Bolivia: Ban on Old Cars Sparks Protests

By Larry Habegger | Permalink | No Comments | January 8th, 2009 | Trackback

Violent protests are not a rarity in Bolivia, where political passions regularly find their way into free expression, but the source of a recent protest that blocked a key highway outside La Paz was unusual: anger at a ban on imports of old cars. Used-car dealers and mechanics’ unions rallied against a new law that prohibits imports of cars more than five years old. The law is an effort to control the explosive growth of automobiles in the country. The number of cars in Bolivia almost doubled in the past six years, clogging city streets, and an entire industry of converting Japanese right-hand drive vehicles to left-hand drive has emerged. Such an industry will not be easily reigned in.

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