El Prado - Parties & Protests
El Prado is a popular, tourist-y type of main drag in La Paz. My hotel, Hotel Copacabana is right in the heart of it.
On Sundays, they have these art-walk type parties called Feria Dominical Del Prado, with live music, arts & fun things for kids like big chickens!
Check out this cool funk band:
One thing that has been consistent through all of my travels in South America so far, is protests. Granted, I've only been to a few cities, but in Cordoba, Buenos Aires, La Paz, etc, there are protests ALMOST every day.
El Prado is a popular street for protestors.
Most of the time, the protests are peaceful, just marches or assemblies of the passionate population. But, you always know they're happening because of the powerful sound of explosives (David would be proud).
Here is an example of a peaceful protest (with explosives) -- just some folks marching on El Prado. (View from my hotel room)
Once in a while, the protests do get a little violent. This was the first one I saw.
A group of people were protesting in front of the Ministerio de Justicia. (You can see them at the bottom behind the trees)
Then, the riot police showed up, and for a good 5-10 minutes you heard the fracas on the front line.
The people pushed back and, eventually...
...the people won.
And the riot police retreated. Check it out: