing population.

This completely undermines the critics' conclusions. They argue with evangelic zeal that the Book of Mormon demands that no other DNA came to America but from Book of Mormon groups.

Yet, one critic admitted to Woodward that he had never read the Book of Mormon.

Woodward also sees that it is essential to read the Book of Mormon story closely to understand what type of DNA the Book of Mormon people would have had. The Book of Mormon describes different migrations to the New World. The most prominent account is the 600-B.C. departure from Jerusalem of a small group led by a prophet named Lehi. But determining Lehi's DNA is difficult because the book claims he is not even Jewish, but a descendant of the biblical Joseph.

According to Woodward, even if you assume we knew what DNA to look for, finding DNA evidence of Book of Mormon people may be very difficult. When a small group of people intermarry into a large population, the DNA markers that might identify their descendants could entirely disappear -- even though their genealogical descendants could number in the millions.

This means it is possible that almost every American Indian alive today could be genealogically related to Lehi's family but still retain no identifiable DNA marker to prove it. In other words, you could be related genealogically to and perhaps even feel a spiritual kinship with an ancestor but still not have any vestige of his DNA.

Such are the vagaries, ambiguities and mysteries of the study of DNA.

So will we ever find DNA from Lehi's people? Woodward hopes so.

"I don't dismiss the possibility," said Woodward, "but the probability is pretty low."

Woodward speculated about it, imagining he were able to identify pieces of DNA that would be part of Lehi's gene pool. Then, imagine if a match was found in the Native American population.

But even then, Woodward would be cautious. "It could have been other people who share the same (DNA) markers," said Woodward about the imaginary scenario.

"It's an amazingly complex picture. To think that you can prove (group relationships) like you can use DNA to identify a (criminal) is not on the same scale of scientific inquiry."

Like the Book of Mormon itself, from records buried for centuries in the Hill Cumorah, genetic "proof" may remain hid up unto the Lord.



MormonTimes.com is produced by the Deseret News in Salt Lake City, Utah.
It is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

[Tuly]

Ola! y Feliz Dia de la Patria!!

Independence day in Bolivia is celebrated each year on 6th August. Bolivia became independent of Spanish dominion in 1825.

Bolivia was the seat of the Aymara civilization, which later faced Inca invasion. Consequently the control passed into the hands of Spain in 1538. At that point of time it was known as Upper Peru. Bolivia achieved its independence from Spain in 1825 largely due to the efforts of Simon Bolivar. After its independence Upper Peru acquired a new name. It was now called Bolivia after the revolutionary Simon Bolivar.

Following its independence, Bolivia witnessed the rule of several military dictators or caudillos. They attempted to unite the three regions of the country including Altiplano, the central region and the eastern Andes region.

Independence day in Bolivia has been declared as a national holiday. It is locally referred to as Dia de la Patria.

[Tuly]

Feliz Dia de la Patria!! - Since I went to school in Peru not Bolivia, I know more about the Peruvian flag and know the Peruvian national anthem better. I actually sang the Peruvian national anthem for a National Broadcast of a World Soccer game that was played here in Mission Viejo many years ago. The game was Peru vs. USA - the results was a tie.

What does the flag of Bolivia represents?
The national flag of Bolivia was adopted on October 31, 1851. It consists of three horizontal stripes of equal size. The top band is red, the middle is yellow, and the bottom band is green.

The green color symbolizes the lush fertility of the land, yellow epitomizes the natural resources of the country, and red represents the courage of the Bolivian soldiers who fought for the independence and for the preservation of the country.

Who wrote the national anthem of Bolivia?
The national anthem of Bolivia, Bolivianos, el Hado Propicio, which means Bolivians, a most Favorable Destiny, was adopted in 1851. The lyrics were written by Jose Ignacio de Sanjines, and the music for the national anthem was composed by Leopoldo Benedetto Vincenti.

[Edward]

So, you spent a few more years in Peru, but you were born in Bolivia and a citizen there for decades still. So if you were asked if you are Bolivian or Peruvian, which would you say?

[Tuly]

I'm both since my mother is from Peru and my father is from Bolivia. So I should start celebrating the Peruvian Independence Day which is in July 28th.